MONTEREY WET: Part 2

Other worthwhile Monterey munches include hard to find local scampi, crabs from November until February, and just about anything at the Sardine Factory Restaurant is worth a try. Tip: try the Sardine Factory for lunch, you get dinner entrees sans side dishes at savings. Another option worth the search is a deli picnic enjoyed on a pier or ocean side bench -- buy stale bread for the gulls. Fortunately, there are enough Italians left in town to support delis—one of the best in town is just a couple of blocks from the Path of History.

However, is the tourists wake and pile into the parking lots its time to walk along the marina to the Fishermen’s Wharf #2 where the commercial anglers still land a massive squid catch that’s replaced sardines in the local piscatorial economy. This is the pier to savor, the pier to sit, the pier to fish and the pier that retains its sense of worth and work. The Maritime Museum you pass isn’t bad. It’s just not very big, does a decent job on local subjects but seems rather a disappointment except for marine history buffs. So check it out from the door and try it if you like it.

Then it’s back to the room to rest feet before a visit to the world-class Monterey Aquarium that needs neither a tout nor much of a description. Its huge kelp tank, wonderful displays of often overlooked critters like sea slugs and jellyfish and the wonderful sea otters and shore displays deserve a morning and more. You can even watch a robot crawl along the bottom of Monterey Bay.

You might extend your aquatic pleasures onto or into the bay. During fall and winter boats leave to watch the whales broach on their migrations. Birding trips are available too and you can book scenic cruises on both power and sail craft. Monterey Bay and Whaler’s Cove at Point Lobos are wonderful diving sites if you don’t mind sea otters messing with your regulator’s bubbles. A host of dive shops along Lighthouse just inland from Cannery Row offer lessons, suits and gear. Lighthouse all sports mountain bike and roller blade rentals. The paths along the sore cry out for self-propelled pleasures that give you the time to savor that special sense of surf, sand and sun that’s Monterey. Stay near the bay and you’ll savor your stay at Monterey time and time again!

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