Tuesday, October 17, 2017 dawned gloriously. It was our last day at the coast. We had planned on spending the day in Morro Bay, with the hopes of taking a cruise on the Lost Isle Adventures tiki cruise boat. But alas, that was not to be.
Afterwards---eeeert! Stop the car! Photo op on the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine!
Christa shows off her "Smoobage"---whatever that is. Oh my stars!
Besides the perfect weather, the beauty of the day was that it was a weekday and off season. It was not crowded at all.
Sea otter!
The son of the original owner (?) runs the place.
Inside there were three small pens for the two seals and one sea lion. The seal in the second cage is able to get into the third cage. But the one in the first pen (closest to the right) can only swim in that one small area. They have names, but I didn't remember to get a record of who is who. Somewhere I read that these animals are being "rehabilitated". But the signs I saw inside all said that they were born in captivity and would die in the wild.
Next to the seal pens is the antiqued aquarium area. The aquariums are small, dank and dirty.
A sad fish literally rests on a cinder block.
Clearly not to be confused with the Monterey Bay Aquarium
On leaving, I asked the owner about the future of the aquarium animals. I said I knew that the facility was closing down and a new one was to be built, but what would happen to the animals in the mean time? He said that he had purchased the living animals from fishermen and spared them from being dinner at some seafood house. He said they would be returned to the bay (I'm guessing unceremoniously dumped back in). The seals and sea lion would be taken to a sanctuary somewhere. I think he was trying to be defensive of his aquarium. I wasn't attacking him at all---just wondering the fate of the specimens on display. I do think he is frequently attacked for the conditions of the aquarium though. That may be why admission is CASH only...so you can NOT cancel your credit card transactions. I do have to give the family some credit though. 50 years ago or so when they started the aquarium, there was not a lot of knowledge or study of marine life. Aquariums have come a long way, but unfortunately this one got lost to time and is soon to become extinct. Sad and bad as it was, I'm glad I got to see it.
Following the aquarium, we stopped and had lunch at this place.
After lunch, we walked down to the Harbor Hut because I needed some photos for an article. Christa snapped this of me by a tiki idol at the Harbor Hut.
Even though the tiki cruise was not in operation that day, Christa seemed to have her mind set on a cruise...so we chose Captain Stew's Bay Cruise. After getting the tickets, she realized the whole point of our cruise plans was the tiki boat--not just some random cruise. Never worry. This would be fine.
It was a ship mostly full of seniors and a rather "large" family from (I think) Lindsay here in the valley.
Ahoy, Captain Stew!
Sea otters.
The cruise was very much like the tiki cruise...withOUT the cocktail. It discussed the same basic things as the tiki cruise and we saw the same basic things.
More sea otters
We visited the sea lions
On another float that has been taken over by the sea lions, the Harbor Patrol was there investigating a report of a sea lion that had something caught around its neck, cutting in to it. The Harbor Patrol was investigating. They'd take pictures and decided a plan of action after they'd had a chance to talk and review everything.
Here you can see the sea lion they were concerned with.
Poor creature. I hope they can help her.
We passed the Morro Bay Aquarium dock, where I am sure all of the creatures in the aquariums will be set free...er, DUMPED back into the sea.
This colorful house was apparently the home used by Sandra Bullock in the film "Murder By Numbers" (which I have not seen).
Following the cruise (which ran way later than it was advertised), Christa and I said farewell. She had to get on home to Santa Monica and I needed to rush back to Fresno. I had to show the apartment in one of mom's houses (the former "shack-o-rama" from when I was crammed in there) to a potential renter. I did make a stop at an A&W though. Erich had called when he and Ricki, Beth, and Steve were eating at the one in Florence. The one in Florence is surprisingly GOOD. It clearly uses food that is NOT what the chain delivers. I was wanting some, too...and stopped here in the hopes that, since this was a stand-alone A&W (and not shared with Long John Silver's or Kentucky Fried Chicken) that it might be as good as the one in Florence. I was wrong...
I hit the road and hit traffic slow downs several times for road work.
After following me to Morro Bay (Christa had never really been there either), we found the Lost Isle Adventures tiki boat and the store that goes with it, but they were closed. Hmm. I took a photo anyway, as I am working on an article for The Bee that will include it.
Afterwards---eeeert! Stop the car! Photo op on the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine!
Christa shows off her "Smoobage"---whatever that is. Oh my stars!
