Exploring Uncrowded Monterey Bay: A January Adventure (210)

We took a short trip to the Monterey Bay in January. We were surprised at how uncrowded it was. The park manager said he couldn’t explain it as the park was full the prior week. We just chocked it up to good luck, which followed us the whole trip.

Since it was a driving day, the first afternoon we just enjoyed being at the park, Moss Landing KOA.

We had a great sunset that evening, with the red afterglow from the sun filling the sky. We really love staying in Moss Landing because of how close it is to the beach and dunes.

For this trip, we planned to hang around Moss Landing with Lucy (our terrier) in the morning, go to an early lunch at our destination, and be home early that evening.

So, the next day we drove to Monterey’s Cannery Row for lunch at Schooners, on their patio overlooking the bay.

We had a great view for lunch, and a short walk to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, our next destination.

Some old friends from my working days are members of the aquarium, and offered us free tickets. Thanks Brad and Nancy!!

It had been a couple years since we had visited, so we were really looking forward to seeing the Kelp Forest exhibit, the Jelly Fish exhibit, all the fish, otters, and the Open Ocean exhibit. We probably sat for a half hour staring at the Open Ocean exhibit.

We also booked a guided backstage tour of the aquarium for the afternoon. We learned about how the aquarium operates. 70% of the people working there are volunteers! We saw how they feed the fish and otters. The “fish food” is restaurant quality and arrives by the truck load! The eight otters have voracious appetites and consume a quarter of their body weight in food daily! We also loved to see them growing sea horses and jelly fish backstage. The jelly fish have special circular aquariums to mimic the movement of the ocean.

My favorite part of the tour was being able to hold a jelly fish in my hand.

We found the whole experience really interesting and worthwhile.

The next day started with a delicious lunch at the Red House Cafe. I had a pork loin sandwich and Deb had a roast turkey sandwich.

Next we ventured over to the butterfly grove. We parked next to the aptly named Butterfly Grove Inn. It looked like a nice place to stay.

There weren’t many butterflies, but we counted about 30 while we were there. Nothing like the thousands we’ve seen in the past. But we did have fun walking through the grove and taking photos with this one!

We finished the day with a nice walk along Pacific Grove to Lover’s Point.

The next day we decided to head north from Moss landing to Capitola. I always call Capitola a little slice of Southern California, with its sandy beach, lots of surfing, and chill vibes of the town.

We started with lunch at Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria, a real throw back to the good old days (since 1978). Lots of great comfort food and pastries. We are never disappointed.

When we got to the beach, we realized there was a VERY low tide that day. It gave us the unique opportunity to walk all the way to the state park on the beach, about 2 miles away!

We’ve been here countless times and this is the first time we were able to do that!

By the time we got to the park, the tide was starting to come in, so we hiked back to Capitola on the train track.

Our last day we went back to Monterey. This time we had lunch at a locals favorite, the SandBar & Grill. A friend who lives in the area (Thanks Debbie!) took us here once, and we enjoy coming back. Unless you know what you are looking for, you might miss it. It’s hanging on the SIDE of the commercial pier, below the deck!

There is a great view of the marina from every seat in the restaurant.

After a walk on the pier, and then old Monterey, we drove to Del Monte Beach for a nice LONG walk with a view of Monterey in the distance.

That capped off an almost perfect trip. Uncrowded, great things to do and see, and really good food.

Al & Deb

P.S. Our next trip was our annual excursion down the coast and then east to Arizona to visit my parents. The trip started out great. But when we got to Arizona, Lucy, our 10-year old little terrier, became really ill (I won’t get into details). The emergency vet advised we get her home, which we did hoping for the best. Unfortunately we had to put her down just a few days after returning home. We loved having her as the furry member of our family, and miss her deeply. We love you, Lucy-girl!