AFTER-HOURS AQUARIUM: A sunny spate of kid books was released back in the 1960s and '70s, books detailing specifically how it might be to spend the night alone in a museum or library or other hallowed institution. Clearly adventures would be had, and memories made, and perhaps a friend or two would result along the way (if some other kids happened to have the same idea as the protagonist).
AS ADULTS... living in a non-fiction world, however, we don't enjoy nearly enough opportunities to live out the tales we loved as tots, especially those involving a night inside a hallowed institution. But we can still find ways to connect with that fun, as a grown-up, if we know where to look. And if you glance at the calendar for the Monterey Bay Aquarium and you see an event called The Party on Saturday, Oct. 1, well, you're definitely looking in the right direction for adventuresome eating and socializing. Nope, you won't be spending the night, like those fictional stories of old, but you will be dining, sipping beverages, and calling upon the fishies after sundown.
THE ANNUAL TO-DO... will be all about "ocean-friendly foods" ("Cooking for Solutions" being a major theme at the aquatic institution) from several different eateries. Winemakers and brewhouses'll also be in the capacious, historic, and otter-cute building, a building that party attendees are invited to explore as they quaff their cabernets and ponder sardines, seals, and sharks. And will "an underwater nightclub" round out the evening in the Marine Mammal Gallery? You bet. A ticket is $125 for non-members, and you'll want to keep some cash handy for the bar at the later-in-the-evening nightclub scene. Best polish up your bragging voice, too, as you tell all of your pals, the same ones that liked those "stay the night at an aquarium" stories way back when, that you danced in the famous Cannery Row landmark after the sun said its goodbyes for the night. It's a rare chance to enjoy Monterey Bay Aquarium by evening, and to get some grooves in near the gill-rocking residents, too.