Besides the perfect weather, the beauty of the day was that it was a weekday and off season. It was not crowded at all.
Sea otter!
One of my other reasons for wanting to visit Morro Bay was to check out the Morro Bay Aquarium, which would be closing for good by the end of the year. I've seen it called everything from the "saddest aquarium in the world" to the "seal Guantanamo" online. It is being closed down at the end of this year. This was my last and only chance to see the place.
You enter and exit through a gift shop. The entrance fee is only $3 and you can buy a bag of "seal food" (really a bag of chopped up little fish parts) for a few bucks more.
The son of the original owner (?) runs the place.
Inside there were three small pens for the two seals and one sea lion. The seal in the second cage is able to get into the third cage. But the one in the first pen (closest to the right) can only swim in that one small area. They have names, but I didn't remember to get a record of who is who. Somewhere I read that these animals are being "rehabilitated". But the signs I saw inside all said that they were born in captivity and would die in the wild.
Next to the seal pens is the antiqued aquarium area. The aquariums are small, dank and dirty.
A sad fish literally rests on a cinder block.
Clearly not to be confused with the Monterey Bay Aquarium
On leaving, I asked the owner about the future of the aquarium animals. I said I knew that the facility was closing down and a new one was to be built, but what would happen to the animals in the mean time? He said that he had purchased the living animals from fishermen and spared them from being dinner at some seafood house. He said they would be returned to the bay (I'm guessing unceremoniously dumped back in). The seals and sea lion would be taken to a sanctuary somewhere. I think he was trying to be defensive of his aquarium. I wasn't attacking him at all---just wondering the fate of the specimens on display. I do think he is frequently attacked for the conditions of the aquarium though. That may be why admission is CASH only...so you can NOT cancel your credit card transactions. I do have to give the family some credit though. 50 years ago or so when they started the aquarium, there was not a lot of knowledge or study of marine life. Aquariums have come a long way, but unfortunately this one got lost to time and is soon to become extinct. Sad and bad as it was, I'm glad I got to see it.
Following the aquarium, we stopped and had lunch at this place.
After lunch, we walked down to the Harbor Hut because I needed some photos for an article. Christa snapped this of me by a tiki idol at the Harbor Hut.
Even though the tiki cruise was not in operation that day, Christa seemed to have her mind set on a cruise...so we chose Captain Stew's Bay Cruise. After getting the tickets, she realized the whole point of our cruise plans was the tiki boat--not just some random cruise. Never worry. This would be fine.
The ship arrived (rather late) and soon we were going aboard.
It was a ship mostly full of seniors and a rather "large" family from (I think) Lindsay here in the valley.
Ahoy, Captain Stew!
Sea otters.
The cruise was very much like the tiki cruise...withOUT the cocktail. It discussed the same basic things as the tiki cruise and we saw the same basic things.
More sea otters
We visited the sea lions
On another float that has been taken over by the sea lions, the Harbor Patrol was there investigating a report of a sea lion that had something caught around its neck, cutting in to it. The Harbor Patrol was investigating. They'd take pictures and decided a plan of action after they'd had a chance to talk and review everything.
Here you can see the sea lion they were concerned with.
Poor creature. I hope they can help her.
We passed the Morro Bay Aquarium dock, where I am sure all of the creatures in the aquariums will be set free...er, DUMPED back into the sea.
This colorful house was apparently the home used by Sandra Bullock in the film "Murder By Numbers" (which I have not seen).
As we came into dock, there was the tiki boat looking sad and passenger-less. Waaaagh! We should have been on it.
Following the cruise (which ran way later than it was advertised), Christa and I said farewell. She had to get on home to Santa Monica and I needed to rush back to Fresno. I had to show the apartment in one of mom's houses (the former "shack-o-rama" from when I was crammed in there) to a potential renter. I did make a stop at an A&W though. Erich had called when he and Ricki, Beth, and Steve were eating at the one in Florence. The one in Florence is surprisingly GOOD. It clearly uses food that is NOT what the chain delivers. I was wanting some, too...and stopped here in the hopes that, since this was a stand-alone A&W (and not shared with Long John Silver's or Kentucky Fried Chicken) that it might be as good as the one in Florence. I was wrong...
I hit the road and hit traffic slow downs several times for road work.
It made me late...but in the end I made it home. That was the end of the Central Coast with Christa Adventure, but a new adventure was about to unfold in just a matter of hours. Stay tuned for further tales from the road.
The NEXT adventure starts HERE.
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