After a few days in the desert and mountains of California, we headed back to the coast.  The 6 hour drive from Lone Pine to Monterey gave us the opportunity to see new parts of California, such as glimpses of Salinas Valley the “salad bowl of the world” and the largest mission in California in historic San Juan Bautista.  Since it was a long drive to Monterey we headed straight to the aquarium, passing through Cannery Row.  Luckily, on Monday nights at the aquarium they host free wine tasting and jazz performances.  Just missing the afternoon crowds we got to enjoy the amazing exhibits.  A nice feature about this aquarium was each floor had a balcony to overlook the bay.  Inside you learned about the local wildlife, then could look outside at the sea otters, seals and sea lions playing in the water, along with many birds.   We were fascinated by the number of exhibits and diversity of the animals.  Being located at the end of Cannery Row, it was nice to see the exhibits featuring schools of sardines and the small cannery exhibit.  After touring the aquarium, we participated in the free wine tasting and listened to some live jazz.   We then explored Cannery Row, where shops and restaurants have taken the place of the once booming sardine industry which was made famous by the JD Salinger book, Cannery Row.  We were able to enjoy some of the history while walking along the quiet alleys and overlooks.

Being hungry and not having any meals worth talking about since leaving San Francisco, we were excited to get a decent dinner.  We apprehensively decided on a vegan Mexican restaurant near Cannery Row called El Cantaro. Surprisingly the menu looked authentic, cheap, and delicious.  We ordered lots of food, paid little for it, and had an amazing meal. After dinner, we went back to explore the beaches and watch the sunset.  We passed by a small beach covered with harbor seals.  We watched them play in the surf, move up and down the sand, and just relax.   Watching a seal play in the waves is entertaining.  Even better is to watch them scoot up the beach.

We didn’t have much time in Monterey, but we enjoyed what we saw.