Monterey

There is an excellent jellyfish display at the Monterey aquarium.

The only constant is change, and change is not always an easy bedfellow,  but one I am becoming much more familiar with.  We made the big change, leaving our home, our friends, our known places to adventure into a big unknown, and sometimes it is scary, only because it is not familiar.  Change is with us all the time now, a constant.

All this is just to say that we have not left Monterey.  And although it was an unexpected change of plans, we have found more here than we ever would have had our plans not changed.  So we slowly learn to embrace change.

the local head shop.....

Lots of little boats

 Monterey is a very pleasant town with lots of history and charm and it is set against the backdrop of a lovely bay with sandy beaches and warm sunshine.  What’s not to like.

A statue to commemorate the founder of the the first mission
in Monterey.  The usual abuse of the locals ensued.......

The last remaining whalebone sidewalk......the bones were cut into
lovely diamond shapes...and turned into sidewalks......

It is the place where California government really began, under the Spanish it was where the cargo ships had to come to the customs house and unload all the cargo so it could be evaluated for duty fees.  When  Mexico gained independence from Spain most of the southwest of the US was part of Mexico and Monterey retained its position as the capital.  However when California joined the United States in 1846, the legislatures of the time moved the capitol to San Jose, it was later moved to  Sacramento where it remains.   

Yes we have been to the customs house, the first brick house, the whaling station, the museum at the Presidio, the aquarium, cannery row, fishermans wharf and the Tuesday street market.

And there are sealions, they sing us to sleep all night long…

Just one of the many