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For as long as Seaside has been Monterey’s neighbor, it has also been its red-headed stepsister. One longtime local business owner, when asked recently about Seaside’s best quality, responded, “It’s close to Carmel and Monterey.”

Despite the fact that Seaside approximates the population of neighbors-to-the-south Monterey and Carmel combined, the town rarely secures a passing guidebook reference — despite ocean views, long stretches of beach and affordable lodging. A couple years back, a City Council candidate even called it “Fresno-by-the-Sea” for its preponderance of fast-food outlets.

That identity is changing faster than ever. Seaside remains the local capital of ethnic food, with Thai, Vietnamese, Honduran and Mexican outposts that win awards for the best in the region. Its main street, Broadway Avenue — which is also double-labeled Obama Way after a 2010 city ordinance — has played host to a promising wave of new developments.

While it’s not quite a destination (or much to look at — yet), there’s a new vibe of anticipation after a major remodel that added bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks. That includes construction of a new 7,000-square-foot space for new locally sown brand Other Brother Brewing Company, due late this summer, and two projects from two sons from the family behind Carmel institution Casanova restaurant: a trendy coffee shop-recording studio combo, and a forward-looking restaurant driven by wood-fired foods.

Chef-owner Klaus Georis, of the yet-to-be-named field-to-fork restaurant slated to open at 600 Broadway within a year, speaks for many residents when he says, “We are very excited with the direction Seaside is going.”

Morning

Community institution Breakfast Club provides a hearty start to a day of wandering. It’s a family-run, no-frills strip mall space with kitsch adorning its walls and sweet wait staff who keep the morning coffee flowing. Meal portions are as big as the flavors; think prodigious plates of pork chili verde omelets, chicken-fried steak and bananas foster French toast.

Afterward you’ll want to engage in a little calorie burning, and there’s a great place to start just a couple of miles east into the hills.

For decades, Fort Ord shaped the identity of Seaside with its influx of service members, bringing diversity and industriousness to the area. Today, the former Army base, which saw 1.5 million troops train there before closing in 1994, hosts Cal State University Monterey Bay and a relatively new national monument of the same name, which functions a lot like a national park.

More than 86 miles of trails welcome hiking, mountain biking, road cycling and horseback riding through rolling hills, groves of colorful chaparral, storybook oak woodlands and seasonal pools. Best of all, it’s wonderfully uncrowded.

Midday

Over near Broadway Avenue/Obama Way, one of the newest additions offers a chance to fill a basket for an afternoon picnic at under-the-radar Seaside Beach.

The Meatery is a new upscale whole-animal butchery run by chefs with passion and pedigree. Try signature sandwiches like the muffaletta, Reuben and ham-and-gouda, along with superb charcuterie.

Down Broadway, toward the ocean, you’ll find Counterpoint Coffee, a high-end caffeine stop that opened at the start of the year. Apart from coffee, it features pastries, cheese and charcuterie options, plus rotating beers (Belgian for now) and biodynamic wines, including two on tap. (There’s also a recording studio, open to anyone who wants to book time and lay down tracks.)

Afternoon

Picnic bundle in hand, head to Seaside Beach, a long sandy stretch just across Highway 1. The best way to access it is via the parking lots adjacent to Monterey Tides hotel at the base of Canyon Del Rey Boulevard.

Dogs are welcome here, as are beach fires (a local rarity), and the sparse population of pedestrians makes this an underappreciated coastal revelation. You’ll get a sweeping panorama of Cannery Row (just south) across the bay to Santa Cruz. Leisurely walks can easily cover a mile or two.

Cruising south toward Monterey’s Wharf II is a great option, but heading north toward Marina means fewer people and more solitary beachcombing and wildlife (including a mass of seabirds). Find a nice spot to sit and enjoy the sound of the surf and ocean breeze.

Evening

For some of the best sunset views around, try the Monterey Tides hotel, on top of the beach at the end of Seaside thoroughfare Canyon Del Rey Boulevard. The hotel, which appeared in the smash HBO series “Big Little Lies,” features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Pacific from its Bar Sebastian lounge. It’s the best place in town to spot dolphins, too.

From there, the area’s best bottle house beckons. Post No Bills Craft Beer House, in neighboring Sand City, stocks an astounding 300 different bottles and cans, plus 15 ever-rotating taps spotlighted on live digital menu online and in-house. There are also a few local wine options, though the emphasis is clearly, and dramatically, on beer.

Dinner is a 15-minute walk away at Gusto, where the thin-crust pizza is decidedly authentic to northern Italy. The pies, salads and pastas, including the prosciutto-mushroom pizza and the life-changing lasagna, were not found in blue-collar Seaside before the restaurant arrived in 2015 — one more piece of evidence the long-overlooked city is ready for reconsideration.

If you go

Acme Coffee Roasting Company: 485-B Palm Ave. (on the alley), Seaside, (831) 393-9113, acmecoffeeroasting.com, 6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday.

The Breakfast Club: 1130 Fremont Blvd., Set 201, (831) 394-3238, 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. daily.

El Zarape Taqueria: 1107 Fremont Blvd., (831) 899-1125, 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Fort Ord National Monument: blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/california/fort-ord-national-monument

Counterpoint Coffee: 565 Broadway Ave., Seaside, counterpointcoffee@gmail.com, (831) 238-5490, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (7 a.m.-7 p.m. soon).

Gusto Handcrafted Pizza and Pasta: 1901 Fremont Blvd., Seaside, (831) 899-5825, gustopizzeriapasta.com, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 4:30-9 p.m. daily, until 9:30 Friday-Saturday.

The Meatery: 1534 Fremont Blvd., Seaside, (831) 656-8810, themeatery.us, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. daily.

Mi Tierra Market: 1000 Obama Way, (831) 394-8113, market: 7 a.m.-9 p.m., taquería: 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Monterey Tides: 2600 Sand Dunes Drive, (831) 394-3321, montereytides.com, Bar Sebastian: 2 p.m. — 11 p.m., Viscaino Oceanfront Food + Drink: 7 a.m. — 2 p.m., 5 p.m. — 10 p.m.

Post No Bills Craft Beer House: 600 Ortiz Ave., Sand City, (831) 324-4667, postnobills.net/, 3-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 1 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday, 1 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

The Press Club: 1123 Fremont Blvd., Seaside, (831) 901-3900, montereycountyweekly.com/pressclub, 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, closed Sunday.

Mark C. Anderson is a freelance writer based in Seaside. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter via @MontereyMCA.