I’m continuing with my report on our President’s Day 4-Day Weekend camping trip. In my previous post I mentioned that Sunday was our “North” day. Well, Monday was our “South” day. The plan for the day was to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
We arrived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium earlier than I had anticipated, but would learn was actually perfect. As we purchased our tickets the girl helping us mentioned that we had arrived just in time to watch the feeding of the penguins! After looking at a small handful of exhibits we headed to the penguin exhibit. We were so lucky that we got there before anyone else. Lexi sat patiently throughout the entire feeding and really got a kick out of it.
I made sure that we took our time throughout the aquarium. I didn’t want to rush things. I wanted to make sure that Lexi got to see everything and anything that she wanted to. I got a ton of pictures of her in front of so many different exhibits; I only wish some of them had turned out better. A couple highlights were:
Lexi petting a sea cucumber. She absolutely didn’t want to have anything to do with it, or any of the other animals they had out for touching. It wasn’t until after I had touched it that she grew brave enough to. Then afterwards she was surprised at how soft, hard, smooth, and coarse each animal was. She got to touch the sea cucumber, a variety of star fish, and some other crustaceans.
Seeing the huge killer whale they have hanging from the rafters. I think that Lexi is going to have a permanent affection for dolphins and killer whales coming from the report she did on them in 1st grade. It seems that every time she sees one she lights up extra special.
Taking in all the different species of jellyfish and sea horses. She was really surprised by how much variety there was in each. It should be noted that the Monterey Bay Aquarium specializes in jellyfish and sea horses. They are the leading institution in each, so their collection is amazing!
After the aquarium we needed some lunch before leaving town. We went a couple block from the aquarium to Archie’s American Diner. Several years ago, back in 2008, I had the chance to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and afterward I also went to Archie’s for lunch before continuing my journey. So sharing this place with Lexi was something that was extra special for me.
With full bellies we jumped into the car and continued south on CA-1. Our destination was Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and specifically McWay Falls. McWay falls was a feature that a friend from work had told me about and it was something I couldn’t pass up being in the area. The extra time and miles were definitely worth it. And after we saw the falls we had some extra time on our hands so we went back to the main parking area and headed up the Canyon Falls Trail. We didn’t make it very far before I decided that we should be getting back to camp, but not before grabbing a couple shots.
Overall I would say that our President’s Day 4-Day Weekend was an outstanding success. Lexi had an absolutely great time. She loved all our different adventures and, overall, is really taking a liking to camping. One other highlight of the trip, that I almost forgot, was the sunsets. A few hundred feet away from our campsite was an ocean overlook. So on two of our nights we went over and watched the sun set over the ocean. It was so cool and Lexi was so excited to see it happen.
If you’re interested in a little more detail of the trip you can click the map link below to see where exactly not only our campground was, but the specific site, the lookout point, Fort Point, McWay Falls, and the actual routes we drove. Just click HERE.
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