Well, our second or third choice of hotel didn't turn out to be too bad, and we got up after a decent enough night's sleep and planned to have a "reasonably quiet" day just mooching about in Monterey and walking along the coastal path looking at the wildlife, not least because I was a little bit tired of doing all that driving and fancied a day off from it.
So, we gathered together our cameras and binoculars and headed out into the bright morning, stopping for breakfast at "The Wild Plum Cafe" where we'd been a couple of times on our previous holiday, and which we'd found to be a truly excellent breakfasting spot, even on a busy Sunday morning like this was.
Soon afterwards, having filled up on a rather excellent breakfast, we headed on out towards the Wharfs and, for a time at least, I became more than a little obsessed by the (to my mind at least) incongruous juxtaposition of the Christmas Decorations and the bright blue summery skies.
But then, after noticing just how many people were around, we then became aware of a couple of old motor cars parked up on sidewalks of the main road and, as we moved into the historical area itself, a lot more "classic" and "hot rod" style cars were on display with hundreds of people milling around admiring them, sharing a nostalgic thought or two, or generally photographing the heck out of them.
Naturally, we began photographing the heck out of them, with me eventually and reluctantly deciding to "make a feature of" having to have people in my way.
This was, apparently the annual "Rods on the Wharf" event in which shiny, beautifully maintained and highly polished cars from all eras of motoring history gather in Monterey, and might also go some way towards explaining the lack of available hotel space that weekend. Naturally, as a pair of addictive snappers, the opportunity to take pictures of something that we might not otherwise get the chance to was far too tempting to resist, and we stayed far, far longer in the historical area of Monterey than we might otherwise have done.
In fact we stayed beyond eleven o'clock when it became apparent that the event was strongly linked with the town's Veteran's Day Commemorations, and the honour guard went through their paces whilst some very moving speeches were made and both "The Last Post" and the (American) National Anthem (naturally) was played by a lone bugler, which was all terribly moving and, given the hustle and bustle moments before, you could have heard a pin drop.
Being so far away from home on what we call "Remembrance Sunday" had felt strange, especially with this being the centenary which was being well marked back in Britain, but this did at least partially make up for it, even though it became very apparent very quickly that America makes far less of the First World War than the Second with regard to its commemorations, perhaps, I admit, because there are still so many veterans of that conflict still around.
Moving on, we found ourselves at the Wharf and then walking along the part of the coastal trail that leads towards Cannery Wharf and the Aquarium, and it took us a very, very long time to walk a very, very short distance, because we kept stopping to watch the sea birds that had gathered upon the rocks and other perches close into shore, and which gave us a ridiculously convenient opportunity to see all sorts of birds and wildlife in close-up.
Afterwards we spent the rest of the day walking slowly backwards and forwards along that along the waterfront looking at so much of the bird and marine life which lives so very close to the shore in Monterey Bay, and it made for a very special day.
There really is just so very much of it, and all so surprisingly close to the shore, and to the centre of town that you really don't have to make all that much effort to see some rather amazing sights.
The Beloved had one tumble during our walk, however, which did rather curtail our planned walking distance ever so slightly, as did the chilly sea fog which began to envelop the town during the afternoon, but the Pelicans and the Sea-Lions more than made up for that, as well as the excellent meal that we enjoyed in "Cibo" that evening.
Mostly the Pelicans, though.
But then, after noticing just how many people were around, we then became aware of a couple of old motor cars parked up on sidewalks of the main road and, as we moved into the historical area itself, a lot more "classic" and "hot rod" style cars were on display with hundreds of people milling around admiring them, sharing a nostalgic thought or two, or generally photographing the heck out of them.
Naturally, we began photographing the heck out of them, with me eventually and reluctantly deciding to "make a feature of" having to have people in my way.
This was, apparently the annual "Rods on the Wharf" event in which shiny, beautifully maintained and highly polished cars from all eras of motoring history gather in Monterey, and might also go some way towards explaining the lack of available hotel space that weekend. Naturally, as a pair of addictive snappers, the opportunity to take pictures of something that we might not otherwise get the chance to was far too tempting to resist, and we stayed far, far longer in the historical area of Monterey than we might otherwise have done.
In fact we stayed beyond eleven o'clock when it became apparent that the event was strongly linked with the town's Veteran's Day Commemorations, and the honour guard went through their paces whilst some very moving speeches were made and both "The Last Post" and the (American) National Anthem (naturally) was played by a lone bugler, which was all terribly moving and, given the hustle and bustle moments before, you could have heard a pin drop.
Moving on, we found ourselves at the Wharf and then walking along the part of the coastal trail that leads towards Cannery Wharf and the Aquarium, and it took us a very, very long time to walk a very, very short distance, because we kept stopping to watch the sea birds that had gathered upon the rocks and other perches close into shore, and which gave us a ridiculously convenient opportunity to see all sorts of birds and wildlife in close-up.
There really is just so very much of it, and all so surprisingly close to the shore, and to the centre of town that you really don't have to make all that much effort to see some rather amazing sights.
Mostly the Pelicans, though.
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