Tour Bus Crashes Into Aquarium Entrance

Monterey police Sgt. Bill Clark said the Coach USA bus was empty and parked on David Avenue west of Wave Street about a block above the aquarium when it began rolling downhill about 1:45 p.m. It hit several city signs and clipped the front of a vehicle driving on Wave Street before continuing down David Avenue.

The bus next sideswiped a building at 898 Wave St. that houses the aquarium’s offices and continued rolling down the sidewalk before hitting the Aquarium building on Cannery Row outside the gift shop.

Coach Usa Bus Into Aquarium

A young person used a cell phone to capture the crash – check the video

Tour Bus Crashes Aquarium Entrance

John Cerney Art Comes To Cannery Row

Mac And The Boys MuralMention of the name may not jog your memory, but if you’ve traveled the highways you have no doubt seen his work. The farmworkers and ranchers on highway 68 outside of Salinas, the baseball game on US 101 or the 55 Chevy with the baseball in the window on Del Monte – now you know who.

This real nice looking piece depicts Mack and the other ‘Row legends that Steinbeck wrote about. A small bit of reality in a seashore of phony creations. Check it out – it’s at the foot of Bruce Ariss way, near the preserved cannery workers homes. Right about where the flophouse would be. Too bad it’s on the notorious rec trail – hope the gang members keep their distance with the persistent taggings.

Mack and the boys, the notorious slackers from John Steinbeck’s classic novel, “Cannery Row,” are lounging on the hood and bumper of a Ford Model A truck, grinning sleepily, with any problems clearly relegated to the back burners of their minds.

the full-color mural by Salinas artist John Cerney that is now on permanent display on the back wall of Mackerel Jack’s Trading Co., along the Recreation Trail between Prescott and Irving streets in Monterey.

That was the location of the Del Mar Canning Co. — and Dora’s Bear Flag Restaurant, Doc Ricketts’ lab, Lee Chong’s Grocery and La Ida’s Cafe were just up the street.

A little explanation for Steve Jobs and others who never read:
Mac And The Boys Mural 1

The scary rec trail. Don’t go there at night.
Mac And The Boys Mural 2

John Cerney Art Comes To Cannery Row

Cannery Row Worker Seriously Hurt In IMAX Project

A construction worker at the future IMAX theater site in Cannery Row was seriously injured when he was pinned between a concrete wall and a large steel truss, firefighters said.

Crews working to free the man said the accident occurred shortly before 6 p.m. when a forklift tipped forward, but Mazza said the exact cause of the accident had not been determined late Wednesday.

The building at 640 Wave St., once the site of the Edgewater Packing Company, is being refurbished by developer Bella Cinema LLC to house the IMAX theater.

Imax

Cannery Row Worker Seriously Hurt In IMAX Project

Rape Charges Against Monterey Plaza Hotel Guest

John Paul Stefani, 38, was arrested in his room on suspicion of rape by force, oral copulation, sodomy and penetration with a foreign object. He was later released on $200,000 bail.

Police said the woman reported she was assaulted by the man, whom she knew, at his room at the Monterey Plaza Hotel on Cannery Row.

Rape Charges Against Monterey Plaza Hotel Guest

Cannery Row Block Party

Delays

Thousands of tourists and locals packed Monterey streets at the 4th annual Cannery Row Block Party on Sunday.

Wave and Foam streets were jammed with families and performers as local traffic slowed to a crawl.

The crowds gobbled seafood cocktails, taste-tested ice cream sundaes and listened to a musical tribute to Carlos Santana by the group Zebop.

The free event was populated by a circus like assortment of stilt walkers, clowns and wild animals — including a turtle, a hyena and a 110-pound mandrill who yawned on demand.

Umm, yeah. That’s some real Cannery Row worthy attractions. Sure.

Cannery Row Block Party

Big Screen Coming To Cannery Row

A “tourist hot spot” gahhh. Can’t wait.

Bella Cinema announced Tuesday that they will re-develop a historic cannery building into a 290-seat IMAX 3D theater totaling 16,000 square feet, KSBW Action News reported.

Developers said they are hoping to turn the area into a tourist hot spot.

Lighthosue Ave Traffic

Cannery Row May Remain Closed For 2007

It may be a lot longer before a person can drive down parts of Cannery Row in Monterey again.

A stretch of the famous street is closed because of the new hotel construction.

The road was supposed to reopen in two more months so merchants wouldn’t miss out on summer tourism, but now that may not happen.

Makes it sound like the whole gargantuan tourist mall is shut off from habitation.

The street is blocked to car traffic from Prescott to David Avenue. Well, if the summer gas prices don’t keep them out of town altogether I don’t think this half block where nothing stood before will make much difference.

Cannery Row Detour

What’s happening beyond the barricades.
Clement Ocean Edge

What it will someday be:
Clement Ocean Edge Construction

What’s at the end where people come from miles around to visit? The Fish Prison!
Kalisas 2

Kalisa’s is closed. Still can visit the Wing Chong Building for gifts & such:
Wing Chong

But over on the other side, these businesses may be hurting, saying that they are cut off from the throngs of aquarium visitors. Frankly, I would not miss them. I mean some real tacky stuff could stand to be erased and replaced by butcher paper covered windows for all I care. There’s little worthy experience aside from the fish prison, except maybe an exhibit of some famous authors’ characters:
Famous Author

Ready for the ticky tacky? Here you go.

