Fear the Crab

Yep. Looks like ocean.

The first full day of our California trip was Monday 9/13. It started with a drive along CA-17 towards Monterey. The 17 is a rather scenic drive, but it twisted through the mountains with a lot of blind turns. In hindsight we might have been better off taking the long way via US-101. I had a lot of ginger chews to quell my twisting stomach; thankfully I was advised long before this trip to bring these in the fight against car-sickness. And surprisingly they taste pretty good.

Monterey County itself was pleasant and rather quiet. We found a sea otter floating in a harbor at Moss Landing, and I hoped it would be a symbol of relaxation, something we would experience for the rest of the vacation. That critter was thoroughly oblivious to the world, grooming contentedly for the entire 10 minutes we were there. For all I know it’s still there.

Looking cute takes a lot of work.

We arranged to stay overnight at the Best Western Ramona Inn, since it would be much easier to leave early the next day for our scheduled tour of Hearst Castle. After checking in we promptly proceeded to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I had heard good things about the place and how expansive it was, and my experience with the Maui Ocean Center left me with high expectations for Monterey.

Now with more aquarium!

I was not disappointed. There were a lot of exhibits and all manner of sea creatures on display. I didn’t get to see the sea otter exhibit because of the crowd, but that was only a small part of what the aquarium had to offer. I enjoyed the “hands on” areas like the bat ray touch pool and kelp displays. Man, that water was cold!

In the “open water” area of the aquarium was a huge room with sardines swimming overhead in a big doughnut-shaped tank. It’s rather surreal. I only wished it were a standalone room and not connected to the main hall, as I think it would really be immersive without the outside distractions.

And they just keep swimming!

We finished our exploration of Monterey with a journey down the 17-Mile Drive. Quite picturesque, and we even got to see the famous “Lone Cypress” tree. The area was certainly gorgeous and picturesque, worth the $9.50 admission for a first-time experience. I probably wouldn’t pay to go there again, but as it stands now I have no regrets, as the weather was perfect and I don’t feel like I missed out on anything.

Lone Cypress

Ate dinner at the Happy Dragon restaurant for some excellent Chinese. The cook had a “Peking” style spare ribs that was like a mix of sweet-sour and char siu, which was very delicious. We also had a mushroom egg foo young which came in oyster sauce, and a plate of walnut shrimp. Thorougly delicious.

Our waitress instantly recognized our dialect from the 808 and revealed that she used to study at the UH West Oahu campus. It was this “common ground” that set the tone of our interaction and made the evening enjoyable beyond the food. She recommended a neat breakfast place for tomorrow that was just up the street. Too bad I don’t remember her name.