monterey bay aquarium

The reason we go to Monterey each year is for Homeschool Day. The aquarium generously sets aside several Mondays each fall to allow homeschooling families free entry. This is a huge, huge gift and we have used it for nine years now.

This year our time was shortened by C's evening midterm, which meant we could only stop by our favorite exhibits before starting the drive home.

sardines in Open Sea

rockfish in the Kelp Forest

purple-striped jellyfish

moon jellies

sea turtle

white-spotted rose anemone in Rocky Shore

The aquarium is built over the site of the old Hovden sardine cannery and retains a few boilers, along with an exhibit explaining Doc Ricketts' contribution to the fields of marine biology and tidal ecology.

Just outside of the aquarium is Cannery Row, made famous in Steinbeck's novel of the same name. If you look up, you'll see that the trinket shop is actually the original model for Lee Chong's general store.

Science, history and literature: I love how the Monterey Bay Aquarium integrates it all. This was likely our last year to attend Homeschool Aquarium Day, but we still plan to come and visit whenever we can.

P.S. My friend Jen and her family have been longtime traveling companions to Monterey, and she also went down again this year. Please read her take on the aquarium sea horses at her blog post here.