I’ve been on and off of California State Route 1 and US 101 ever since I left the Avenue of Giants, and yesterday I crossed one of the best known landmarks on that route, the Golden Gate Bridge.  Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, it was a foggy morning, but that didn’t really diminish the experience.  I’ve been over quite a few high suspension bridges on this trip — to be honest, the US seems to have a thing for them — but there’s just something so iconic, majestic, and funky about the Golden Gate.

I really should stop taking pictures while I’m driving or I’m going to get in an accident.  But how could I not??

In my usual spirit of avoiding major crowds and major expenses, I decided to drive through San Francisco, but not to stop there.  It’s a lovely city, and there’s a lot to see and do there, but I’m not a big city person, so decided to give it a miss.  Instead, I drove south along the coast to Monterey, one of my favorite places in the world.  I used to attend a yearly conference there at the Naval Postgraduate School, and could probably live there pretty happily.  I got an early start in the morning, and walked into town along the coast.  The sea lions were stretched on the rocks, and early paddlers were out on their SUPs (stand up paddleboards).

I made my way down to Cannery Row just as the shops and cafes were opening, finding a nice latte and breakfast parfait to start me off.  The street itself seems little changed, but got a lot more crowded than I remembered as the day went on.  Then it suddenly occurred to me that this was a long weekend, Labor Day weekend, so there were probably a lot more visitors than usual taking a last trip before the kids return to school next week at the end of summer vacation.

I have to wonder though, why the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is still in business… why is this still a thing?  Why was this ever a thing?!?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a must-see place when you’re in the area, although at $50 per adult, it seems a bit more pricey than I remembered.  Still, must see.  The big tanks there are really great to just sit back and watch, and when there’s not a million people there, it’s also very peaceful.  There were a million people when I was there, so it wasn’t peaceful.

The biggest octopus seemed to be a bit frightened too, and just hung out in the corner of his tank, trying not to be flashed.  I could sympathise.

The tall kelp tank was really lovely, with lots of sharks swimming through, and there was theater style seating where I hung out for a while.  Better than most movies I’ve seen recently!

Outside in the tide pool area, there seemed to have been an invasion of pelagic red crabs, the largest explosion of them ever seen along the coast, apparently, probably due to changing weather patterns.  They were having small diving classes for the kids so that they could get among them and learn about them.

One of my favorite creatures here is always the sea otters.  I arrived in just in time to see feeding time, and in addition to a regular meal, they also got these balls filled with squid and other meats that they had to work to get at.  A couple of them resorted to banging the balls against the viewing windows, which was a real hit with the audience.

Another really beautiful area of the aquarium was a the jellies section, although I’d advise you to turn your volume down before viewing this because of the screaming kids.

As the morning wore on and more people came to the aquarium, it began to feel like this… like sardines.

If you know me personally, you’ll be aware that I’m not someone who likes crowds.  To say that I run in panic from waves of humanity would be an understatement, and when you add the screaming kiddies, I just kind of lose my cool.  When I glanced outside and saw the huge line of additional people waiting to get in, I ran.  Yes, the aquarium is a beautiful place, and well worth seeing, but if I come back maybe it will be on a Wednesday evening or something.  I just can’t even appreciate it in a crowd.

I consoled myself with a hot chocolate at Ghirardelli Chocolates while looking out over the ocean, and started to feel normal again.  Well, like myself, anyway…

I wandered among the shops, which seemed much less crowded, and appreciated the variety in everything, including the salt water taffy.

I don’t remember seeing this statue here before, and actually I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dolphin here either, but ah well, it was pretty.

As I walked back toward my car, I noticed that there was a Dali exhibit at the museum that looked quite good.

But the aquarium had made me a bit shy of crowds in enclosed spaces, so instead I opted to go to a Greek festival in the main park.  Food is always a major part of Greek festivals, and it was after lunch time after all.

I also walked down to the Coast Guard pier, and found that it had been taken over by sea lions.  These were really very funny as they barked and growled and jostled for good positions.  It’s worth having the volume on again for this one..

After wandering down the Old Fisherman’s Wharf for a while, I was feeling much better and Monterey’s charm had come back to me.  I still love the place, and it still has a progressive yet rustic and earthy atmosphere that’s all it’s own, but maybe I’ll avoid holiday weekends here in the future.  As I was passing by a shop on the main street, I saw kites.  It was a beautiful day, so I got one and went down to the main beach.  I spent the rest of the day fishing for clouds.  Yep, still love Monterey.