a butterfly with Halloween colors

unnecessary signage

Sometimes your local botanical garden adds completely unnecessary signage to what was a perfectly pleasing stone wall. Too cutesy for my taste.

Hawk Mountain

Sometimes you discover that your late aunt had not one but two books on Hawk Mountain, the legendary raptor preserve in eastern Pennsylvania. Would not mind going there some day.

Butter and Fold revisited

Less crowded than our first visit, but the acoustics were still kind of loud. It was better at the table outside. Below, an experimental soda. I think I had a flat white with oat milk.

Santa Monica Place

Back in Santa Monica, where we had lunch at True Food Kitchen... After lunch we strolled around the open-air mall, which was actually quite agreeable as far as shopping malls go. Its name is Santa Monica Place, and it is so close to the famous Santa Monica Pier that we realized we could have parked here and walked to the pier (and possibly avoided the weekend's earlier fiasco...) Anyway there were some interesting coffee venues in the mall, and even if in some cases the architecture was better than the service, the entire interlude, like the weather, was pleasant. Above, Qargo Coffee.

Old Bay

A very thoughtful gift from Mrs' half brother who lives in Maryland. I remember giving this to my mom after my 2009 "tour de Maryland". We later established that it goes well on popcorn.

Aquarium of the Pacific

Forgot to mention that we drove by Long Beach's aquarium, better known as the Aquarium of the Pacific, on our way out of town. We left Long Beach realizing that it is a many-layered town, like an onion. Not sure how many layers there are total, but we experienced at least four or five. We also learned that it's the seventh most populous city in the state.

True Food Kitchen

We ate at this True Food Kitchen in Santa Monica many years ago and had a good memory of it. This time the setting was nice, but the food was a touch peculiar. Or maybe it just lacked zing. Then again, maybe it was so healthy that it tasted peculiar and lacked zing. I was so hungry I sort of didn't care.

Fuego x 3

Rather than the busy, mediocre breakfast at our hotel we opted to have a top notch breakfast at Fuego. In the end we had a dinner, lunch and breakfast at Fuego (in that order). The Maya Hotel is a beautiful property as one can tell from the lobby (above). 

 

the scary night

The sun rises on our hotel room after a long, scary night wherein someone (or something) pounded violently on our door at 1 am and 1:15 am. A drunk? A ghost? We don't know... All we know is that it was hard to get back to sleep. Javi was scared too.

Carnival Panorama

Around 5 p.m. I noticed the Carnival Panorama leaving port.

swimming interlude

I wish I could say that our pool in Long Beach was heated, but it was most definitely not. In an effort to build character, I went in anyway.

Long Beach

A good view of the Long Beach skyline as seen from across the Los Angeles River. Note the Catalina Express most likely on a return trip from Catalina Island.

Carnival Cruise Terminal

We learned that this boat slip is also where the Carnival cruise ships leave from. The big dome seen below is, not surprisingly, the Carnival Cruise Terminal. Some people on the Queen Mary told us it was headed to Puerto Vallarta. Since this was hurricane season on Mexico's west coast, and it was in the news that Hurricane Otis is the largest storm to ever hit that coast, one can only hope that this particular cruise was not overly impacted by the storm.

Queen Mary

I had been on the Queen Mary before but it was good to see it again. Despite a little bit of peeling paint, and in contrast to the nearby rusty Soviet sub, the ship's condition had been very much improved. It still functions as a hotel despite an abundance of ghosts. It also doubles as a maritime museum focused on golden days of ocean liners. Strange to think my mom, who never made it to California, took this ship to Europe in the 50s. Now that Mrs. has toured it with her brother, it will always have a family connection for both of us.

10-21-23

The sun rises on Long Beach on what would prove to be a historic day: 1) Mrs. would set foot on the Queen Mary and 2) Mrs. would meet her half brothers, something one wasn't sure would ever happen, but it did.

Fuego

Our hotel had no restaurant and the only nearby option, we were told, was the Mexican place at the Hotel Maya nextdoor. Having already had Mexican for lunch, our expectations were low. We were pleasantly surprised by Fuego. It not only had a spectacular indoor-outdoor atmosphere with great views of the river and the Queen Mary, but equally enchanting, inspiring and interesting food - Mexican cuisine at its best. That night we had Fuego Salad, Crispy Brussels Sprouts and Shaved Street Corn - all delicious. For the next three days we fell into a "ring of Fuego"- in a good way.

a river with a promenade

One of the highlights of our lodging situation was this promenade that ran along the river and connected our hotel with the Hotel Maya and the Queen Mary. It was perhaps a lovelier stroll than we were expecting and Mrs. took some excellent photos capturing its essence. (Not seen: men fishing along the riverbank).

a machine with a view

Our hotel, the Residence Inn by Marriott Long Beach, felt like an eleven-story machine with a great view of the Queen Mary, the Carnival Cruise Terminal, the Hotel Maya and the Los Angeles River. We were on the tenth floor looking east-southeast.

 

scary bridges

Eager to get to Long Beach in the light, we switched to letting the GPS direct us. It directed us over two scary-ass high bridges that connect the 110 to the 710 via Terminal Island.

Santa Monica Pier

While for the most part our experience of the pier consisted of endless walls of people, it was also true that if you looked out at the sea the vistas were quite pleasant.

the TFK-Maria Sol fiasco

Sometimes the plan is to eat lunch at True Food Kitchen in downtown Santa Monica, but you end up at Maria Sol at the end of the Santa Monica Pier. The blame can be equally shared by the Internet, the confusion inherent to urban density, and our own simple country ways. We survived the fiasco, maw.

Adamson House revisited, part 3

Looking out at the ocean and Malibu Lagoon from the upstairs terrace of the Adamson House. This is so clearly a special location both geographically and spiritually. Learning about the Rindge family and their lives here was enriching. They were blessed beyond comprehension to have built this home here on the edge of the sea - apparently one of the first in rugged, remote Malibu. It would appear that all the risks and sacrifices they made by leaving a more comfortable life in Massachusetts were worth it.