This is now the seventh diary in my series with details and photos from my vacation trip taken in early June on this year. Hubby and I took my mother-in-law and her little black dog on a road trip around California. The intrepid travelers were last seen in Sonoma, where I, at least, learned some history I didn’t know. Now we’re ready to proceed down the coast (more or less). During that day, our only stop was to make a brief visit to my nephew who had bought a house in Mountain View a couple years ago. I hadn’t yet seen the house, and it was nice to see that he had managed to accomplish what is regarded as impossible: obtain property in the bay area. The next day, we headed for the coast. Please make the jump for more travel and photos…
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Our next goal was Monterey, to do some sight-seeing and visit the aquarium. It had been 20 years since the last time I had visited the aquarium, and hubby had never seen it. First, a not-very-good photo of the otter exhibit. Note the one on the far left has a toy in its mouth.
Here are photos of a couple of the humongous fish tanks in the aquarium. In the first photo, there is a school of anchovies toward the top that were shimmering silver in the sunlight. Unfortunately, that effect did not translate to the photo itself.
There was also a shorebird exhibit where one could get very close to the birds, without a barrier.
One must always have penguins:
One of many jellyfish tanks:
And some cuttlefish:
There were also a number of interactive displays, particularly designed for children to get their hands wet, literally, including a ray-petting tank.
As I mentioned before, it had been 20 years since I had last been to Monterey. Perhaps my memory is not so good, but it seems that in that time, Cannery Row has been transformed into one giant shopping mall and tourist trap. Other than buying coffee, we really didn’t spend any time there.
Proceeding on toward Carmel (or will I be fined for not calling it Carmel-by-the-Sea?), one has the choice of proceeding down the coast on a scenic route called the 17 Mile Drive. It costs $10, but we did it anyway. The drive passes Pebble Beach and a number of other exclusive real estate. I didn’t take any photos of houses here, really—I was concentrating on the coast itself:
This is what is called “the Lone Cypress.” It’s reputed to be one of the most photographed trees in the world, and here’s mine.
Finally, we got to Carmel, where we stayed at a hotel that was something of a throwback. It was called the Wayfarer Inn, and clearly dated back to the 1940s or 1950s. there were a lot of stairs to climb, and no elevators, so getting around is a challenge for guests with limited mobility (such as my mother-in-law). But take a look at the courtyard!
While we were sitting there, a hummingbird came to visit some of the flowers. The door of our room had an old-fashioned Dutch door, so you could open the top portion while leaving the bottom portion closed (and the dog won’t get out).
Carmel is a very dog-friendly town. A large number of the restaurants and bistros allow you to bring your dog. This is due in part to the animal advocacy of a celebrity-resident, Doris Day. We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant with our little black dog in tow, near other people who had also brought their dogs. (It was an excellent meal, but oy was it expensive!) The beach at Carmel is also dog friendly. In the morning, my mother-in-law and I brought her dog down to the ocean, but she (the dog) got about ten feet from the water’s edge and sat down. She had no intention of going into the water.
We then took off for a visit to the mission in Carmel (described here) followed by the long drive down the coast along Route 1 through Big Sur. Below is the only photo from Big Sur—lattes obtained at a coffee shop in the town of Big Sur itself. It being a Saturday, traffic was a bit of a problem, and parking along the coast was even worse. I did try to get a few shots, but none was worth keeping. So if you want to see sights along the Big Sur coast, go google a car commercial.
Our destination that day was San Luis Obispo, where we would visit with a childhood friend of my mother-in-law, as well as do some touristy stuff. Our adventures in San Luis Obispo will be covered in a future diary.
Now, on to the comments!
Top Comments (August 10, 2016):
From Black Olive:
StellaRay’s comment describes a healthy attitude toward how candidates “evolve” on issues, and how insisting on voting for a candidate you “love” limits the chances for progressive change. From Egberto Willies’ recommended post Gay man’s message to Hillary-bashers touches a nerve.
From HedwigKos:
AnnikaQED sets out the situation in its clearest possible terms. In Hunter's diary, Trump's 'Second Amendment' threat against Clinton is a dangerous call for violence
From igualdad:
Mogolori describes Trump's recent melt down on twitter:
“This is what a mental breakdown looks like, 140 characters at a time.”
From TomP’s recommended post Trump Lashes Out with Tweet about Morning Joe.
From Tara the Antisocial Social Worker:
In El Mito's diary on Republican women defecting from Trump, Railfan coins a useful new verb.
From your humble diarist:
I have three comments I’d like to draw attention to. First, our beloved noweasels reposted a tweet pointing out what’s missing in all the brouhaha over Turmps’ “Second Amendment” threat to Hillary Clinton. from Hunter’s front page post Wednesday Trump Dump.
Next, there are two comments in Kerry Eleveld’s front page post, Trump joins ‘Little Marco’ at event where organizer calls LGBT rights ‘homosexual totalitarianism.’ First, there’s this comment by Olds88 that quantifies what “never” means to Marco Rubio. Then there is this comment by Ms Folded that informs us of what many people say.
Highlighted by delver:
This comment by mspicata in Joan McCarter’s front page post Trump campaign talking points on “Second Amendment” threats.
Top Mojo (August 9, 2016):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Photos (August 9, 2016):
Tonight’s picture quilt is courtesy of jotter!