Pacific Grove is perhaps the best known winter home of Monarch butterflies that fly from as far as 2,000 miles away to escape harsh winter weather (no wonder the city calls itself "Butterfly Town, U.S.A.,").

All the Eucalyptus trees, where these butterflies nest, are cordoned off from afar and the only way you can see them is through the free binoculars provided at the sanctuaries. Every once in a while a stray butterfly loses its way down to where the people are, but flies away at the merest hint of wind (which is plenty given that it's a coastal area).