The street that John Steinbeck immortalised in his 1945 novel is now the main tourist strip — souvenir shops, wine tasting rooms, and seafood restaurants filling the old corrugated-iron cannery buildings. The atmosphere is more theme park than the bawdy, sardine-smelling place Steinbeck described, but it is worth an hour of your time. A bronze statue of Steinbeck himself stands on the sidewalk near his old haunts, and the building facades, the loading docks, and the smell of the bay give enough texture to make the novel come alive.
The Doc Rickett's Lab at 800 Cannery Row — the real-life model for Steinbeck's "Doc" — still stands, though it is a private club now and only open for occasional events. Look for the Pacific Biological Laboratories sign. The street is pedestrian-friendly and connects directly to the Aquarium at its western end.