A Seahorse....finally!

Damon's immediate family came to Monterey for the weekend, so it was a great opportunity to spend time with the whole family.  With everyone's busy lives, it seems that holidays have become some of the rare times we all get together, so this was a very welcome weekend for all of us.  The rest of the family left this afternoon, so Damon, Alexa and I were a solo group again tonight.

I discovered earlier today that the Monterey Bay Aquarium was open until 8pm tonight, so the three of us headed down Cannery Row to the aquarium around 5pm.  Talk about an enjoyable visit!  We completely avoided the lines that had snaked around the building all weekend and had a first-hand glimpse at all of the exhibits.  We must have stayed at the otter tank for at least 15 minutes, watching the four otters swim and play directly in front of us.  The stingrays were staying out of reach, but the disappointment of not being able to touch a ray was more than compensated by the jellyfish and seahorse displays.  Alexa has been begging to see seahorses for months (no luck at the St. Louis, Denver nor Phoenix zoos), so an entire wing of seahorses was a complete thrill for her.  We spent nearly three hours at the aquarium, and Damon and I both remarked that it was our best visit by-far...largely due to Alexa's age but also the perfect time for our visit.

Alexa and I also got to see a little more of Monterey than we planned tonight.  We hopped on the trolley, planning to take a scenic loop around Monterey and concluding at our start-point in front of the hotel.  Apparently we grabbed the last trolley of the night, so unbeknownst to Alexa and myself (along with a family visiting from Europe), we were on a one-way tip to downtown Monterey.  It's a good thing I know my way around this city extremely well - thanks to the three years Damon lived here - and we were able to make the walk back to the hotel (~1.5 mi) in the shortest route possible.  It also fulfilled my workout for the day, as Alexa was pretty tired and I gave her a piggy-back ride nearly the entire way.  It was an enjoyable walk and a nice change from my normal workout routine!

Posing with a larger than life seahorse.

All smiles on the trolley....before we realized it was a one-way trip!