Last spring we went to Left Coast Crime, a mystery lovers convention. After a stop in So. Cal. to visit big sis and her family we drove up the coast to Monterey, where the convention was being held. The convention itself was fun, I met some authors who have over the years provided a great deal of joy and relaxation for me. I had books autographed by Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini, chatted with newer authors like Brad Parks, shared a dinner table with Lou Berney, and attended a 60 Second Breakfast where 40 new authors were given 60 seconds to capture new readers by convincing us to try their books. (I had a hard time keeping up my list of the ones I wanted to further investigate as so many of them did such excellent presentations. Plus breakfast, you know!)
 |
| Our hotel was across the street from this plaza. |
 |
| The pier was next door to the plaza. |
 |
| View from the north side of the pier. |
We didn't just spend all of our time at the convention and hotel, either. There was time for other activities.
 |
| We went to Cannery Row |
 |
| and the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. |
 |
| I love the look of the Jellyfish. |
 |
| We did a little hiking, |
 |
| took a few walks, |
One of the walks was to benefit the local library. (I often think that of all the philanthropists from the era of the railroad tycoons the one who made the most obvious real benefit to society was Carnegie. The good done by creating so many public libraries cannot be overstated.)
 |
| and did a lot of relaxing. |
We visited Salinas (Home of the author of the Cannery Row books).
 |
| Salinas High School is a nice looking place |
 |
| On the drive home we learned about meteors |
 |
| and looked at a big hole left in the earth by one. |
All in all a really nice trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment