Hi

anyone have any cool ideas for someone spending about 3 weeks in Monterey? favorite local things to do or see, day trips or even weekend trips out of town?

I am starting my research here, thanks!

Well, besides the more well-known tourist attractions {the aquarium is not-to-be-missed}, the Elkhorn Slough {elkhornslough.org} boat tour a short drive from Monterey is a great adventure - like something out of National Geographic! It is the largest area of salt marsh outside of San Francisco Bay, and protects a multitude of birds, otters, fish and other creatures. My husband and I really enjoyed it.

Three weeks? Aren't you lucky!! A nice weekend trip from Monterey is heading south on Highway 1 along the coast through Big Sur (stop for lunch, a couple good restaurants there) for a stay in Cambria (nice hotels and B&B's, good restaurants, beautiful place). Stop in San Simeon on the way back and visit Hearst Castle.

How about spending a couple of those weeks in San Jose? You could....um....well.....forget it, it really IS the armpit of California, lol.

My advice would be to visit your local AAA or local bookstore and pick up a guide book and maps so you can check out a few things. Lots to see and do in that area, including Big Sur, the Monterey Aquarium, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Napa area, San Francisco, Yosemite, etc, etc,

Depending on when you go, consider the Monterey Whale Watch...it departs from the pier and for my family it was an amazing "life changing" experience. We got so close to the whales (they rubbed against the boat)that my wife claims that she looked into the eyes of the whale and saw his soul...no kidding

Some things off the top of my head -

* Big Sur for incredible natural beauty and some hiking
*Cambria is a nice town on the coast with galeries and just a nice vibe
* San Simeon for Hearst Castle
* Elkhorn Slough as already mentioned
* Moss Landing for clam chowder at Phils and poking around in antique shops
* San Juan Bautista has a nice mission and several restored or reconstructed historical buildings that are now museums, plus a cool downtown
* Capitola Village is a cute place on the beach with shops and casual restaurants
* Santa Cruz has the boardwalk, the wharf, downtown, surfers, and so on.
* The Santa Cruz mountains have some great redwood forests including some nice state parks and little towns along Hwy 9.

And if you like artichokes, don't miss Castroville - the artichoke capital of the world. Even if you don't care for artichokes, go there anyway. Its on the way to Moss Landing and points north and the giant artichoke is funny. There isn't much to Castroville, so a 30 minute stop should do it.

3 weeks in Monterey, how luck you are! You might start by driving down highway 1 to Big Sur, Hearst Castle, Morro Bay and Santa Barbara. Then take the 101 up to the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, then stop to visit San Juan Bautista, and spend some time in San Jose for more of a big city atmosphere. Please note that questionmotives is a perrenial San jose basher on Fodors. Just outside of San Jose I'd recommend going to Big Basin and then back to Monterey.

Have a fun trip.