This is the famous Nepenthe… alien?… that I always love to photograph whenever we’re in Big Sur. We just got back from a camping trip to Pfeiffer and on the way back we had to have lunch at our favorite place. So often the sun casts this guy in shadow, but hopefully you can see the blue. If anyone knows the history of this fellow, do tell!
Here’s just a few more shots cuz I can’t resist. 🙂
… The good news about camping is that our son has learned how to pee in the woods. The bad news is that now he wants to pee on any flora/ fauna he comes across, including the flowers in front of the house.
April Belle 
Hi April
I love Nepenthe too, and now that I don’t live there I sometime just pine for the experience, to sit out on the terrace for hours eating, taking in…
and glad you love it there and that I found your blog.
My blog is somewhat a conduit for my book, covering food, family, and the ways of the home so to speak. A work in progress. Day by day, as they say.
By the way, I love the title of your blog–it’s all about taking the steps, or “one word at a time.”
Romney
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Dark Angel is fascinating…love the pics. Your son’s adorable…I have girls so…they grow so fast, enjoy it now, even the front yard pees.
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Hello. I’m the granddaughter of the founders of Nepenthe and came across your blog and the referral to the sculpture. It is called the Dark Angel; it was sculpted out of a single piece of wood by Buzz Brown, who lived in Big Sur in the sixties and was a figure on the coast for many years. He arranged to have it installed above the gift shop, though later there was a lot of back and forth on who now owned it, but ultimately it was too costly to have it taken down.
Nepenthe has been a focal point of the coast for over 60 years now; I’ve just written a book about our family’s history and the stories behind Nepenthe. http://www.mynepenthebook.com
Best, Romney
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Romney, you don’t know how excited I was to read your comment!! We adore, love, flip for Nepenthe whenever we go to Big Sur…. I think it took us 2 1/2 hours to drive up and 5 hours to drive back simply because of our lunch and visit there. 🙂
I’m going to head over to your blog and explore – Love your tagline already! Thank you so much for that explanation… We always wondered about that fabulous “Dark Angel.” Just way too cool!!!!
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that sculpture alien is impressive
his shadow must be amazing
my son loved to pee outside and it took a while to explain appropriate behavior
then he’d tell anyone who would listen “I can’t pee here, it’s not pope ate”
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That is soooo cute! I’m sure your son got some big smiles!
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Oops…forgot to say thanks for playing mwb’s this week.
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Been there with the pee in the woods experience only to see him peeing on a tree out the kitchen window when we got home. All boys must go through that experience!
So that is an interesting sculpture and does look like an alien. It’s been along time since I was to Big Sur but I vaguely remember a remote restaurant with the same name. Is your alien related to the restaurant in any way?
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LOL… yeah, I think little boys love to be free and easy! And – yes… Nepenthe is actually the restaurant/ gift shop. This is the figure directly above the building. Good memory!
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April, I am liking your Nepenthe. I hadn’t heard of him nor have I been to the Big Sur. I’ve been north and south of there but not there. Guess that’s why the community stays fairly pure.
Speaking of pure, your son is precious. Now to help him keep the domesticated nature pure. I grew up on a farm, won’t say any more here.
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If you find out more about Nepenthe I’d like to know. He could be ‘hippie’ era art?
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I think you’re probably right, Jim… hippie era art is most likely the explanation, lol. Next time you’re travelling maybe you can stop at Nepenthe and poke around – there’s also a fabulous art gallery (sculptures, etc.) across the street… This isn’t your normal ‘frou frou’ kind of gallery either, but full of interesting pieces of bronze and wood, etc.
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I remember when our youngest son learned that trick camping. He came home and thought that was a great performance for the front yard. Unfortunately our unfriendly neighbor didn’t and she called the police. I felt so bad for the officer, he kept apologizing and I kept trying not to laugh. 🙂
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Oh, man Jaymie, lol. I can’t believe the neighbors were that uptight! So far we’ve managed to restrain our little boy, but one of these days I just know he’ll get away with something!
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