Santa Monica

Partly for old times sake, and partly to use two of my four days off in an interesting manner, I drove up to Santa Monica, CA to look around. On other trips down here in the past I've wanted to see the aquarium on the pier, so I did it, adding the end of historic hwy 66 (which ends up on the pier)... and an investigation of the park on the pier. After I had done all this, along with a ride on the Ferris wheel and classic carousel, I strolled into the Pacific up to my ankles along the hot beach. Most of the fun on the beach was watching all the people... there were so many of all ages from all over the world. In fact, the couple I rode with in the Ferris wheel were from South Africa!

Loved the aquarium! It was just below the beginning of the pier. They had a tank with two moray eels at the entrance, petting tanks for sea stars, anemones, and little sharks. Lots of opportunities for good pictures.

Did a bit of exploring around the town too. The library and historical museum were both closed... but I did have a Ben & Jerry's scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough. I also found the summer installment of MHQ (military history quarterly) at Barnes & Noble on the promenade. And in my wanderings I looked in on the Santa Monica Playhouse (found it on the map first) and found they were playing a children's comedy called "Barnyard Madness with the Three Little Pigs" the next day.

For dinner I stopped in at "The Lobster" overlooking the pier. It was quite a treat! Dungeness crab salad (with lemon vinaigrette dressing, grapes, Parmesan cheese & almonds on arugula), and then four cheese ravioli. They served the tastiest bread and oil & vinegar dipping sauce for a starter. I had some more for a finisher... along with a hot chocolate.

Walked back to the motel (I had parked the car there when I arrived around 10:30...and tried out the nearby Hawaiian BBQ for lunch. Sort of tied together the feeling that I was back in Waikiki. Had spam & noodle soup and a guava drink.) and watched a movie on my laptop (The Final Countdown) because I was pretty tired. That was a lot of walking.

Slept in til 10am! Checked out just in time for checkout time! I first had Denny's down the street for breakfast, then parked in public parking for free while I saw the "Three Little Pigs". It was in a cute, little theater (only 3 rows of seats!). Turned out to be a combination of Vaudeville song & dance, the story of the Three Little Pigs, and Romeo & Juliette... with a happy ending. Made for some good fun.

I had thought I'd drive up north after the play, seeing the coast up by Malibu. But there were lots of clouds, so I decided to drive up CA-2 (Santa Monica Blvd, and the old 66) through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Saw HOLLYWOOD up on the hills! How neat that was. I imagined how things used to be as people drove that road in the old days... people driving across the country to end up where I was.

Since I had time, I took a side trip 7 miles south to San Pedro to see the Cabrillo Aquarium again. Remember I loved it last time, and I did again. From there I drove straight back to San Diego and home. It felt good to return to something familiar and friendly. Had Panera Bread for dinner, but had lots of issues connecting to chat, including a power outage on base! Thankfully, the lights came back on just as Starbucks closed at 10pm. So I was able to rest in my own bed after it all. :)

Jp