Unexpectedly, we decided to settle in Monterey for longer than we had planned.
I’m not altogether sure why.
We just did.
While we were in town we walked absolutely fucking miles.
Again.
Like the 173-mile walk to Muscle Beach.
But different.
A couple of years ago I re-read Steinbeck’s ‘Cannery Row‘ for the reading group we used to attend/Soph used to run, in Worcestershire.
Being in Monterey was an interesting opportunity to look at the setting of the book through a set of 21st Century eyes.
Monterey is pretty.
The authorities and planners have worked hard to build the town as something of a Steinbeck heritage centre/centre of marine conservation.
The shorefront has been extensively remodelled, over the last few years, to give the place a retro feel of the ‘depression’ era.
But without the main threads of the depression, obv.
The well-promoted Aquarium has many interesting exhibits and themes to capture young and enquiring minds.
But at $60 entrance fee for two people, that’s stupidly expensive.
The layout inside is chaotic and very poorly signed, and the peculiar internal design doesn’t make the place user friendly but, as I’ve said, the quality of the visuals are above average.
And Soph was sticking her head in an exhibit when she made a new friend.
We also got to see these guys from two different aspects:
We also had the opportunity to see these guys up close and personal:
On the walk back to the hotel, we could hear the barking/baying of seals so clearly they could have been very close.
Umm… this close?
The next stop in our hectic schedule will be San Francisco.
We’re going to continue driving up Route 1, rather than using the freeways.
We’re such crazy kids.
I spent a month in California, many years ago, staying with a pen friend.
She lived in Santa Cruz – a very typical American town (I remember the kids across the street selling home-made lemonade from their front garden gate).
We visited Monterey – which I remember as being quite pretty, as you say. She also took me to Carmel – another lovely little town which had Clint Eastwood as it’s mayor at the time… as I remember.
I caught the Greyhound bus to San Fransisco and absolutely loved the place. I’m sure you will too.
I wonder if that British Fish & Chip shop is still on Fisherman’s Wharf. Take a ride on one of the trams and let me know, wil’ya?
Wowsa! You had a female pen friend? And you stayed with her for a month? We’re gleaning snippets of information you have kept carefully hidden, young Masher. There is a British F&C shop, as well as a couple of British and Irish pubs and a British-looking Cafe in town. We’ve successfully avoided them all; not because we’re snobbish, but because we could do these things at home, if we wanted. Anyway. This pen friend of yours….
Yes: a PEN friend! Pre-Internet.
We used to WRITE to each other. How archaic.
It’s not what you think though, I can guarantee that 😉
Probably worthy of a blog post one day though.
I look forward to the anecdote. And I wonder how you can guarantee that. 🙂