Red Chuck

Monterey

It's 9:45. Everyone is in bed but me. Helen has been whining because she wanted someone to remove the sales tag from the stuffed animal (a sea otter) we bought at the aquarium today. Harrison is alseep. Katherine just murmured form a half sleep "OK. Ya'll. I'm just so frustrated with everybody." Here we are at the end of another day on vacation.

The picture is from today at the aquarium. I love the light. We were sitting in an alcove having a snack. Actually we were just getting up from our snack to go to the next exhibition. I like this as a family portrait because its not your ordinary here-we-are-all-smiling-together-in-front-of-something-grand type picture. (Don't worry, I do have some of those from this weekend). But lets face it. Half of a family vacation is fun and half is hell. At this point in the game, we are all getting on each other's nerves a little bit. But don't worry, we've had fun.

Today, for instance, was pretty great. First we spent 2 hours at the aquarium. The jellyfish exhibit was amazing. Its a glowing, slow motion ballet of aqueous flower creatures. Mesmerizing. Strangely relaxing. Oh wait, they're piping some new age music in here. Oh well, this is California after all. So, moving on, the kelp forest was amazing. Would you just look at those giant stalks of kelp swaying in the tide!? Its so hypnotizing (tolerable new age music playing in the background, a loopy synthesizer piece, very Terry Riley-ish). Look! There's a bat ray! Look! There's a spotted fish! Look! There's a six year old boy with a mohawk! I mean, what mother would allow. . . There were so many things to see today at the aquarium. Harrison and Helen kept darting from window to window, wide eyed at each new discovery while Katherine and I both kept a watchful eye on them and on the throngs of people that surrounded us. Even on a Monday, the aquarium was very busy.

So after a side trip to the gift shop, we all strolled down Cannery Row until Helen started complaining that she wanted to go home. OK. Fair enough. We've had a busy morning. Assuming she needed a nap, we took the trolley back to the Hotel Pacific. After getting everyone settled, I went in search of lunch. 2 blocks away I found a great burrito place. I ordered a veggie for Katherine (her usual) and got myself a Super filled with chili verde. Then I returned to the hotel to find no one napping. Helen and Harrison were jumping on the bed, so we ate fast and then headed to El Estero Park.

After Harrison & Helen worked off some energy sliding down slides and climbing on the playground, we drove 2 miles NW to beautiful Pacific Grove. Within five minutes of being in the car, Helen fell asleep. Oh well. The rest of us enjoyed the ride. Pacific Grove is a surprising town. The architecture is like fusion cuisine. We saw an asian style adobe house as well as some victorian style motor lodges. Amazingly, none of this seemed tacky. Quaint, yes. But I think the clean sea air keeps you from looking at anything in Northern California with too critical an eye. So after cruising this little town, we made it to the beach where Harrison and I waded in the tidal pools in search of starfish, hermit crabs, anemones, and other coastal creatures that we had seen earlier at the aquarium.

From Pacific Grove we drove back to Monterey. Helen woke up when we got into town. The four of us spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through Monterey State Historic Park. We walked through the walled sanctuary of the Pacific House and the gardens of California's First Theater (lots of Morning Glories). After that we went in search of dinner. We ordered a cheese pizza (the child who will only eat french fries agreed to this compromise) and Katherine went off for falafel. I forgot to mention that Katherine was today's winner in the Don't Lose Your Cool parenting contest. I lost 3 points during the bed jumping incident. As I've said before, there's always tomorrow.

Overall, Monterey is a great town for a family trip. Its easy to get around. Our trip to the aquarium was a free trolley ride. Other than that, we walked everywhere (excluding the jaunt to Pacific Grove). Our hotel is a little pricey but I'd say its well worth it since we are right in the middle of everything we want to see and do. Also, we found a great market right around the corner which has enabled us to eat several meals in our hotel room's kitchenette, saving us both money and the hassle of dealing with little kids in a restaurant.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the Beat Museum is also right around the corner from where we are staying. The Beat Museum is full of beat poet memorabilia like a photograph of Allen Ginsberg taking a picture of the guy who owns and operates the Beat Museum (which is what the caption said instead of "Allen Ginsberg holding a camera in front of his face" which is what the caption also could have said), like a paperback copy of the Grove anthology "The Beats" sealed in a plastic bag, and like, not much else. Nevertheless, I did like the store, I mean, museum. I bought a later-years Ginsberg first edition though the store owner was really pushing some sort of Kerouac narrated art film on me. I said, "I think I'll stick with a book."

Tomorrow we get up early and head to Healdsburg to see some old friends and a little bit of the wine country. Our plan is to take the 101, stop in San Francisco for lunch, visit the Exploritorium, and then head north over the Golden Gate Bridge before rush hour begins.

Posted by Red Chuck at August 1, 2005 11:31 PM