Monterey Bay Aquarium

The next morning, as planned when we were at Point Lobos, we met our new friend C. at a grocery store near the aquarium.  C. and his wife L. were SUCH sweet people!!!  The reason he had us meet him at a grocery store instead of the aquarium was because he knew where we could park along a street in town for free vs. paying to park at the aquarium itself.  We followed him to the free parking spot and as we were gathering our things for the day he surprised us with a couple bags of goodies (ghirardelli chocolates...so good!).  We had probably a 10 or so minute walk to get to the aquarium and C. led the way.

We had just reached the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, a path that follows the coastline from Marina all the way to Pacific Grove, and we needed to go right to get to the aquarium.  As we were about to go to the right, C. stopped and asked us if we had ever been to the Hopkins Marine Station.  Ya'll, I was floored.  Remember the lists I have mentioned of places and things we'd like to see at each of our destinations?  Well, our time in Monterey was rapidly coming to an end and I knew there were some things on that list that we would just not have a chance to see this trip.  Hopkins Marine Station was one of them that I had given up on because for one (really big) reason, I had no clue where it was.  I didn't tell him all of this, I just said that we hadn't been.  His reply was to turn left instead of right and walk maybe twenty or so feet and ta-da!, Hopkins Marine Station!  The reason he mentioned it (and we had wanted to go) was because an elephant seal had been frequenting the area.  C. said that he and his wife had seen the seal many times on their walks along the trail.  We all looked, but on that particular day there were only harbor seals (which were great, too!).

We started our walk again towards the aquarium and before we got very far C. stopped and got out his binoculars to get a better look at something in the bay.  He passed the binoculars around to each of the kids and myself so that we could also see...a mother otter with her tiny, little baby!  She was floating on her back and the baby was on her tummy...so cute!

When we arrived at the aquarium, C. gave us each a pass to get in for free.  Instead of parting ways there, he came inside with us to direct us to the very best exhibit to begin our visit with...Open Sea.  As far as I'm concerned, the day could have ended right there and been absolutely perfect.  It filled my heart completely up to be shown such friendship and care by these two people that had only 24 hours before been complete strangers.  Of course our day didn't end there, though.  C. did leave to go about the rest of his day elsewhere and I was left with five very excited kiddos ready to explore the aquarium :).  And explore we did...

We were thrilled by the huge bait ball in the Open Sea...

mesmerized by the jellies...

and enchanted by the sweet little sea horses...

The kids had a blast at the touch tanks.  We saw (and touched) so many different sea creatures, so fun!  These tanks were neat, we learned that the water flowing through them is circulated straight in from the bay and right back out.  I just loved that!

holding hands with the starfish...

sea grapes...aren't they pretty?

leave it to the boys to go for the big, squishy looking things ;)

In the same area as the touch tanks, there were other interactive displays for the kids to enjoy.  By turning the wheels they could adjust the speed and direction of the currents and observe the effect it had on small fish and anemone...

blurry, i know...she was moving really fast :)

There were so many interesting and beautiful exhibits at this aquarium.  For every one thing I took a picture of I must have skipped at least ten.  Seriously.  This is just a small peek at all there is to see there...

these sea pens were so pretty...

can you see the fish in this picture?..

sand dollars!!!  i have never seen them as they would be found living on the ocean floor...pretty cool!...

We got to watch feeding time at the Open Sea, it was cool to see the Mahi-Mahi get excited and start changing colors.  We were also able to watch a presentation about Great White Sharks and how they are being studied...the boys really enjoyed that.

While taking a little break to rest our feet and get something cold to drink, the kids took turns checking out the bay through a scope set up in the lobby...

Then it was over to the octopus exhibit to see if we could catch him out in the open.  He was hiding when we got there, all squeezed up into a tight little corner.  We waited and were rewarded when tentacle by tentacle he wiggled himself out into the open and stuck right on the glass where we could check him out.  The kids were quite pleased, they liked him :).

I'm sure there is a ton I'm forgetting to tell you about, we were there all. day. long.  From just after they opened until just before they closed.  It was definitely a full day in many ways :), one we will not soon forget!  Thank you C. and L.!!!