Getting up at an insanely early hour to beat the San Francisco rush hour was the plan, and it worked. We sailed over the Golden Gate bridge and made it to Monterey in a little over 3 hours. The weather was mostly cloudy, but whenever there was a bit of sunshine, we pulled over to take pics of the coast (that's me just north of Monterey above).
Monterey is, of course, famous for Steinbeck and Cannery Row. But what made me want to visit it again was the aquarium. I had a chance to tour it during a business trip a few years ago and always hoped I'd get a chance to see it again. Sarah has never been, so we decided to set aside about 3 hours to check it out. It didn't disappoint. The Monterey Aquarium is one of the best I've seen. They've done an incredible job of working with the natural surroundings and designed a space that not only showcases the animals and educates the public, but inspires visitors to think about marine life differently.
Sarah was enthralled by the sea otters, but my favourite display was the "Jellyfish as Art" exhibit. They are striking and the lighting/tanks do make them look like art installations. I took WAY too many photos - the shapes and colours are fascinating. The designers gave a lot of thought to usability and how to best display these types of creatures. One thing I noticed was that despite the large numbers of people in the space, the extended surface area of the displays meant it didn't take long to get to the front for a good view.
Just 5 minutes south of Monterey is the entrance to "17-mile Drive", a scenic route that loops around the peninsula located between Monterey and Carmel. This is also the home of the famous Pebble Beach Golf Club and some incredibly swanky houses. By this point, the weather had really clouded over, but the coastline is still striking, even under moody skies. There are several lookout points along the way and it's easy to spot cormorants, sea lions, pelicans and deer along the way. The exit gate for 17-mile Drive is at Carmel, so it didn't take us long to get to our hotel. This hotel was a trip "splurge"; the Pine Inn is the oldest hotel in Carmel. The inn is incredibly charming, as is the entire town, basically a seaside resort for the very well-heeled. Lots of tony boutiques
and cafes (yay!) and pretty Victorian cottages. We filled up on post-dinner lattes and packed it in early for our big drive to Big Sur the next day. If you're interested, I've got lots more pics on Flickr.
Click here to take a look.
Getting up at an insanely early hour to beat the San Francisco rush hour was the plan, and it worked. We sailed over the Golden Gate bridge and made it to Monterey in a little over 3 hours. The weather was mostly cloudy, but whenever there was a bit of sunshine, we pulled over to take pics of the coast (that's me just north of Monterey above).
Monterey is, of course, famous for Steinbeck and Cannery Row. But what made me want to visit it again was the aquarium. I had a chance to tour it during a business trip a few years ago and always hoped I'd get a chance to see it again. Sarah has never been, so we decided to set aside about 3 hours to check it out. It didn't disappoint. The Monterey Aquarium is one of the best I've seen. They've done an incredible job of working with the natural surroundings and designed a space that not only showcases the animals and educates the public, but inspires visitors to think about marine life differently.
Sarah was enthralled by the sea otters, but my favourite display was the "Jellyfish as Art" exhibit. They are striking and the lighting/tanks do make them look like art installations. I took WAY too many photos - the shapes and colours are fascinating. The designers gave a lot of thought to usability and how to best display these types of creatures. One thing I noticed was that despite the large numbers of people in the space, the extended surface area of the displays meant it didn't take long to get to the front for a good view.
Just 5 minutes south of Monterey is the entrance to "17-mile Drive", a scenic route that loops around the peninsula located between Monterey and Carmel. This is also the home of the famous Pebble Beach Golf Club and some incredibly swanky houses. By this point, the weather had really clouded over, but the coastline is still striking, even under moody skies. There are several lookout points along the way and it's easy to spot cormorants, sea lions, pelicans and deer along the way. The exit gate for 17-mile Drive is at Carmel, so it didn't take us long to get to our hotel. This hotel was a trip "splurge"; the Pine Inn is the oldest hotel in Carmel. The inn is incredibly charming, as is the entire town, basically a seaside resort for the very well-heeled. Lots of tony boutiques 
and cafes (yay!) and pretty Victorian cottages. We filled up on post-dinner lattes and packed it in early for our big drive to Big Sur the next day. If you're interested, I've got lots more pics on Flickr. Click here to take a look.
1 comment:
Hey,
Thats a pretty cool picture of a jelly fish!!!
Love,
Nicole
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