I can’t remember the first time I visited the Monterey Peninsula. But in the early 1980s my parents purchased a small house on 12th and Casanova in Carmel. I called it the Gingerbread House.

Like anyone who visits the area for the first time, I was immediately enamored. I remember walking in the fog from my parents’ home into downtown Carmel, and I remember early morning and late afternoon training runs behind Monterey Peninsula College for the Big Sur International Marathon in 1987.

I worked as sports writer and columnist for the Monterey Country Herald for a year around the same time, and I’ve since returned to the Monterey Peninsula several times a year on assignment for many publications and for vacation.

As a journalist, I’ve reported on the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for more than 25 years. I’ve covered the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach three times, and through the years I traveled to the Monterey Peninsula many times for the Sea Otter Classic, Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational and other events — Cooking For Solutions (sustainable food conference), the Big Sur International Marathon, the Monterey Jazz Festival, many automotive events at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the First Tee Open.

Traveling to the Monterey Peninsula for me is an easy decision: Any reason is a good reason.

I enjoy the cafes and running in Pacific Grove, and I appreciate driving into Carmel Valley and frequenting restaurants, pubs and the two Fisherman’s Wharfs in Monterey.

As owner, editor and publisher of MontereyPeninsula.org, I hope to provide a comprehensive guide to one of the world’s great locales. It’s a destination I enjoy every time I have the privilege to visit.

The site feature reviews and reservations services for accommodations for cities throughout the Monterey Peninsula and nearby locales. There are also lifestyle articles, blogs and commentary — all from the varied and wondrous Monterey Peninsula.

Readers’ comments are always welcomed. Advertising is accepted.

Cheers, James Raia/Editor-Publisher

E-mail: James@ByJamesRaia.com