Monterey ~ Day One

A couple weekends ago Rich and I went to Monterey.  Ava was excited to spend time with Papa & Nonna Kurz and we looked forward to some time alone.  Most of our time in Monterey was spent outside.  Usually when we go we hit the aquarium and other touristy spots.  Since we love Monterey and go a few times a year I have looked up new things to do in the area.  On this trip we went to two of the places I found online and have been wanting to go for a couple years:  Garland Ranch Regional Park and Garrapata State Park.

The first place we went upon our arrival was not one of these locations.  First, I had to go to Parker-Lusseau Bakery to get my FAVORITE almond croissants.  I LOVE this place and dream about their pastries.  I discovered it a couple years ago when Rich was at a medical conference and I was on my own for breakfast.  When I took a bite of the almond croissant for the first time I was amazed and could hear the hallelujah chorus in the background...yes, they are that good.  Every since that day I dream about these delicious pastries and plan my Monterey trips around the days and times the bakery will be open.  We always make sure to go and I always place an order to bring some croissants home.

After I had my pastry fix and we purchased breakfast for the next day we headed to Pacific Grove.  We had arrived just in time for low tide, so we went to our favorite tide pool location.  The tide was not especially low, but we found a lot of neat things.  The most exciting was a tiny octopus Rich discovered when he turned over a rock.  It was awesome to see it squirt ink when Rich placed it back in the water.  We also saw star fish, crabs, sea anemones and other common tide pool creatures.

Rich holding a tiny sea star.

The underneath of an urchin.  You can see the mouth.

Crab

Brittle Star

Brittle Star

Chiton

Sea star regrowing a couple of legs.

Eel (we think)

Rich holding tiny octopus.

Octopus

Rich trying to release the octopus.  It didn't want to let go.

After tide pooling we explored Pacific Grove a little more.  We checked out the small, but interesting P.G. Natural History Museum.  Then we went to one of the local antique stores.  It is a huge store with tons of interesting and unique things.  Some of the items we would like to own, but could not afford.  It was just fun to look around.

Whale eyeball.  We have seen this a couple times now, but I still think it is interesting.

The museum has a lot of taxidermy of local wildlife.

I was super excited to find these milkweed seeds at the gift shop.  It is the host flower for Monarchs.  I have been looking for some with no luck.  Maybe we will get some Monarchs to land and build chrysalis in our backyard.