Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea The Lonely Planet guide to California intones the following about Monterey “John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row immortalised the sardine-canning business that Monterey lived on for the first half of the 20th century. He describes Cannery Row as ‘a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream’. Predictions that over fishing could decimate the business were ignored when the catch reached a peak of 250,000 tons in 1945. Just 5 years later figures plummeted to 33,000 tons and by 1951 most of the sardine canneries had closed, many of them mysteriously catching fire. Today Cannery Row is mostly a touristy nightmare of chain restaurants and souvenir shops. There are a few exceptional places worth making time for, such as the aquarium, but mostly this
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