Hi All,
I was just alerted to the fact that tickets to the Friday, August 5th camp-over at the aquarium go on sale starting this Monday. The cost is $50.00 a head, so I'm assuming that's for everybody, kids as well as chaperones. That seems reasonable enough, what with insurance costs, overhead, etc. The bad news: you evidently have to be a member of the aquarium just to purchase said tickets. Once again, shouldn't be bad, right? My wife and I just joined the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum and that was $65.00 for both of us... but NO! Monterey wants $100.00 a person to join, or $175.00 for a deluxe membership that includes two free guest passes which could be used toward the camp-over. This is annoying, to say the least. So say you're coming from the East Coast, are probably not returning to Monterey anytime soon after the convention, and are already paying through the nose for accommodations, airfare, travel once you're on the peninsula, food, souvenirs, the convention (which luckily we're keeping cheap), and the aquarium visit itself... THEN you need to cough-up that kind of scratch in addition?! I don't know about everybody on this site, but I'm not independently wealthy. It just seems like an awful lot of money. Perhaps we could take up some kind of collection for pipsqueak or someone who actually lives up there so they could get a deluxe membership, then farm-out the guest passes to Carol and Jess, or Tony and family... does anybody think this sounds doable? I'd really like everybody to leave with a fun, memorable experience.
I think I'd better start researching other viable family-friendly alternatives in the area. There's awesome sea kayaking right off the aquarium (warning: playful sea otters might try to capsize you - happened to a coworker of mine when he was twelve), there are miles of trails, there's bike rentals, there are terrific sandy beaches as well as rocky seashores for exploring. It's an amazing location that I loved as a small child (before they built the aquarium) and still do.
What does everybody think? Does the camp-over still sound like it's worth it, or do you think we ought to continue looking for other things for families to enjoy while visiting?
Erich