FTJ, Entry 92: California Weirdin'

When we arrived in Long Beach, I got REALLY strange vibes. We are staying in a small park, pretty much on the water, right in their a very attractive central business district around the corner from the Queen Mary.  I dunno -- it all felt weird and unsettling to me for some reason. Hmmm... maybe it's something about being in the middle of a really urban environment. Or could it have been a delayed reaction to the California freeway traffic?

Not sure. Well, at least I'm over it now... mostly.

 

Nice view on the way north to Long Beach.

Beau counted 4 layers of road BELOW us!!!

Light traffic on the freeway.

Our RV resort, next to...

The majestic Queen Mary. I really wish cruise ships were still designed like this. 

So the next day we began our wandering -- first to San Pedro, which is basically the Los Angeles Port area. The Long Beach and the LA ports are huge and just astounding.

We're talking square MILES of this!! It's really fantastic.

We lunched at a little seaside tourist "village' called Port O Call. Cute, with seafood restaurants up and down the docks.

Beau and Buddy at Port O Call.

We lucked out at the San Pedro Fish Market, in that a really nice guy -- Tommy -- came and helped us figure out the menu. (Perhaps we stood out in that we were just about the only Caucasians there? The area is 40% Hispanic.) He suggested their famous platter, where you go into the fish market and pick out a pound of whatever seafood you want, add veggies and bread, and they cook it for you. I think Tommy may have owned the joint, since he found us later to give Beau a free T-shirt.

Holy cow. The platter was gigantic.

Beau and the giant seafood platter.

Tommy is originally from Long Island. What a nice guy!

Beau and Buddy and I then explored the area some more, and ended up at Point Fermin park and lighthouse, and then Cabrillo Beach. Both were really beautiful.

Point Fermin Lighthouse. Isn't it lovely?

 

This is the view of the Pacific Ocean from Point Fermin Park -- you can see the kelp beds.

Cabrillo Point.

 

Pelicans off Cabrillo Beach.

Big concrete fishing pier. The breakwater protects Port Los Angeles.

Today we went up the coast -- visiting those famous places you will likely recognize: Redondo Beach, Venice Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Malibu. So cool!  The report on all that in our next blog entry.

Tomorrow we are taking the rig in for service -- always a hassle, in that we are without our home for a day. Hate it! But it's better to take care of old Harvey and make sure he lives a long life.

(Not sure we will have time, but the Queen Mary has restaurants on board...we would love to go to one!)

Till next time,
Tanks, Panky

PS - I think I need ANOTHER new camera. All my photos are coming out with a round circle blob on them. (I crop most of the blobs out whenever possible.) The same thing happened to the previous camera. What the heck??!!!