Monterey Bay Aquarium

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Geo: 36.5544, -121.924

This morning we woke up late. I was impressed because usually Arya has us up at 7am on our days off. It was after 8am and both her and hubby were still passed out. I finally decided I needed coffee, and me getting out of bed woke up Arya. So I headed down to the reception building to grab a breakfast tray to bring back up to our room while Chris took care of her. One of the things I love about Briarwood Inn is you're not forced to eat the free breakfast with everyone else. I honestly don't mind that when it's just me and Chris but having a toddler is a game changer for meals. It's nice to have one meal where I'm not worried about disturbing other guests or Arya running around all over the place.

After breakfast we packed up and headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it was a quick drive. Chris needed a fast Walgreens detour for some toiletries while I took care of getting us some more coffee from a cafe downtown. Then we drove a few minutes more towards Cannery Row. We parked away from the Row itself because parking gets more expensive the closer you get and they were having some sort of marathon that day anyway.

My big shocker was how expensive the Aquarium has gotten over the years. I knew it wasn't cheap but I could have sworn it used to be around $30/person. It cost us $100 for just two adults!!! Arya was free at least. But holy shit, that was a lot of money! I am praying that the exorbitant cost is going towards something good like conservation 'cause damn... Other than that, the Aquarium was as awesome as I remembered.

We headed straight to the penguin exhibit to watch feeding time. Then we wandered in and out of various exhibits looking at fish. Arya played on an indoor playground for awhile. We grabbed lunch, also very expensive, but impressively good for museum food. I had this amazing salmon salad sandwich, Chris had a freshly made fish burrito and Arya ate a huge dish of mac 'n cheese. I wondered what the irony was of eating fish in an aquarium that conserves fish.... They were tasty fishes, though. We touched manta rays and starfish. Wandered under a "wave room"- Arya wasn't too thrilled. I loved it. We watched sea otters playing and waving- they're freaking adorable. Finally, we tried watching one of their short shows in the theatre- this one was about a deep sea machine that studies marine life- but Arya was losing her crap by then. It was well past her usual nap time.

So we quickly stopped in the souvenir shop to buy a few things, found her the coolest blinky light whirling toy we could find to pacify the toddler monster and then headed back to the B&B for nap time. It was a late nap again so by the time she awoke it was time for dinner. Our original plan had been to buy fresh raviolis from the local shop like we usually do but it turned out they were closed on Sundays! We had totally been looking forward to those so we had to come up with another plan. Right across the street was Hog Breath's Inn so I made the executive decision we'd be eating there. Every time we go to Carmel we walk by that place, and every time we talk about how we need to eat there because the sign and menu are so intriguing. Time to do it.

Goddamn, we were not disappointed. We should have eaten there years ago! They have this awesome outdoor patio with tons of lights, plants and outdoor fireplaces. The setting was amazing by itself. Then there were too many delicious looking plates on the menu so we ended up buying two appetizers (Crab Cakes and the best artichoke cheese dip I've ever had) to split along with a steak with peppercorn gravy on it. And of course beer. The food was incredibly good. And all the while Arya couldn't sit still because she's a toddler. So we took turns wandering the patio area with her. Eventually two ladies with a large dog sat next to our table, and they thankfully seemed more entertained than anything with Arya. Arya was very interested in petting their dog. So it was a win-win. Even though we were stuffed we ordered dessert and after-dinner drinks. Go big or go home. I gained a glorious ten pounds in weight.

And of course we ended our night the way we usually do, watching movies and drinking wine. Not that I could fit much wine in me after all that food.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Monterey!
...and a great aquarium