Monterey

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For a quick Fourth of July weekend getaway, Shea and I decided to skip town for a visit up to Monterey. After a long day in the office, I picked up our rental car at 4pm and by 5:30 we were on the road along with the thousands of others escaping for a three day weekend. We didn't arrive into Monterey until about 11:30 and immediately checked into the Comfort Inn. Initially, we had some confusion finding our hotel as there were 2 Comfort Inn's on the same street and within close proximity to each other. Eventually we found the correct one, checked in, dropped off our bags, and went out to find an open place for a late dinner. After settling on Denny's, we went straight back to the hotel to call it a night.

The next morning after freeloading on the free continental breakfast that the hotel provided, we made our way downtown to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. No visit to Monterey is complete without a visit to the aquarium. This will be my 4th visit to the aquarium and each time I enjoy it as much as the first time. The entrance fee seemed to have jumped significantly since my last visit to a whopping $30! We spent the next 2 hours exploring all the various exhibits and tanks. The sea otter exhibit , the giant kelp forest tank, and the jellyfish tanks have always been my personal favorites and didn't disappoint. However, since my last visit 5 years ago, there wasn't any new exhibits that I noticed. After the aquarium, we had lunch nearby at a place called Sly McFly where we watched team Spain defeat Paraguay in the World Cup. After lunch, we explored the Cannery Row area along Monterey's waterfront. The area was once home to many thriving sardine canneries. Today, all the sardine canneries have shut down and Cannery Row is mainly a tourist attraction with hotels, restaurants, spas, galleries and tourist shops.

With still a full day in front of us to explore, we decided to get back into our car and make our way down the Big Sur coastline. As it was a three day weekend with good weather, we knew that we would have a good amount of traffic to contend with. We drove for about an hour south down on Highway 1. The weather had changed from sunny to completely overcast along the coastline. However despite the clouds we had awesome and dramatic views of the rugged central coastline. I had initially had intentions of hiking around Point Lobos State Reserve. Since I had Shea with me, I didn't think that she would be too keen on doing some serious hiking. We decided to drive as far south as the Julia Pfeifer Burns State Park to check out the iconic Mcway Falls. A good amount of visitors were at the park today and we had to park along the highway precariously close to the traffic. There was a $10 fee to visit the park which was paid by the honor system. Since we parked along the highway and had to hike in, I felt that we didn't need to pay this fee. While standing there waiting for Shea to use the restroom, I witnessed many foreign tourists dutifully and honestly pay their $10 park fee. Thanks for pumping the much needed money into our state parks system. We took the quick and easy trail to a viewing point overlooking Mcway Cove and the falls. The trail was crowded with tons of visitors and I overhead people speaking German and French. Despite the overcast weather, the view of the cove and the waterfall was awesome and is definitely one of those classic Big Sur images. A little further down the trail were even more awesome views of the rugged Big Sur coastline as well as the remains of a stone house that stood overlooking the ocean. Back in the car, we backtracked north on Highway 1 towards the famous seaside town of Carmel. Wanting to visit something of historical significance, Shea had suggested we visit the local Spanish Mission. I hadn't visited a Spanish Mission since a field trip back in the 6th grade so I thought this was a good idea. As we entered the Carmel Mission, we noticed that there was a fee to enter. However, since the mission was closing in less than 15 minutes, we decided that it just would not be worthwhile. So we just turned around and got back into our car. Still in the need to visit someplace historical, we decided to head back into Monterey to see what we could find there. Driving through downtown Monterey, we came across a Round Table Pizza. To my surprise, I learned that this place was also one of Shea's favorite pizza places. Since they had closed the only Round Table Pizza back home, we decided to stop and have an early dinner despite not being very hungry. After gorging ourselves on pizza, we continued to drive around looking for something of historical significance. We made our way over to the Monterey Presidio. This fort was built by the Spanish in the late 1700's to protect the bay. Today, it is used by the U.S. Army. We found a small museum but it had already closed so we hiked to the top of a nearby hill to check out a monument at the top. Back in the car, we continued driving and stumbled upon Colton Hall. This was where California's Constitutional Convention was held back in 1849. We walked around the grounds and checked out Colton Hall which was all spruced up with red,white, and blue banners and decor in preparation for tomorrow's Independence Day. We also checked out the nearby city hall as well as the original jail. It was getting late in the evening so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest up and check out a local bar tonight. After searching the internet, we decided to head back downtown to Brittania Arms Pub. There was a big UFC fight tonight so we figured we would watch this but when we arrived, it was already over. We decided to stay and hang out over a few beers and make fun of the patrons and tourists. We eventually made it back to the hotel around midnight. Having made plans to watch the fireworks at a friend's house, we decided to head back home when we woke up the next morning.

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Photos

Jellyfish
Jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Jellyfish
Jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Kelp Forest
The large Kelp Forest tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey Canning Co.
Outside of the aquarium

Driving Down Highway 1
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

McWay Falls
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Driving Down Highway 1
Near Carmel

Driving Down Highway 1
Near Carmel

Driving Down Highway 1
Shea taking a break in the middle of the road

Colton Hall
Where California's Constitution was signed in 1849