Summer Road Trip, continued…
8/25/14 – Monterey, California – what a wonderful place to be.
And it’s always a nice feeling to wake up in a hotel, knowing the day is yours to do with as you like. We took our time getting up and about, but needed to be checked out of the Otter Inn by Noon. Fortunately, the hotel management allowed us to keep our parking space until late afternoon so that we could visit the Aquarium without trying to find another parking space.
The first thing we did is to walk down to Cannery Row and do the “tourist thing.” We walked around and checked out the shops, where we bought some souvenirs and gifts to take home.
There was one store that stands out in my mind as being really cool: Fine Art Turkish Grand Bazaar. They had some incredibly beautiful (and very expensive) things. 
I took photos of these lamps to show my sister.
We bought some t-shirts and a 
store called “After the Quake,” which I assume refers to the Loma Prieta quake of 1989.
We also visited the Spirit of Monterey Wax Museum. It was interesting, but Dalton got a little bored – listening to the history of Monterey felt too much like school I think! So I told him that if he paid attention, I’d give him some history credit.
Following lunch at Johnny Rockets, where we enjoyed a very pleasant meal, we did some more sightseeing.
One particularly memorable thing was the Native American musicians who performed- seemingly all day long – there in the plaza. The music was lovely and we bought one of their music CDs. They were really good.
Then it was time to go to the Aquarium!
The Monterey Bay Aquarium – one of the best places on earth in my opinion.
First we decided to check out the Sea Otters at feeding time. But it was so crowded, we really didn’t get to see them as well as we’d liked.
But we learned that they have a live “OTTER CAM” so we can watch the otters any time. They are so cute!
We also viewed a video presentation about otters and what role the Aquarium plays in saving and caring for these wonderful creatures.
Next, we saw the Penguins – and did get to see their daily feeding show. I have always loved penguins and I really liked this exhibit. The Aquarium also has a live PENGUIN CAM.
My absolute favorite parts of the Aquarium though were the undersea exhibits, including the Kelp Forest:
and the Open Sea:
There were other exhibits, some of which were viewed by way of special microscopic techniques, and others showing various types of sea anemones that I can’t seem to find on the Aquarium website at this point. And as we were leaving town, they were just setting up their newest exhibit, “Tentacles,” which we unfortunately didn’t get to see.
We saw so many things, but there was still so much more to see – we will definitely have to visit again – and soon!
And here is a view from the top of the Aquarium, looking out over Monterey Bay. The whole area is just beautiful.
We wished that we had planned to stay longer, but instead had to leave for the next part of our trip: back up to Santa Cruz.
We left Monterey late in the afternoon and arrived at our motel in Santa Cruz – again tired and very hungry. So, surprise: we ordered pizza again!
And thus ends part 2 of our Road Trip. [More to Come!]