Richard & Sylvia's RV Adventures

Day 47 Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Monterey Cannery Row

Another beautiful day in California…. We took some maintenance time today and later decided to take a bike ride back down to the Monterey Fisherman’s Warf to pick up some fresh fish we had heard about yesterday.  We found the fish wholesalers and pick up some fresh red fish and scallops for tonight’s dinner, yummy!  

The fish was packed in ice so we decided to do a little exploring further by biking several blocks to Cannery Row.  Cannery Row was established around 1902 at the start of the Monterey canning industry by the Booth Cannery in the Monterey harbor and the Japanese canning venture, Monterey Fishing & Canning Co., on the coastline near McAbee Beach. 

The “row” expanded during WWI and WWII as sardines were canned to support the troops in Europe. 

In 1945 John Stienback wrote the book Cannery Row telling of  the exploits of a band of bums on Cannery Row, surrounded by bordellos, flophouses, a Chinese grocery store and the laboratory of a man who, in reality, was quietly revolutionizing modern marine biology: Ed Ricketts - the "Doc" of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.  Today, Cannery Row Is a major tourist attraction for Monterey with over 84 retail stores and 20 restaurants.

posted by Richard @ 7:53 PM