Monterey and then San Francisco

It has been a long week. There's a lot to fill in. I had intended to post updates from the road, but frankly the whole week was pretty tiring. So, I'll post a couple updates, better late than never.

Saturday evening we arrived in the palatial Super 8 motel in Salinas. As Betty Davis would almost certainly have said, "What a dump!" $200 per night! The motel is surrounded by several other motels and nothing much else. For dinner we dined at the only convenient restaurant, a somewhat sketchy Mexican place.

On the plus side, the Super 8 had the included continental breakfast; your choice of cereal, as long as you choose Cheerios, your choice of toast, as long as you like white bread, choice of fruit juice, orange, and choice of breakfast fruit, banana.

We could not get out of there fast enough to suit me. Anyway, we made the short drive to Monterey on Sunday morning, where I was surprised to find almost no problem getting into the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I had expected that a Sunday in August in Monterey would be absolutely crazy at the Aquarium, but we waltzed straight in the door and $90 later were happily peering at all the little aquatic creatures.

I think one of my favorite things at the aquarium was feeding time at the "Outer Bay" exhibit, with all the big tuna, dolphin fish (or Mahi-mahi or Dorado, depending on whether you are Hawaiian or Mexican), hammerhead sharks, etc. It was very cool and as it turned out, followed shortly by a feeding frenzy of our own. The restaurant at the aquarium is probably one of my favorites anywhere, the view of the bay is fantastic and the food incredible. Here we see a prime example of the Pacific Albacore.

Jake was kind enough to share a half dozen oysters on the half-shell with me (should have gone for the full dozen) and I had the cumin-dusted, seared albacore tuna served with a couscous salad and, of course, a pint of Anchor Steam. Nothing finer!

Pictures of all can be viewed here.

When we had had our fill of fish (both visually and culinarily) we headed out to San Francisco. Checked in at the Radisson, about $170 per night, right on Fisherman's Wharf. What is up with that, $200 for a Super 8 in Salinas, convenient to nothing, and then Fisherman's wharf for $30 less? Of course, the Radisson did not have the complimentary Cheerio's, so I guess that accounts for the difference.

Strolled about the wharf for quite a while and finally settled on Scoma's for dinner. A lot of seafood later, we strolled back to our room. We captured a few more photos to share.

Lot's more to tell, but I think I'll publish this now and provide some more updates later. Talk to you all in a while.