Thanksgiving Holiday Trip part 1: Monterey

We took a short trip to Monterey and Carmel for Thanksgiving holiday and these are the highlights of our vacation.


Part I: Monterey Bay Aquarium


This truly is a fantastic place to visit for a number of reasons. First off, their exhibits are pretty impressive ranging from the big mammals and birds to the colorful fish to the tiny invertebrates. Also, every exhibit is accompanied by little educational signs about the habitat and characteristics of the organism shown. They have several different touch tanks areas for us who want a closer look at these animals, as well as numerous educational programs and animal feedings that you can watch. Information on simple things we all can do to help the environment and the ocean animals are also found throughout the aquarium. 

Their current exhibits include the open sea, the giant octopus, the kelp forest, the sea otters, the secret lives of seahorses, the world-famous jellyfish, the penguins, and the rocky shore. As always, you can always go outside to their oceanview decks and use a telescope to observe directly the animal activities in the Monterey Bay. 

kelp forest exhibit

giant octopus

sea pen

big skate

sea nettle jellyfish

moon jellies

copperband butterflyfish

seahorse - the only animal on earth where the males bear children

Visiting this place always reminds us how majestic nature is and how diverse the ocean inhabitants are. We literally can spent hours at this place.  This is a place that everybody, from young to old, can enjoy and everybody can learn one or two new things about animals and the environment. We also like that this place helps to promote  the idea of sustainable living and responsible eating. It was worth the $29.95 entrance fee for the day (if you are staying for a few days, lots of hotels in the area offer a two-day-for-one ticket price). If there is one thing we did not like about this place, it is the cafeteria/restaurant food. It is mediocre at best, and we would definitely GO SOMEWHERE ELSE to eat and come back for the rest of the day.

For more info, you can always visit their website at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org and navigate from there to plan your visit. We highly recommend it.

~ josie