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California's cities are each famous for one unique thing: Los Angeles has Hollywood, San Diego has surfing, San Francisco has hippies and Monterey has - cheese? The city of Monterey, located along the Pacific Coast's Monterey Bay in Central california, has long been known around the world as the home of Monterey Jack cheese. However, Monterey boasts a rich history, with its past residents including the likes of Henry Miller and John Steinbeck, whose novel "Cannery Row" was set in the city. In fact, Monterey offers the visitor many attractions - not just cheese!

Monterey has been dubbed by some as "the cradle of history" and is home to many "firsts" in California's history: including the Golden State's first theatre, brick house, publicly funded school, public library and its first printing press. Anyone hoping to get a glimpse of Monterey's rich historical tradition need only visit the Monterey State Historic Park, in which visitors will find many examples of early colonial architecture. major historic landmarks in Monterey include Larkin house, Royal Presidio Chapel and Colton hall - a public school and government meeting place that played host to California's first constitutional convention.

Moreover, Monterey is well-known for its spectacular marine habitats and its long fishing tradition. Monterey's fishing industry was for many years one of the most famous in the United States, but underwent severe decline in the 1950s due to over-fishing. Cannery Row, Monterey's once bustling sardine-canning street has now been converted into a major tourist attraction with many restaurants and shops lining the important historical site.

Cannery Row is also home to one of Monterey's most popular attractions: the Monterey Bay Aquarium. One of the largest aquariums in north america, the aquarium sees more than 1.8 million people pass through its doors every year and is home to 35, 000 plants and animals from around 623 species, including jellyfish, sea otters and stingrays. And in September 2004, the aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit momentously became home to the first Great White Shark to ever successfully be kept on exhibit.

If you're hoping to sample some of Monterey's non-cheesy delights, you'll find that getting around the city is simple due to its fairly compact nature. Any of the hotels in Monterey will leave you only a hop, skip and a jump away from the city's main attractions. And since Monterey is only a couple of hours away from San Francisco and San Jose, and only a little further away from San Diego, Sacramento and LA, it's an easily accessible day or weekend trip for tourists visiting any of California's major cities.

Andrew Regan is a freelance online journalist

The Nintendo Wii is the hottest gaming system on the market. Even now many retailers are sold out and awaiting new shipments of this revolutionary game system with its remote sensing control system. The Nintendo Wii is a hot commodity, and like any commodity the laws of supply and demand are in play, and high demand can often equate to high prices. If you are one of the millions of people considering a purchase of the Wii system then you are probably among those for whom the Nintendo Wii price is a consideration.

Fortunately, the Nintendo Wii price is at a point that is affordable for most people, and for approximately $249.99 USD you can jump right in almost literally and begin playing the game that everyone is talking about. However, the $250 dollar price point only gets you the basic Wii package, which includes one game Wii Sports one controller, the sensor bar, and the assorted power cords needed to plug in and play. While this assortment is more than capable of getting you up and running, the $250 Nintendo Wii price does not include many items you are sure to want as soon as you tire of playing Wii Sports against the computer.

One way to avoid endless shopping for additional games and accessories is to purchase a Nintendo Wii bundle from a retailer who offers such deals. Various retailers offer bundles all inclusive package deals that include the Wii system as well as additional memory, additional controller, and several additional game titles. While such packages can greatly increase the Nintendo Wii price by $200 to $400 dollars depending on the number of games and their titles it can give you all you need, and more, to get started gaming.

The Nintendo Wii price, without accessories, is roughly $250. But it is the accessories that make the Wii such a powerful and dynamic system, and the Nintendo Wii price does not include those additional items. While new game titles will cost roughly $50 each, it is not the new games that will take your Wii to new heights; it is the add-ons. A second controller and Nunchuk - secondary controller that plugs into the primary, wireless controller; the Wiimote will cost approximately $60. For those who wish to offset the Nintendo Wii price by continuing to play games from their Nintendo gamecube, they may need to purchase a gamecube controller if they do not already have one ($25). Further, if you want to save your ongoing gamecube games like you could do on the original gamecube then a memory card is needed ($25). For roughly the same prices as the memory card, an SD card 1 GB of additional memory can be purchased allowing you to download classic games through an internet connection.

Like other accessories, internet connectivity is not included in the Nintendo Wii price, and a wireless Wi-Fi usb connector is required ($100 and up). And if you want to see the fruit of your investments in the quality of High Definition, then a component video adapter is needed to deliver that crystal clear picture ($20).

After reading a list such as this one it is easy to wonder what you really get for that $250 Nintendo Wii price. The truth is that you get a lot, but if you want more and you want to maximize the capabilities of the system then investing in accessories that cost above and beyond the Nintendo Wii price will deliver exactly that. Fortunately, you dont have to buy them all at once.

Michelle Bery