California Blog #04: Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay, California. This was where I lived here when I was a little baby. And I really enjoyed the ocean there. My dad and I swam in it also. I can also remember visiting downtown Monterey Bay for window shopping or eating out.

That part of Monterey Bay is Cannery Row. This is where people who live here go there to shop, eat, or even hang out at the beach. It's a waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California. The last cannery was closed in 1973. And it was the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories. The street name, formerly a nickname for Ocean View Avenue, became official in January 1958 to honor John Steinbeck and his well-known novel Cannery Row. In the novel's opening sentence, Steinbeck described the street as "a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream."  A nice walk around the Cannery is where people check out the small shops around. Speaking of which, I was there and I thought that I saw that restaurant called "Taco Bueno". I didn't that was in the state of California. But that wasn't in California, I saw one in Oklahoma one time.

This one originated in Abilene, TX long time ago. And the trademark logo looked like this.

In case you didn't know, it was used in the 1980s and 1990s. I wish that I'd would visit there.

Anyway, one time we got to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to look at aquatic life from the ocean. We got to see plenty of fish, sea otters, sharks, dolphins, marine mammals, whales, and seals. I even got to look at a time lapse film on the high and low tides of the ocean.

Also there was this place that my dad and I went to for lunch. And that was Bubba Gump. It was named after the movie 'Forrest Gump'. We had some shrimp and fries that day.

I'll never forget that restaurant...

Whenever I visit, I take a walk around the beach here. And one time, I would see some seagulls on the Cormorant "condo". I'll also never forget the time I lived here. If I were to visit here again, I could gaze around the bay and look at the waves of the ocean as they feel the rush. Heck, I can even go swimming in the ocean just the time when I was a baby. Those were really really really good times together.

My mission also to that is maybe visit Monterey more often when I live in California again in the future. And you know, another thoughtful idea on that one is that maybe I can ride my bike around Monterey.

This is a bike path called the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail. It extends from Castroville in the north to Pacific Grove in the south, but the stretch between Fisherman's Wharf and Lovers Point is hands-down the most popular section.

In San Francisco, there's the Fisherman's Wharf. Which is also a great place to visit.

It also has the Pier 38. It's like a mall but outdoors.

Okay. So you guys haven't heard of Lovers Point. But in case you knew, it's also in Monterey. And it's also in the city of Pacific Grove in California.

Perfect for recreation and of course the beach.

Once we move back here, I will visit Lovers Point anytime. Maybe my dad and I will ride our bikes there all around the bay. It'll be just like the time we both rode our bikes on the Lawrence River trail in Kansas. Who knows what else we might even see here.

What a coincidence on what's next...

At Monterey, there's many kinds of museums to look at. There's the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey County Youth Museum, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, and there's a museum with Salvador Dalí exhibitions and works of art.

Now the Old Fisherman's Wharf is in Monterey also. It was used as an active wholesale fish market into the 1960s, and now it's a tourist attraction. It's got shops, eateries, and all that. It's even got whale watching and ocean activities. The other Fisherman's Wharf is in San Francisco. I don't know, I was just kinda confusing you. But that would be my future plans for that too.