quintessential Monterey : Salvador Dali and whale watching [22]

I really need to get better at maintaining consistency with blog posting for the grand total of the, like, three people who actually read this blog (hi Mom!). As promised...two weeks ago...here is a post about Dali and whale watching with a bit of car stuff thrown in.

Okay, so, about a year or so ago a Salvador Dali museum opened up in Monterey. It's called Dali17, and it is awesome. I am not well-versed in art in general, but Dali is about the only artist who not only can I identify but also have some emotional connection to. Part of (two or three of) my poetry final projects during my senior year were influenced/based on "The Persistence of Memory" (you know, the one with the melting clocks), and so I have spent more time looking at assorted Dali works than pretty much any artist I have ever cared about combined. When we were getting ready to move out here, I heard from more than one person "oh, Monterey! Isn't John Steinbeck from there? You have an English degree, so you like him, right?" Nah. I hate Steinbeck (sorry, all of my English teachers who had to listen to me complain about The Pearl and Grapes of Wrath); my how-cool-that-we're-going-somewhere-where-this-person-lived was entirely Dali.

My background aside, we were looking for something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon and discovered that the Dali museum does a "paint-and-sip" style painting class, and if you sign up for the class you also get free admission to the museum and a guided tour. My husband is not usually one for painting, but we signed up anyways, and showed up early for the tour. The Dali17 museum is "the first permanent Dali exhibition located on the West Coast and the largest private collection on exhibition in the United States," according to their website. They have a ton of lithographs and something like 300 originals, among assorted displays of photographs and memorabilia from Dali's time living in Monterey.

And, after our museum tour, we did the painting class. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to going back (and bringing wine with me next time), even though neither of us are particularly good at painting or following the rules, ha. I accidentally painted the whole thing purple; Max's came out looking pretty Warhol-ish:

We followed up our Dali Saturday with a whale watch on Sunday. There are multiple whale watch expeditions that run out of Moss Landing, a little bit north of Monterey. We went out with Sea Goddess Whale Watch, and it was quite the enjoyable late morning/early afternoon trip. We brought a small cooler with a couple cans of beer and some snacks, and got a "man, you guys know how to whale watch" from a fellow passenger which was enough to make my day. But, you know, the whales were a pretty great addition to the day:

Humpback whales! There are apparently a lot of them in Monterey Bay. I never would have guessed!

Some sea lions came to frolic around the boat. 

And, even if we hadn't seen any marine life, it was still an absolutely gorgeous day.

An incredibly fun fact for you: 50% of all California sea lions are born on June 15th.

Some of our fellow passengers had a rough time - it was, admittedly, not the smoothest boat ride, but we are a little more used to boats than most. If you go whale watching (or on any other boat expedition!) here are some tips for you:

- Keep your eyes on the middle distance/horizon line. It helps keep the urge for seasickness away since it allows your brain to focus and balance out with the movement of the boat. I'm sure there's scientific explanations for it that I don't know, but I just know that it works.

- Don't go into the bathroom on the boat. If you can manage to not need to use it for the two hours or so you are out, good. I was feeling totally fine until I went into the bathroom and the rocking of the boat in the small space really got to me.

- Looking down totally messes up your equilibrium. But I found that looking down into the water at, for example, the sea lions, then looking back up towards the horizon for a bit was fine and didn't bother me. Your mileage may vary.

- Bring a good camera and make sure you have something to secure it to your body! I didn't take as many pictures as I wish I had, mostly because I was afraid of dropping my phone into the water. I am a little clumsy to begin with, but the rocking and rolling of the boat didn't help assuage my fears at all.

- Sea lions smell. And they are LOUD. Be prepared.

- Otters are actually the cutest things that have ever existed.

That's all for now! I will be working on catching up to where we actually are in life...soon, hopefully. November is about to be a crazy travel month, and I hope to be caught up through October's fun before we embark on the November adventures!

local faves so far [21]

It's a little surreal to think about how we've been in California for close to two months now. It still feels like we just got here - I am definitely still unpacking. Oops?

In the almost-two-months we've been in Monterey and the month we've been in our house, we have had some time to get to know our new home. Here's some favorites (so far):

Farmer's Market at Old Monterey Marketplace 

(Alvarado St., Tuesdays, 4-7pm Oct-Apr, 4-8pm May-Sept)

Some gorgeous sunflowers.

I am a big fan of farmer's markets - in Connecticut, they were decidedly not year-round thanks to the lovely season we know as "winter." This market is half-farmer's market, half-other types of vendors. We can buy vegetables...and shawarma...and flowers...and art...and just about anything you can think of. Plus, when you finish your shopping, there's tons of restaurants and bars along Alvarado Street to quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger. The produce here is all top-notch and the prices are unbeatable. We got a fantastic lamb "beefstick" along with our vegetables the first time we went, and all of the assorted snacks we have purchased from the food truck vendors have been to die for (seriously...I could eat shawarma for every meal).

Revival Ice Cream 

(Alvarado St., daily 12-10pm in summer and 12-9pm in winter)

I. Love. Ice cream. I cannot turn down good ice cream. It is my weakness, my vice, and everything in between. Unfortunately, my mild lactose intolerance means that ice cream does not love me as much as I love ice cream. When we arrived in Monterey, some friends introduced us to Revival, describing it as "kind of quirky." Quirky it may be - but it's all made in-house using locally-sourced, in-season ingredients. Plus, the first time we went they had a dairy free ice cream flavor!!!!  (Chocolate praline, I believe, but don't quote me). And it was delicious!!!!! I am not gluten-free, but one of my best friends is, so she almost immediately received a "I FOUND AN ICE CREAM PLACE WITH DAIRY AND GLUTEN FREE ITEMS" because that is something worth celebrating! Like I said, I love ice cream, so I often choose to suffer through the pain for the bliss of ice cream. Pictured above is their sea salt chocolate chip cookiewich. Amazing.

Try: the Bee's Knees. It's their signature flavor featuring honeycomb, bee pollen, and honey, among other flavors. I was initially hesitant after reading the description, but I promise you, it's fantastic. One might even say it's...the bees knees. :)

Fieldwork Brewing Company

(Munras Ave., 11am-10pm Sun-Thurs, 11am-11pm Fri-Sat)

Apparently I have yet to photograph anything at Fieldwork! My bad!

The Monterey outpost of Fieldwork Brewing Company, a brewery based out of Berkeley, is a nice outdoor space constructed out of a few shipping containers and a fence. It definitely takes "beer garden" to heart - the small fence and the gate are the only things separating it from the sidewalk. They have blankets and heaters surrounding the tables, along with two fire pits in the center of the seating area. It is a bring-your-own-food establishment - but it's located next to a Peet's Coffee as well as a Chipotle, and all the restaurants of Alvarado St. are just a short walk away. They have some pretty standard beers, all of which that I've had the opportunity to try are delicious (I thoroughly enjoy their Overripe! Northeast IPA) as well as some eclectic ones - the Petit Verdot Grand Gose is a complex, refreshing, and surprisingly drinkable beer. If you're from Syracuse or an Empire Brewery fan, it reminds me a lot of their Deep Purple. Plus...Fieldwork is dog friendly! Anywhere I can both drink a beer and pet some dogs is a good place in my book.

We have also had some chances to go and take some local adventures - keep your eyes out for a blog post about our Dali museum afternoon and a whale watch!