So I went to Monterey on Tuesday with Lauren and Ange. The trip was mostly for them, I just happened to be there (and driving). I have to say that traffic going down there on a weekday morning was much less than I expected (which was pleasantly surprising).
We started, of course, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We got there right as they opened, and for it being a Tuesday morning, the place got surprisingly busy surprisingly fast. The first thing we were told is that the Jelly fish exhibit was being removed shortly. I’m not exactly sure how much of it is being removed, possibly all of it. That would be sad as it is really nifty, and I like jellies. Well, not as much since I’ve had a few close run ins with them when I was in Florida. Not fun.
The next thing I really got to take a look at was the “million gallon tank” in the Outer Bay Exhibit. The windows there are huge. I’ve seen them before, but I never studied the window itself before. I actually managed to find a seam, which was impressive. The thing is damn transparent, can’t tell where the window starts, ends, or how thick it is, except for that one seam I found. It must be a foot thick though. Oh, and the fish were cool.
We wandered over to the other half the aquarium and saw the sea otters and all manners of different things in the Kelp Forest Aquarium. I think the highlight of the trip for Ange was when we got to the Manta Ray petting pool. She was “blissing” for a good while afterward. She wanted to take one home (and she did, granted it was a plushie). Lauren seemed to take a fancy to the Penguins, but then again who doesn’t love em?
After the aquarium there was lunch then on to a Whale Watching boat. This is where the trip started to slip a bit. First off, we spent the better part of two hours puttering around looking for said whales before we finally found them. After that long of mucking about, we were all tired since none of us had slept much the night before. Of course we were bored and some of us were getting a bit sea sick. I hadn’t felt well the entire time actually, but managed to hold it together. Ange who says she’s never gotten sea sick was a little green at the gills. Oh well. We did eventually get to see some whales, specifically 2 humpbacks. What do I think about it? Well, I’m glad I did it because now I can say I’ve been out Whale Watching. That being said, I probably wouldn’t do it again unless it was peak season and there was going to be A LOT to see. Frankly, going to see Shamu at Sea World is far more exciting.
After a 13 hour day, we got home. I was totally dead. It was fun, glad the trip was had… but still… I was totally exhausted.