Thursday night, Pacific Grove throws the block party. The Pacific Grove Rotary Concours Auto Rally closes Lighthouse Avenue for a free downtown show, and unlike most of Car Week, it is built for the town as much as the collectors.
Cars line the street in the evening light while the shops and restaurants stay open and the sidewalks fill. It runs as a Rotary fundraiser, so the money goes back into local causes, which is why locals turn out for it even in a week when they could be anywhere. The rally element sends cars out on a drive through the Peninsula earlier in the day before they return to park downtown.
It is one of the most family-friendly nights of the week. No ticket, no rope line, just a slow walk down Lighthouse with the cars close enough to touch and dinner a few steps away. If you are bringing people who care more about the atmosphere than the horsepower, this is the night.
Parking tightens the moment the street closes, so walk in from the neighborhoods if you can. The show holds the evening before the street reopens.
For the full Thursday and the rest of the ten days, see the Car Week hub, and check the events calendar for the Pacific Grove schedule.