Monterey on Veteran's Day

The drive from San Jose to Monterey is about an hour and twenty minutes. Given that, it is a convenient and fun destination for the boys. On a hot August day we'll head to Dennis the Menace Park to escape the heat. On a rainy school Holiday, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is a fabulous destination.

I can't believe we haven't been back to the Aquarium since we purchased a membership in April. Memberships are only good values if you use them. So today with the boys off school for Veteran's Day and membership cards in hand we headed to Monterey.

We had great karma and a wonderful day. First we found street parking with a four hour meter that took credit cards a block from the aquarium. Our parking for the day was $6 versus a $15 lot.

The aquarium was packed, but the boys know it well, and we were able to explore everything without being inconvenienced too much by the throngs of people.

The boys favorite exhibit is still the Mission to the Deep control room. They can sit at chairs in front of monitors while a video plays on a large screen.  They also liked the Deep Sea (which is a giant tank) with sardines swimming below and tuna, dolphin fish, sunfish, a sea turtle and a hammerhead shark swimming at eye-level.

They also liked petting the cownose ray, watching the otters and the penguins, and of course seeing the giant octopus.

After three fun filled hours at the aquarium we headed up the hill to Lighthouse Avenue to eat at Gianni's Pizza (seriously one of our favorite pizza places in Northern California). The boys loved it, eating more than both Jonathan and me -- a taste for what it will be like when they are teenagers.

We had a wonderful Friday in Monterey, that put us in the right frame of mind to tackle our overly busy weekend.