Play Misty for me!

The fitness room opened at six and I arrived on the dot, having walked a short distance through thick early morning mist, with the sound of a coastal foghorn in the distance. But, walking back, just short of an hour later, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. After breakfast we drove to the ocean, parking at the Monterey Plaza car park, the base for some natty city tour vehicles.

The Bay was idyllic as we walked towards Cannery Row and calling at the Pier (to booked a whale watching trip, for Monday} we saw dozens of paddle-boarders, scuba divers, and sea lions. Continuing-on to Cannery Row we were back in Steinbeck territory, again.

The Bay and its sea life are simply stunning! We stopped for coffee at a familiar swanky, but friendly, hotel, before making our way back to the Old Pier, where we paused to watch a sea otter at play, before taking a lunch stop at the Sandbar Grill, where Clint Eastwood appeared in 'Play Misty for me'.  

Monterey has provided scenic back-drops for a number of films over the years (including Star Trek IV!). We also visited the craft market in the Historic District and bought a really neat kaleidoscope, before driving to the Del Monte Mall, to escape the heat and take-in its cinema.

We saw the film "Black Mass", a sinister tale of 1970's crime, in Boston. Few laughs, but a good performance by Johnny Depp! Emerging from the cinema in warm evening sunshine, we stopped-off at 'Islands' for dinner and Wholefoods ('Pay cheque'!) for ice-cream. A nice day in Monterey, during which I caught a couple of tunes that struck a chord ..... the first, 'Born to be Wild'; the second, played by a live band in the Historic District .... 'Hey Good Lookin'!:
 

This is Hank Williams' version: