Trip Report Tuesday: California Day 7 {Part 1} // Monterey Bay Aquarium

Day 7 - Friday, September 16, 2016

I woke that morning to the sound of sea lions outside.  That was wonderfully unexpected!  Those first few moments of the day continued to improve all the more as I pulled back our room's curtain revealing our ocean view in the morning's light.

These are the sea lions who's "off off off"s I awoke to.

We enjoyed a little time on our patio taking in the stunning sights all around us...

After a bit of lounging (& a lot of happy sighing) we packed up our things and took a stroll down to the hotel's Cafe La Strada for breakfast.

I could totally go for another one of those chocolate croissants right about now! Yum!

Soon it was time to hit the road again.  Goodbye, Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa!  Hello, our reason for visiting this seaside city, the inspiration behind Finding Dory, the Monterey Bay Aquarium! 

"Cuddle Party!" ...If you haven't seen Finding Dory, do yourself a favor & watch it asap!

My favorite part of this pic is my aquarium loving husband looking upward at the fish.

Little One taking a closer look.

Artwork:  Monterey Wharf in the Forties by Bruce Ariss, 1971.

I spy a cutie pie taking it all in!

"Get a ray's view of this exhibit" - how fun is that?!

Brave fingers ;)

The Wave Crash exhibit was much cooler than photos could capture!

The lookout from this aquarium was breathtaking!  If you're interested, you can check out a live web cam of the views here:  Monterey Bay Cam  

We found Dory!  

For anyone interested, the aquarium has a LIVE cam on these cute penguins!  You can check out what they're up to here:  Monterey Bay Aquarium Penguin Cam 

Find other live web cams from the aquarium HERE.

Their Pacific bluefin tuna are HUGE!  This picture doesn't begin to show how amazing they are!  They looked too large to be real.  Swimming by like shiny, gigantic robots, I couldn't believe they were one of my favorites of the day! 

We have an incredible aquarium at our local zoo, so much of Monterey Bay's wasn't as impressive to us as it would have otherwise been.  However, this aquarium does have something we had never seen, a sight that my shark-obsessed hubby was convinced this California road trip needed to include, the hammerhead shark!

You're looking at another bucket list check right there!

... worth the visit!

You know I wasn't going to pass a gift shop without popping in!  Little One and I swooned over otter-ly adorable finds. 

We were happy to have included this aquarium on our trip's itinerary.  Strolling through admiring the wonders of God's creation made for a relaxing afternoon.  This day's adventures were only just beginning though!  From here we drove on, Pismo Beach bound!  Hope you'll be back next Tuesday in a flip flop, ocean air state-of-mind!

Sometimes snapshots just don't do things justice!  Be sure to check out the video footage from this day and more on my family's YouTube channel, 
Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat!

In case you missed the earlier California trip reports and you're interested, here are some direct links for ya!:

California Day 1 // Arrival and Huntington Beach

California Day 2 // Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

California Day 3 // Yosemite National Park

California Day 4 // My Epic Birthday Hike at Yosemite National Park

California Day 5 {Part 1} // San Francisco

California Day 5 {Part 2} // San Francisco

California Day 6 {Part 1} // San Francisco

California Day 6 {Part 2} // The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco

California Day 6 {Part 3} // Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa and Dinner at Cannery Row

Join me in the adventures to come!

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