We got a REALLY late start this morning. We woke up at 10:00am but, lucky for us, we had to turn the clocks back, so it was only 9:00am!!! We turned on the TV and JAWS was on, so you know we had to watch it. We had missed most of it and it was already up to the part where the three guys are on the boat. It’s such a classic, and we hadn’t seen it in a long time, so we watched the last hour. It was everything we remembered.
After showers we headed into town, I got my Starbucks, we filled up on gas, and headed to Monterey. We drove around Downtown Monterey (not very impressive) and then went to Fisherman’s Wharf and parked the RV.
It was such a gorgeous day – just perfect. We looked at all the boats in the marina (there were hundreds), walked along the boardwalk, and then spotted the MARITIME MUSEUM OF MONTEREY.
This museum celebrates the region’s historic ties to the sea. We saw a film explaining the history of Monterey, which was California’s first capital. Exhibit displays include scale models of ships, collections made of ivory and abalone, and objects brought up from shipwrecks off the Monterey Coast.
This Caretto, a utilitarian Sicilian cart on display in the lobby of the museum, was brought to the United States in the 1950s and is still used every year in the Fiesta Italia Santa Rosalia.
This First Order Fresnel Lens guided ships along the Central California Coast:
Memorabilia from the Del Monte Hotel:
A collection of Abalone shell items, including a giant abalone shell!
The museum was wonderful (as you can see from the photos). Everything was so beautifully displayed. Most of the collection previously belonged to Allen Knight and was donated by his wife after he died with the understanding that a museum would be built. It took a few years (and a $1 million donation from another benefactor), but the museum opened in its current location in 1992. We had a great time looking at all the artifacts.
Eric enjoying the model ships:
A sewing box, used for intricate embroidery, made of paper mache and ivory:
We worked up an appetite at the museum, so we headed to the wharf where there is restaurant after restaurant after souvenir shop after souvenir shop. It’s all food and souvenirs!
We looked at menu after menu, but decided to eat at OLD FISHERMAN’S GROTTO, because they had a sign stating that they only serve fish caught responsibly. We learned at the Monterey Bay Aquarium that there are certain fish that are caught or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. We are going to stick to eating those fish. Dungeness Crab is on the “Best Choices” list and Eric had a hankering for some since we got to San Francisco. We had Dungeness Crab Cocktail in Gilroy, but he wanted the real thing (where you have to crack it open and get all messy to get the meat).
He ordered the “Fisherman’s Platter,” which included a crab cake, half a Dungeness Crab, two large scallops, and one shrimp on a bed of rice with broccoli and carrots. I had the “New Orleans,” which was lemon sole stuffed with crab and shrimp on mashed potatoes with broccoli and carrots. The food was really good and the views of the water were fabulous.
There were two people in kayaks getting a lesson and it made me think of my sister, Audrey, who is a kayaking enthusiast. I wonder if she learned the same way. The teacher was standing in the water while the people were learning the techniques and he even turned the kayak over, dunking them, so he could teach them how to use the oar to turn themselves upright again.
There were sea gulls at the window, begging for scraps, but no one would feed them. I wanted to, but Eric said he’s sure they don’t like you to do that. They were so cute and were very persistent!
After dinner, we walked around some more, but it was getting very chilly, so we stopped at CAROUSEL’S CANDIES on the wharf and bought some fudge and a candy apple before heading back to the RV. We had to get back to the campground (and the cable TV) by 7:00pm, because Eric wanted to watch THE SIMPSONS. They were repeating two half-hour episodes at 7:00pm and then at 8:00pm they had the TREEHOUSE OF HORROR Halloween special. Eric is a big SIMPSONS fan, so he didn’t want to miss it.
Unfortunately, we hit a traffic jam on the way home on 101N, and there was a LOT of fog, too. We still made it back in time (thank goodness) and Eric was happily watching while I figured out where we’ll stay next (Pismo Beach) and what town we’ll visit (San Luis Obispo). We will be visiting a lot of great towns on our way down to San Diego, and we’re really looking forward to this last week on the road.