Scenic Monterey : Fisherman's wharf

Fisherman's Wharf is a historic wharf in Monterey, California, United States. Used as an active wholesale fish market into the 1960s, the wharf eventually became a tourist attraction as commercial fishing tapered off in the area. It has seen bales of Chinese silks and barrels of Spanish wine,

whaling ships, Navy cutters, and fishing boats by the score;
Fisherman's Wharf, in its various incarnations,
has been the focus of Monterey's economic life for centuries.

                                          The color blue all around.

                                                  

Foggy and chilly Monterey.
Statue of a fisherman.

 Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. The coastline, including Big Sur, State Route 1, and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula has made the county world famous. The city of Monterey was the capital of California under Spanish and Mexican rule. The economy is primarily based upon tourism in the coastal regions, and agriculture in the Salinas River valley.

Fisherman's Wharf is lined with seafood restaurants ranging from casual, open-air clam bars, to formal indoor dining with views of the bay. Along with Cannery Row, Fisherman's Wharf is one of the few areas in Monterey that sells souvenirs, so the restaurants are interspersed with gift shops, jewelry stores, art galleries, and candy shops. Whale watching tours and fishing trips leave from the wharf, and sea lions often sleep on the pilings, buoys, and moored boats in the bay. 

The cast iron Rooster Bell was picked up here for 5 dollars

                                          Off we go to see the famous Kelps , and the view is simply gorgeously blue everywhere......    and view, 

                                          the Seals and birds resting without bothering each other

Giant Kelps

Kelps :
Kelp is a rich source of iodine, calcium, and sulfur, and a good source of iron, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and the vitamins A, D, E, K, and B complex. Kelp has been eaten for its nutritional value or for medicine for thousands of years, with the Chinese using it as far back as 3,000 B.C.E. and the Japanese including it in their diets for 1,500 years. It has been a staple food in Iceland for centuries..
Kelp is an important part of the present day Japanese diet, being used in salads, as a garnish, and in soups, sauces, and cakes, as well as to make noodles.
It is considered to be beneficial to the functioning of the nervous and endocrine systems, and enhance the function of the thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary glands. In particular, it is recommended for thyroid conditions, such as hypothyroidism and goiter.

A lone Sail boat

                                        
                                             Sailboats on the Bay.
I love watching sailboats under the foggy blue sky,
and watch the bird, as it soars and flies....

 And so many lovely, and yummy looking Candies....

The weather was biting cold, even with the sun shining brightly, it was very very cold. It was in month of August 2010.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium runs a "Seafood Watch" program, and keeps a list of which sea life is overfished and which are safe, and environmentally friendly, to eat. Pick a copy of the list up at the Aquarium. 
The local specialties are artichokes and sanddabs. Artichokes can be found at nearly every restaurant - fried, grilled, broiled, boiled, in soup, on pizza and almost any other way you can imagine.
One can even get free samples to taste like Clam Chowders etc., at the various restaurants.


Well it is time to get out of this town, for the world-famous 17-Mile-Drive begins just a short distance away. The road winds through miles of breathtaking coastal views, with turnouts along the way at the most historical and picturesque sites.  


The trip to Monterey was short but interesting, did you enjoy the journey with me?