Monterey Bay, California Part 1

I had the good fortune to visit this beautiful area of California for a few months in early 2023. It is at the top of my list of favorite places in the state of California.

We stayed in Pacific Grove, right at the Monterey city line. This area is very accessible by foot to the interesting places in that immediate area. 

#1 on the list is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It sits at the one end of Cannery Row along Monterey Bay. I love this place! Since we would be there for about three months, we opted to get the membership since admission is a little pricey. By visiting multiple times it was a smart choice. You can see many strange and beautiful creatures up close. It was a great place to spend an afternoon and just roam through the many areas or just sit and watch. There is also a big deck area outside where you can spot the sea otters. 

Here are some of the beautiful and interesting creatures you can see there.

  

                                

   

   

                             

  

                                                                 

                                   

There is an area when you first enter the aquarium that tells the history of Hovden Cannery, which was the largest sardine cannery on Cannery Row. The aquarium was built on the site of this cannery. There are pictures and videos plus displays of cans with products from the cannery. Also there was a small area mentioning John Steinbeck, author of the novel Cannery Row and his friend Ed Ricketts.

The aquarium's mission is conservation of the ocean and they work hard and get the message out with many exhibits and educational materials. If you are ever in Monterey, I highly recommend visiting the aquarium. You won't regret it.

Coming soon -Part 2. It will cover some other interesting places in the area.