A Valentine’s Trip to Monterey, California: Day One

By Rachel Dickinson

Happy Monday, everyone! For Valentine’s Day 2020, John and I took a trip to Monterey, California to celebrate. We drove roughly three hours to get to our first destination and we made a pit stop at Starbucks along the way for some caffeine.

First Stop of the Day: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Once we arrived in Monterey, we found $10.00 public parking nearby that we were able to use all day. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is such a large, beautiful aquarium. I talked to one of the staff members at one of the gift shops and they said a lot of the people that work at the aquarium are volunteers and that it really takes a community to support the aquarium. If you can, visit on an off day when it’s not as busy so you can make the most out of your experience.

One of the first things we saw when we arrived was the Kelp Forest feeding, with a diver in a large tank feeding the fish. It’s amazing how many different types of fish were showcased all throughout the aquarium.

After the feeding, we moved through one of our first exhibits and saw a Giant Octopus. At first it was hiding in the corner of the tank, but a few moments later a large group stood by to watch the octopus spread its legs and move across and really show it’s full body! It was huge!

We took a break after roaming around for a while and ate at the aquarium cafe. There were great options on the cafe menu and lunch was delicious. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and John had the chef’s special burger. The view of the ocean from the cafe is amazing!

Several of my favorite parts of the aquarium were The Open Sea and the Jellies exhibits on the upper level. Upon entering, you could see a glittery school of sardines swimming along on the ceiling! The music in this area was smooth and calming.

Jellyfish were all around and we saw basketball looking jellyfish, mini jellies, and microscopic ones. It was fun to take silhouette photos near the jellyfish.

In the next exhibit, The Open Sea, there was the largest tank I’ve ever seen and lots of surprise sea animals. We saw hammerhead sharks on the bottom, more sardines, fish, and a large sea turtle wading on top.

There’s so much to see and I can see why it’s such a well-renowned, loved aquarium. I’d definitely go again!

We walked through some of Cannery Row after the aquarium and before dinner, but we weren’t able to really dive into Cannery Row.

We wished we had more time to explore and we definitely want to come back next time!

Old Fisherman’s Grotto, for the Romantics:

Our Valentine’s Day dinner was the night before Valentine’s Day this year, to avoid the crowd on the actual day. I saw this restaurant on Yelp and decided to give it a try and make a reservation. I was definitely happy I did!

Old Fisherman’s Grotto is on The Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey. Our meal started off with their famous clam chowder. They even gave us a complimentary appetizer plate with shrimp, calamari, and artichokes in a balsamic glaze! We both had pasta–I tried the Linguini Isabella white sauce pasta with seafood and John had a red sauce pasta with shrimp, salmon, and scallions. The pasta I had was creamy and delectable.

The ambiance was wonderful and the songs they played set the mood. For dessert, we couldn’t resist the tiramisu. It was so light and creamy that it was so hard to put my spoon down. We enjoyed a candlelit ocean view romantic dinner during sunset, a kind and thoughtful wait staff, cute Valentine’s Day decor and a lovely rose given at the end of the meal. If you’re ever in the Monterey area, definitely try this restaurant out!

I hope you all enjoyed Valentine’s Day with your loved ones and look out for the second post of our trip, coming soon!