I was researching a couple of weeks ago for places to visit in California. Carmel and Monterey popped up on our search and since we were going to be by ourselves over July 4th weekend, I thought it would be a quick getaway for my boyfriend and I. I booked just one night at an Airbnb place that included the Monterey Aqurarium passes for free. We decided to drive down Saturday morning and come back Sunday afternoon.
In Carmel we went to the visitor's center and they gave us a map locating the gingerbread houses. An architect created houses that are scattered around Carmel to look like fairytale cottages. We didn't get to see all of them but we walked around a neighborhood that had a few. People actually live in these houses so a lot of them are behind gates but we poked around and still got to see them.
For dinner we went down to the Old Fisherman'is Wharf for some seafood. We went to Old Fisherman's Grotto. We had chowder, pasta and a Fisherman's platter. It's a little more expensive and it wasn't the most amazing seafood but it is in a tourist place so it was nice to eat by the water. Just like the Fisherman's Wharf in SF, there's a dock for the sea lions, It was nice to walk by after dinner.
The next day we went to the Monterey Aquarium. My boyfriend and I have been to a lot of aquariums recently so we usually finish them within an hour so we weren't really that excited to visit. But we were pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed ourselves.
We went to the deep sea live show and saw some really cool deep sea fishes. My favorite is the sea otters and there is a 2 floor tank for them. There are a couple of huge fish tanks that are 2 levels that housed some incredibly large fishes. When we were there, there was an exhibit on jelly fishes and octopuses. We had so much fun and we were probably there for over 2 1/2 hours. The price for admission is a little more then normal but it definitely is a must see.
The acquairum is located on Cannery row so we walked around for a bit. I never read the book that the street is based on but we took a nice stroll.
I'm so glad we decided to go to Monterey and Carmel. It's so beautiful and a definite must visit!
