[INSTALLMENT 8]
Down by the bay, where the cauliflower grows, stands a town called Monterey facing the ocean. Just an hour’s drive outside of San Jose, Monterey is the epitome of a seaside town, complete with bustling shopping strips and densely-packed beach houses along the rocky coast. Specifically, a formerly bustling cannery morphed into one of the most well-known aquariums in the world—the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Home to puffins, otters, giant bluefin tuna, scores of jellyfish, hammerhead sharks, stingrays, South African penguins, and much much more, the Aquarium attracts an average of 2 million worldwide visitors per year. Thanks to the generous staff of the aquarium, The Shield acquired two press passes to the grand exhibit. This installment, fellow writer Mia Hanuska will be joining me under the sea in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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Welcome back travelers, to The Daily Explorer. In this series, I travel (often with Journalism guests) to interesting entertaining places within the Bay Area. With these accounts, I hope to inspire the readers of The Shield to explore their hometown and demonstrate that there’s always something new to explore.
Keep an eye out for some of your favorite writers from The Shield, as some may accompany me on these adventures in the future. If you have any favorite places, restaurants, parks, etc, please email me at emi.gruender@gmail.com to issue a recommendation. Your name and input about the place in question will be credited.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the blog-style ride of The Daily Explorer!
Monday, January 20
9:36 am, Hit the Road, Jack
The Monterey Bay Aquarium opens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. Seeing as the drive would last approximately an hour and a half, we decided to get a head start. Luckily, my parents were comfortable with my driving the both of us to Monterey alone–as long as we stuck to US Interstate Highway 101 through Gilroy, where the road wouldn’t be as windy. Both of our phones were at a pitiful <20%, and through our endeavors to charge our phones on the road, we learned that a 2010 Toyota Prius does not, in fact, charge efficiently. The drive was more tedious than difficult, (excluding the moments where Mia forgot how to navigate) but we passed the time effortlessly by blasting songs by The Happy Fits.
11:02 am, Down By the Bay
After driving through the flat rolling fields that make up Morgan Hill and Gilroy, we finally arrived. Since it was a holiday, (MLK Jr. Day), we decided not to try and find parking in Cannery Row (the location of the aquarium and the most popular shopping strip regionally) and instead parked a half a mile away in the winding beach house neighborhoods. Since some family friends had recently moved to Pacific Grove, we tried to pay them a visit, but unfortunately, they were off somewhere playing pickleball.
The short walk to the aquarium was beyond frigid. Mia had only ever gone to Monterey once before and therefore was shivering in her boots and thin fleece coat. The temperature warmed up once we stepped inside the aquarium, luckily. Thank you again, staff of Monterey Bay Aquarium, for accommodating us!
11:30 pm, Everything Looks Bigger When You’re Short
My only memories of the Bay Aquarium stem from the occasional visits with my family when I was younger. Today, it was packed full of waist-height children running around and poking at the poor fishies behind the glass. As we explored, the bittersweet realization hit me that this place was no longer for us— late teenagers, that is. The magic that used to imbue the halls is still there, of course, but it shines even brighter for the little children roaming the halls—for whom the bluefin tuna look like giants, and the suspended whale statues look as if they could swallow them whole.
We stopped by the South African penguin exhibit just in time for the feeding. A kind guide with a microphone sat the thunderous horde of parents and children alike on the tile floor so that everyone could see the penguins gobble up their breakfast whole. Though it was fun to watch, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we didn’t quite belong among the tired-eyed parents and the crowds of eight to eleven-year-olds.
12:37 pm, Wandering
For the rest of our time in the aquarium, we ogled at the 1.2 million gallon Deep Sea tank, gently petted the backs of sea urchins and decorator crabs, and admired the flower-like jellyfish in their tanks downstairs. Though most of the otters were napping, we did catch small glimpses of them gliding through the water and wiping at their cute little faces. After about three to four hours of exploring, we decided to stop by the gift shop in search of “fish socks” for Mia. She’s a sock junkie, as demonstrated by her daily fashion show in the Journalism classroom. Unfortunately, she did not fall in love with any of them. With a stamp on our hands just in case we wanted to revisit later, we left the Aquarium to further explore Cannery Row.
1:01 pm, A Far Fall into Cannery Row Caverns
At this point, both of our phones were at a modest 4% and 23% battery. Neither of us had portable chargers, and the car was still far back in the surrounding neighborhood. Despite being over 66 miles away from home, we decided to wander around anyway. Right behind the massive Bubba Gump restaurant facing cold sands, we went into a collection of small shops, where an eye-catching pirate attraction sunk into the ground. Both Mia and I were intrigued, and with the help of an MLK Jr. Day discount, we were able to acquire tickets. Apparently, an elevator downstairs would “bring us 300 ft below the ground, into the newly-discovered ‘Cannery Caverns’ where we would fight with evil pirates for a bounty of treasure.”
We were entirely impressed by the sheer quality of the surroundings, with the ambient mood lighting and the wood-paneled rickety elevator.
“What millionaire decided to build this in the middle of Cannery Row?” we asked each other. With some quite impressive VFX, we “descended into the caverns” and talked with realistic animatronics, until we were finally strapped into the ride, where we were given “treasure-collecting-guns.”
The entire thing was tame, just as a ride smack-dab in the middle of Cannery Row would be, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Mia and I made a bet on who would collect the most treasure, and unfortunately, Mia beat me into the ground.
2:14 pm, Happy Girls Lunchtime
Around this time, we were getting hungry. We stopped by for lunch at Happy Girl Kitchen, apparently the last functioning cannery in Cannery Row, played a couple of tunes on a thrift store piano, and went to visit the family friends that were playing pickleball before. It was really nice to go to a new city for the Daily Explorer, and unfortunately, we had to leave Monterey before the sun dipped below the horizon.
PHOTO ALBUM:
THE VERDICT:
- Dress warmly for the coast. If you’ve ever been in foggy San Francisco, you know what to expect.
- Bring children to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Though the experience is enjoyable for teenagers and adults, the magic is most palpable when the life forms are under four feet tall.
- Charge. Your. Phone. Otherwise, you will not be able to get many good photos. Personally, I was disappointed that my phone died before I could take many photos of my fellow Explorer.
- Driving down 101 instead of Highway 17 is a much less stressful trek.
Join me in the next issue for yet another adventure, hopefully when both Explorers’ phones are fully charged, and there aren’t a total of twelve photographs to document the experience.
Signing off until the next issue,
The Daily Explorer