The Monterey Bay Aquarium

As a part of our Carmel Valley Getaway, we often go to Cannery Row in Monterey. It's quite the street with loads of shops like the Rip Squeak Showroom (one of our favorite), the Ghirradeli Ice Cream Parlor, and of course the Aquarium. My Dada loves the Aquarium and all its cool ocean wildlife.

Everyone that heard we were going to the Aquarium thought I would just have the most excellent time there. I love penguins and whales and dolphins and water, so who would've known I would want nothing to do with the inside of that building. So we spent fifty bucks and about thirty minutes out on the observation deck before leaving to go back down Cannery Row. Here's a look at us on the observation deck, which had a pretty amazing view of Monterey Bay.





This place really was pretty cool. The open-sea tidal pool had all kinds of underwater life you could look down on and they had this awesome raised tidal pool where actual seawater would come rushing in and you could watch what happened in the pool with each wave. I found this area soothing, but didn't enjoy it as much as I would have normally because I knew lurking somewhere inside the building close by, there were hoards of screaming, obnoxious children I wanted no contact with. Anyway, here's a look at some of the wildlife we got to see.


You'll have to look close at the pic above to find the wildlife (other than the sea birds), but scattered about this rock outcropping are five or six seals. You can see one, the white spec at far right side of the rock, and the smaller rock out-cropping even further to the right, see how it looks sort of rounded. That's a seal as well. The others are pretty hidden, at least inthe picture. Maybe Mama will got Dada a camera like my Uncle Chris someday when life doesn't cost so much. On with the wildlife pics!



That last picture is of the open-sea tidal pool. The water was crystal clear and you could see a lot more than you can in the picture, but I can tell you everywhere you see a spec of orange, that's a STARFISH! Seriously, dudes! Way cool!


Mama and Dada finally got the courage to force me indoors, thinking that maybe a look at my most favorite animal in the whole world might get me interested in some of the other super cool secrets I hadn't yet discovered. I gave the penguins about two seconds before yanking Mama and Dada into the nearby giftshop where I found comfort with all the books and lifeless animal replicas. I'm sorry flightless bird friends, maybe next time. Alright, so that does it for the animal wildlife. Time to wrap this visit up with some of my favorite pics of the day.






So that concluded our Carmel Valley/Monterey trip. This is by far my most favorite vacation spot. Hope we get to go back soon. Choa for now, my peeps.

Hunter. Oh, and Merry Christmas!!