Cannibalistic Squids
Capt Calamaris

Sharks with leis
Festive Shark

Pet Puns
Dog Bowl

Disaster preparation. I see an opportunity to open a Cannery Row Treasure Outlet selling stuff from the out of business places – “After The Tourists Fled”
After The Quake

If the earthquake reference was not enough to remind you that we are close to San Francisco, there’s the famous chocolate boutique:
Ghirardelli Choc

Let’s stoop to the lowest common denominator, Anna Nicole Smith and Homer Simpson in one joke:
Homer

Really. You come all that way just to see some fish. You surely must have to buy:

Paintings
Kinkade

Socks
Sock Shop

Wine or Candles
Cannery Row Shops

The little crab with the stupid name says “Eat More Pizza (not me!!)
Louie Linguini

Don’t have anything to claim that would draw the crowds? Call your bar a “Family Restaurant”.
Slys Family Restaurant Claim

Sly McFly is the most historic restaurant on cannery row?
Slys Historic Restaurant Claim

Historic? Pft. In the 70s the building was a import shop, ala Pier One. It was built as a bar with a motoring theme. Destroyed by a fire that took out the whole building, rebuilt in the replica of the cannery building it now thinks it is historic? Real history lies back at Kalisas or Neil DeVaughns. O’Kane’s “Spaghetti Warehouse” was real fun. But up the street is where the REAL history is – the Sardine Factory.

Hate to put down the workers and owners, but the ‘Row really has turned into a garish plastic tourist trap. If you are a visitor that wants to experience it here’s what the webmaster family does for visitors. Go to Compagnos Deli up on Prescott and Taylor Streets. Buy one of those great sandwiches for every two people. Get some drink and side orders. Take that down to the stage and access area at the bottom of Prescott. There is often live music in the plaza. Beach access is available – you can either watch the performance and eat or go down to the beach. You’ll be glad to see a bit of history and not overpay for “most historic” meals.

Fish Hopper

Cannery Row May Remain Closed For 2007

KMBY 1240 Original Studios – Virtually Unchanged

In a recent rare visit to Cannery Row I noticed that there are very few landmarks left. The cannery buildings are all but gone and replaced with replicas. What those that are still there have changed drastically to accommodate imprisoned fish, tourists and more commerce. Gone forever are original bohemian places like Odyssey Records, Kalisa’s, Capone’s Warehouse and The 812 Cinema. One thing that has not really physically changed in over 35 years is the radio station offices, studio and transmitter that broadcasts at 1240 AM. Once Monterey’s only top 40 pop station KMBY, it’s now a talk radio format known as KNRY. Back in the 1970s, friends and I would often visit the studio, whether to collect prizes won in the many call in contests, or just see the DJ working at the turntables. Here’s a photo collection of the studio as it is today.

Antenna sits on shoreline of Macabee Beach.Kmby 1240 Tower 1

View from Foam StreetKmby 1240 Tower

A long way up
Kmby 1240 Tower

Danger! Rock and Roll RF!
Kmby 1240 Danger Rf

Coverage from that antenna:
Kmby Coverage Map

The Bear Flag Building.
Kmby 1240 Bear Flag

1929
Bear Flag 1929

Sign over the door.
Kmby 1240 KNRY Sign

Sign on street.
Kmby 1240 KNRY Be Smart Sign

Entry Way.

Going upstairs. Everything is the same as I remember from the 70s.
Kmby 1240 Going Up

Reach the top, go around the corner . .
Kmby 1240 Corner

The Hallway. Door to studios, observation window, door to offices.
Kmby 1240 Hall

Here’s where you’d see real live DJs spinning 45s like The Monkees or Martha And The Vandellas.
Kmby 1240 Studio Window

If you went into the office lobby, you could pick up the latest survey of the “Top 12 plus 40”
Kmby 1240 720404

Time to leave. Going downstairs you’d notice the low ceiling. The redwood ceiling is from the 70s era.

Thanks for the memories. Step out and back out into the phony charm.
Kmby 1240 Leaving

KMBY 1240 Original Studios – Virtually Unchanged

Kalisa’s Closes. One More Landmark Lost

Nearly 50 years after she crossed the tracks and took over the site of what was once a bordello immortalized in John Steinbeck’s writing, the Queen of Cannery Row’s reign ends this week.

Kalisa Moore, 81, longtime owner of Kalisa’s, will close her doors Tuesday. The La Ida Cafe building where she’s fed and entertained guests since 1958, has been sold to local restaurateur Chris Shake, who plans to open a new cafe this spring.

Over five decades, as Cannery Row changed from an industrial area to a tourist mecca, Moore fed actors and writers, people down on their luck and others high on life at the two-story cafe and cabaret.

Kalisas 1

Kalisa, thanks for making my world an amazing place. Hi Riga!

Kalisa’s Closes. One More Landmark Lost.

Cannery Row Construction Affects Some Merchants

Since August, a portion of Cannery Row has been closed to traffic and parking to accommodate construction.

Marsha Edwards, owner of Dippin’ Dots ice cream shop, next door to the construction, said she thinks the lack of parking right in front of her shop may have something to do with the slow sales she’s seeing.

Across the way at Bubba Gump’s, public relations manager Dave Trombetta said the restaurant is attracting just as many diners as it does during an average year.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is seeing a regular stream of visitors and hasn’t needed to make any extra efforts, said Ken Peterson, senior public relations manager for the aquarium.

Cannery Row Detour

Advertising makes people aware. Even if the Aquarium is well known it still advertises. Bubba Gump advertises. Since I visit the Row about as often as 99% of Americans (which is hardly once in every 5 years) I don’t know whats down there besides the Aquarium, Bubbas, Paradiso and the stuff that’s been there over 50 years like the Bear Flag, Kalisas and Wing Chong building.

Cannery Row Construction Affects Some Merchants