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Day 3: June 19, 2019
Today we left San Francisco for points south and made our way to Monterey, California's first capital. Our first stop was the magnificent Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the finest aquariums in the world. We enjoyed the fish swimming in the kelp forest, saw otters, penguins, and all kinds of other sea creatures. We later explored Cannery Row, which John Steinbeck immortalized in his book of the same name. We were even on the same block as his friend Doc's place and saw where the sardine cannery workers worked and lived. From there, we drove farther south through the agricultural Salinas Valley, green with vegetables and vineyards. We had barbecue and explored in the town of San Luis Obispo, home of one of the 21 missions founded by Father Junipero Serra. After eating as much as we could hold, we wound our way to our hotel in the picturesque beach town of Morro Bay, where the adjacent bay is dominated by gigantic Morro Rock. A good day was had by all.