Saturday, September 15, 2001
We drive to Santa Cruz, see my brother's new place for the first time, see Johnson briefly as he stopped in while we were stepping out, then picked up Pete and Kim for a trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We got a quick bite to eat in the Aquarium's café, then set off exploring. We saw the new seahorse exhibit, jellyfish, sharks, giant sea cucumbers, octopi, sea otters, penguins, angelfish, pipefish, starfish, sea anemone, sea dragons, small birds, and more. We spent four hours there and saw almost everything. We drove back to Santa Cruz and dropped off Pete and Kim. We checked in to the Hilton Inn at Scotts Valley, rested a bit, checked out the hotel's pool, spa, and weight room. Then we drove to downtown Santa Cruz. Dinner at Restaurant Azur with Dexter, Johnson, Pete, Kim, and Patrick: salmon cocktail ($8.50), spiced prawns ($14), tomato salad ($12), tasting plate ($11), trout ($16), half chicken ($15), lamb chop ($18), duck ($17.50), coconut cake ($6), gelato espresso ($5). The food was delicious, but our server whose name appeared on our receipt as "Sully" (or Server Number 17) was unusually inattentive, and it cast gloom over our dining experience.