Cannery Row Block Party Recap
On Sunday, the ESL students attended the Cannery Row Block Party. It wasn’t much of a party, unless your idea of a party is one guy making balloon animals for children as some local band struggles through “Smoke on the Water” in the background and tourist-trap-store employees try to convince you to buy a Hairy Otter t-shirt for $30.
Luckily, we are an adventurous bunch, so we rented some bicycles and took an impromptu bike ride down 17 Mile Drive. We ended up traversing through Del Monte Forest all the way to Spanish Bay and Asilomar Beach! Then we negated all that exercise by going out for pizza (which was totally worth it). Next year, we’ll skip the block party and go straight for the bike rentals.
I love Monterey. I used to scuba dive down there in the mid to late 60’s when I was just a kid. I’ve revisited the area many times since and it’s just one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It’s funny how when you’re young, you just take it all for granted. I didn’t realize or appreciate the extraordinary beauty of the area. Of course, back then we’d take a small boat and dive off of all of the abandoned and derelict canneries and think nothing of it. Now Cannery Row is one of California’s biggest tourist attractions. Anyway, I hope these ESL students have a greater appreciation for it all than I did when I was young. Cheers!
Mark