Cannery Row and Monterey Bay Aquarium 2018 versus 1993

This past weekend I visited Cannery Row and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The visit to Cannery Row wasn't anything too out of the ordinary but it was the first time I had been to the Aquarium since 1993.

My Dad had taken this photo from the middle of Cannery Row looking at the facade of the Aquarium during a family trip to California in 1993. The real photo is much higher quality, I took a picture of it using an old cell phone camera back in 2010 while looking through family albums in Florida.

The 1993 family trip to California was a foray all the way from Connecticut. The trip started out in San Francisco and ended in San Diego at the San Diego Zoo. My Dad wasn't one for the primary roads so largely we stuck to California State Route 1 south to Ventura. The 1993 included stops at; The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, The Devil's Slide, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Big Sur, Six Flags-Magic Mountain, Balboa Park, and the San Diego Zoo.

Despite the facade of the Monterey Bay Aquarium appearing as it did in 1993 the interior was vastly different. Back in 1993 the interior of the Aquarium largely resembled the Hovden Cannery facility which occupied the location from 1916 to 1973. The Hovden Cannery shut down in 1973 due to the waters of Monterey Bay being over-fished. The entryway to the Aquarium had some Hovden Cannery displays still in place.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium opened in 1984 at the site of the Hovden Cannery. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has approximately 35,000 animals on display spread through the 322,000 square foot facility. By the early 1990s the Monterey bay Aquarium was pulling two million visitors and apparently was the most popular aquarium by foot traffic in the United States. I seem to recall it being a favorite of my Mom and Sister who really enjoyed the Otters. The displays are really well done and a lot more well thought out than what I recall from a quarter century ago.

The weather was a little on the gloomy side which obstructed views of the Santa Cruz and Gabilan Ranges from Monterey Bay.

Of course the visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium included a walk down Cannery Row for old times sake.

I went into the history of Cannery Row in far greater detail back last September during another visit to the Monterey Peninsula. That particular blog entry can be found here:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2017/09/cannery-row-monterey.html

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area. Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County. The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte. The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom. Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail). La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora. The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles. The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County. Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57. California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10. Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10. The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway. Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of

Gribblenation

Search This Blog