A Day In Monterey

This week my daughter had a day with no school and we decided to go down to Monterey.  We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which, when my kids were small, we had membership to and used to visit frequently.  But it's been several years since we've been.  Once I got over the shock of how expensive the entry fee was, we found that we still remembered where things were.  We had a wonderful time exploring the new and familiar exhibits.  Right near the main entrance is the sea otter exhibit and they were feeding them when we arrived which was so much fun.  We regularly see otters at the beach, but it was fun to watch them splashing and playing up close.  

Highlights for me were the jellies, puffins, octopus and aviary. For my daughter, it was the touch pools especially with the rays.

This octopus is huge, several feet long!  He was pretty active, moving around the tank.

Below is the kelp forest with anchovies swimming in a cyclone to protect themselves.  They kept shifting shape, it was completely mesmerizing.  It was just like the fish do in "Finding Nemo" - if you've seen that movie, you know what I mean!

After our visit to the Aquarium, we ate, wandered round some of the little tourist shops and explored this little beach.