Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

After checking out of the hotel room, we trekked back downtown and over to Cannery Row, where we stopped for cafe mochas at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop, and then went back to the Aquarium for our second day of admission. This time, we mainly looked at otters. The new otter exhibit focuses on freshwater otters, while the main building has their famous sea otters. The otters are so cute! I could watch them for hours, but we weren't planning on spending the whole day. Instead, we walked a ways down toward Pacific Grove and back on the trail, then stopped for lunch at Louie Linguini's, where, as it happens, we sat directly above where we'd sat for the mochas earlier that day. In both cases, we watched small children get soaked by the surf and seagulls wait for food to fall from the restaurants above.

After lunch, it was back up the path, with stops to watch sea otters in the marina and harbor seals working hard at basking in the sun in the cove next to the old Fisherman's Wharf. We then stopped at a British foods shop on the Alvarado Mall, where we bought some good cheese. Finally it was back to the van, which we'd left parked at the hotel, and we hit the road back to the Bay Area.

It's not a long drive back, but with the sun and the exercise, I found myself having to work hard to stay awake, so I stopped part-way along to get a Coke, and we also had to get some groceries before finally getting home around 7 PM. An early night tonight is indicated, I think.

Overall, this was a really nice weekend. I would recommend the Casa Munras hotel as long as you don't mind the walk (about 2 miles or so to the Aquarium, but it is convenient to Downtown and the Fisherman's Wharf area). It looks like it will be somewhat nicer once the current renovations are complete. The rooms are a little small compared to what I'm used to, but the beds are nice. You can stay at other places for less -- the Travelodge across the street was about $40/night less; OTOH our room included two tickets to the Aquarium -- but the hotel staff here seemed very attentive and I'd stay here again if the opportunity presents itself.

Having two-day tickets for the Monterey Bay Aquarium means not feeling obliged to be there first thing in the morning, so the only constraint on our time this morning was the beginning of the Cricket World Cup game (and we have sufficient bandwidth here to watch it, unlike the hotel in Naperville) and the included continental breakfast, which ended at 10 AM. Eventually we made our leisurely way (it's about 3 km) down to Cannery Row and the Aquarium, browsing the shops and stopping for a coffee along the way.

Then it was in to the Aquarium. I recommend getting advance tickets or getting them through your hotel package like we did, because it allows you to use the faster side entrance, rather than having to wait through the long queue out front. New this season is a big otter exhibit, which we did first, but the entire Aquarium is fascinating and well worth spending a day-plus exploring at your leisure.

About 2:30, we decided it was time for lunch and walked back down Cannery Row, picking out the Blue Moon Seafood Bistro, where we were shown to a nice table by the window. From there, we enjoyed our respective lunches of crab risotto and clam linguini and watched children playing tag with the surf on the beach below.

As we were finishing our lunch, we saw three divers making their way to shore. We then saw that there were four harbor seals following the divers, circling around them and generally giving the impression of puppies following someone home. The divers made their way to shore, but the seals stayed slightly out to sea. They seemed so disappointed that the humans didn't want to stay and play.

After lunch, we returned to the Aquarium and stayed nearly until closing. I think we managed to see everything there. As it passed 6 PM, we could feel our feet complaining as we walked back up the pedestrian/bike trail (formerly the Southern Pacific Monterey Branch serving the canneries) to out hotel. Cheryl broke out her umbrella as it started to drizzle. We got back to the hotel just before it really started to pour.

As I sit here composing this, I see that Cheryl has fallen asleep, and I can't say as I blame her. The Aquarium is fun, but spending the day on our feet is not something we're accustomed to doing. On the other hand, I observed that, unlike my usual work day where I sit in an office all day, I had circulation in my fingers around 6 PM.

We haven't decided on dinner yet, but rain may make us less willing to wander afield too far, and if we stay in too late, we'll be forced into the Denny's across the street, which does seem a bit of a waste.