Tourist places in Monterey |
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| Thursday, 01 May 2008 | |
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History
of Monterey
Monterey is beautifully situated on Monterey Bay; it also
has an interesting history. From 1770 to 1822 it was the capital of Spanish
California, at a time when Los Angeles, San Francisco and the present-day
capital Sacramento had not even been founded. After Mexico declared its independence from Spain, Monterey continued in the role
of provincial capital for another 24 years; but soon afterwards its political
importance began to wane.
The town's fish canning industry collapsed decades ago when the sardine disappeared from the waters around Monterey; it has been left a notable literary memorial in the form of John Steinbeck's novel "Cannery Row". Today tourism is the economic mainstay. There are numerous good hotels, motels and restaurants, a complete list of which can be obtained from the Chamber of Commerce, 380 Alvarado Street, tel. 408-649-3200.
Tourist
Attractions in Monterey
California's First Theatre
Cannery Row
Places of interest in Monterey include houses from the Spanish and Mexican periods, a fishing-port, which is not as busy as it once was, as well as Cannery Row, made famous by John Steinbeck's novel of the same name (1945). This once industrial street was converted some years ago into a complex of restaurants, shops, cafés and art-galleries, so that only the walls of the buildings remain as a reminder of that which Steinbeck described in his novel. For instance, the unique Monterey Bay Aquarium has been opened on the site of an old canning factory.
Other buildings in Cannery Row which are worth seeing are: No. 851: Kalisa's
Lak Ida Café built in 1929, a brothel from 1936 (immortalized by Steinbeck), a
coffee-house since the mid-fifties No. 835: opened in 1918 as a Chinese Wing
Chong grocery shop (Won Yee, who lives on the top floor, appears as Lee Chong
in Steinbeck's "Cannery Row"; the novel begins with a description of
the shop). Today keepsakes of the author are to be found here.
Dennis the Menace Playground
Fishermen's Wharf
MY Museum
Maritime Museum of Monterey
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The superb Monterey Bay Aquarium, opened in 1984, occupies the site of the old Hovden Cannery, one of the largest of the eighteen in Cannery Row. The architecture of the elaborate aquarium complex, the biggest of its kind in the USA, was adapted from that of the former factory which stood here from 1916 to 1980 (though abandoned after 1972). The aquarium stands right on the edge of the rocky bay. There is a restaurant with a sea view and an oyster bar. The marvelously well-equipped aquarium focuses on the exceptionally rich marine life of Monterey Bay, each aspect of which - the coastal formations, marine vegetation, fish and other forms of marine life, and birds of sea and shore - can be observed in several different ways: through the glass walls of tanks, through telescopes, macroscopes and microscopes, and even by means of underwater video cameras remotely controlled by the observer In the larger aquaria experts in diving gear provide on the spot commentaries broadcast over loudspeakers from amongst the flora and fauna. The complex comprises 200 pools (some are three storeys deep) and galleries both under cover and in the open. They contain about 300,000 specimens representing nearly 570 species (sharks and other large fish, sea otters, giant octopuses, crustaceans, starfish, etc.).
A "Habitat Path" guides visitors around the various sections on the
main floor, the most impressive of which are the so-called "Monterey Bay
Habitats" (a stretch of coast 30yd/27.5m long), the "Kelp
Forest" (a giant tank, 28ft/8.5m high, holding 335,000 gal/1.26 million
liters of seawater), and the "Great Tide Pool".
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