03 OCT 2010

This morning we awoke in Seaside, CA and planned to head off to the Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We headed down to the Cannery Row which is of interest because of John Stenbecks novel “Cannery Row”. For those not familiar, his book was based on a fictional street lined with sardine fisheries in Monterey known as Cannery Row (Ocean View Avenue in Monterey, the thinly disguised location, was later re-named "Cannery Row" in honor of the book).

This area of town now is a tourist attraction area with small shops lining the street and lots of reference to the history of the canneries in the community. Sardines were the primary fish being caught and canned in this area creating a huge industry in the early 1900’s. Apparently the bottom fell out of the industry due to over fishing in the 50’s and only recently has started to recover. The canneries are now more converted tourist shops.

We walked around by the wharf and checked out a few shops on our way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is housed in a former cannery. I can describe all the areas we went to through the aquarium but the pictures have been grouped by topic and may not be in the same order that we walked through.

 The aquarium is housed on two floors and each floor has been carefully designed to display and here are some of the areas: Kelp Forest, Octopus, Monetery Bay Habitats, Sea Horses and Sea Dragons, Pink Flamingos and Penguins, and Coral Reef exhibits. One of the first things you see when you arrive is a 2 story fish tank with so many different types of sea life, fish and plants that I cannot even begin to mention them – but there are sharks which I found really cool. While we were there we were able to watch a diver feed the anomies.

Another feature that is really nice was the amount of ‘children activities and hands on opportunities’ designed into the some areas such as the Touch Pools, Splash Zone and the Discovery Zone. This really is a great place to bring children to see, touch and explore.

While we were there we were able to observe and enjoy a First Nations dance.  Apparently today there are several different presentations by the First Nations band on display at the Aquarium.

We finished with the aquarium and made plans to explore along the 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach (right next door). This drive is a 17 mile loop that goes along the coastline in Pebble Beach and back through the Del Monte Forest area of Pebble Beach. It touches on and goes through several golf courses: Poppy Hills Golf Course, Spyglass Hill Gold Course, Peter Hay Par-3 Golf Course and Pebble Beach Golf Course.

Again I have created a collage of pictures taken from our drive which gave views of such areas called: The Restless Sea, Bird Rock, Seal Rock, and the Lone Cypress. We really enjoyed looking at the waves that crashed onto the shore that were large enough to encourage surfing. We had a chance to watch a few surfers and get some pictures.

We did stop at Pebble Beach Golf course to walk around and look for Tiger Woods. We did not find him, or any other celebrities. However, we did have a chance to note the houses along the drive which were small mansions in many cases. We learned that the prices of the houses ranged from a low of 1.5 million to 22 million. Guess we will not be moving here soon.

After we finished this scenic tour which took a couple of hours with all our stops, we wondered over to look at Carmel-By-the-Sea. This seems to be a town for artists, poets and writers. Apparently in 1910 it reported that 60 percent of Carmel's houses were built by citizens who were "devoting their lives to work connected to the aesthetic arts." Early City Councils were dominated by artists, and the town has had several mayors who were poets or actors. What is interesting is that the streets that we walked along really had a ‘Gastown’ feel and we saw no large chains – not even a coffee shop chain. I believe the town has specifically maintained a goal to continue with the current commercial style and have not allowed big business to get established.

While here we decided to visit the Basilica of Mission San Carlos Borromeo. The Mission, first established on June 3, 1770 in nearby Monterey (near the native village of Tamo), was named for Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, Italy. It was the site of the first Christian confirmation in Alta California. In May 1771, the Viceroy approved Father Junípero Serra's petition to relocate the Mission to its current location near the present-day town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The buildings are still in use today although they may have been renovated many times. I was impressed with the court yard, promenade or parade grounds depending on who you talk to. The outside perimeters are buildings all facing inward so there is total privacy internally.

The history in the museum part was very interesting as usual. We spent an hour just exploring and enjoying. After we finished here were headed back to the hotel having spent a very busy day but accomplishing the goals we had set for the day.