California Day 2

On our second day in California, we did so much that we tired ourselves out!

First thing we did was go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium right as it opened, which was at 9. We walked down there (it is about a twenty minute walk from where we are staying) and saw some sea otters out in the bay! We spent about four hours at the aquarium, seeing everything. We saw the sea otters get fed and the creatures in the outerbay tank get fed. There were three hammerhead sharks, a galapagos shark, and some baracuda along with tuna (fact: tuna can get up to 1500 lbs in weight. I did not know that), sardines, rays, and other fishes. We ate there, splitting yet another $9 sandwich.

We walked back to the house, rested up for just a bit, then invited my sister and bro-in-law to go to the Point Pinos lighthouse with us. This is the oldest working lighthouse on the west coast. In the late 1800s, a woman was the sole light keeper of the lighthouse. It was smaller than I though it would be.

After the lighthouse my bro-in-law took us into historic downtown Monterey. We saw the oldest theatre in California, and another house that John Steinbeck lived in. He lived in this one with his second wife while he wrote The Pearl (the only Steinbeck I have ever read). It is now part of the campus of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, which is where my bro-in-law goes to school. We walked down to fisherman's wharf, where we saw some sea lions. We also tasted the best clam chowder on the west coast from several different restaurants.

We eventually went back to the house, ate dinner, relaxed for a bit, then went on a bike ride down to Cannery Row for some ice cream. The ride there was wonderful! but the ride back was all up hill with a head wind. And since neither of us have ridden a bike in who knows how long, we were pretty exhausted when we got back to the house. But it was only 8:30, so we found ways to keep ourselves awake until we could go to bed without feeling like bums. (We went to bed at 10).

Another day is ahead of us!