A Day at Hermosa Beach (+ La La Land!)

I probably said "I hate the beach" a little too loudly around some local residents, but to be fair, Atticus had just accidentally dumped a good amount of sand on top of the Oreo pancake we bought him for lunch. Plus his face was red despite multiple applications of sunscreen, and Paul's back was none better. The beach is not my favorite place.

Nevertheless, we spent some seven hours in Hermosa Beach while we visited Los Angeles in August, and I fulfilled a goal too -- visiting some "La La Land" locations.

The beach was about an hour drive from Anaheim, and we quickly found a meter around 11 a.m. We paid for five hours -- which I never thought we'd need -- and ended up feeding the meter for another couple of hours. Most of the time Paul and the kids spent swimming and digging holes in the and, while I half-heartedly eavesdropped on a group of teachers having a beach reunion with their young kids and/or grandkids. Our own children made some new friends -- a giant sand hole is a grand unifier, evidently.

We pick up food from a nearby breakfast/lunch place that Paul had scoped out called Martha's. The kids loved the pancakes (minus the aforementioned sand), and my vegetarian sandwich was delicious with thick chunks of avocado, sprouts and more on dark wheat bread. I think it was even called the Californian.

At 4 p.m. we packed up, cleaned off and changed -- except for me, who had only gotten my feet wet. The water (my first time at the Pacific Ocean!) was surprisingly strong, and Paul was told that then waves were bigger than usual. The weather was comfy -- maybe 80 with a breeze. The water was cold.

After dropping our stuff off at the car, we walked along the beach on a nice path filled with walkers, joggers, bikes and skateboards. We went to the pier featured in "La La Land" while "City of Stars" played on repeat in my head. The Lighthouse Cafe was nearby, so I grabbed some photos there too. Alas, I heard no music.

We left around 6, back to the hotel at 7, watched fireworks from just outside Disneyland at 9. What a day.

The Chili Champion

Our block had only had one chili cook-off before COVID arrived five months later and ruined all of our plans for a second one. But it was resurrected and better than ever this past weekend.

And best of all, Paul was honored with the award for best chili out of the eight entries provided by residents of our road. He was quite proud of his chili, which featured chuck roast that he had spent all day smoking.

The weather had turned into chili weather just in time -- on Thursday it was in the mid-80s, but on the Saturday evening that we sampled chilis it got down into the 50s. Brr! But the pots of chili warmed us while the sun was still up, and a fire to sit around helped when the sun set.

There was a good turn out, around 40 people or so. The desserts that our neighbors made were just as delicious as the main dishes! And of course it was fun to visit at chat.

Next up for the block: Our progressive dinner, which was last held in 2019, just a couple of weeks before the pandemic hit. Here's hoping it too is ready to be reintroduced.

A Day in L.A.

I have long assumed that when I first visited California, San Francisco would be the destination. But a variety of things conspired to make L.A. the spot -- largely Disneyland, my love of the movie La La Land, its relative proximity to New Mexico (another state on my list to visit). So L.A. it was. 

While most of our visit to California was spent at Disneyland, we set aside two days to explore: one in the city (today's post) and one at a beach (a future post). 

We started out at Griffith Observatory -- it was closed, but parking is free on weekdays before noon, so we took advantage and took in some great views of the city and the Hollywood sign.

After lunch we sprang for a Warner Brothers Studio Tour and enjoyed it -- about an hour tour of the backlots (including scenery from Friends, Gilmore Girls and La La Land) and the set of Ellen, followed by a couple of hours of exhibits. It was fun to hear how the same fronts and buildings are used in so many different ways. Plus we got a photo in front of the Friends fountain! The La La Land "cafe" was no longer set up, but I got a photo of the building that was transformed into it.

The La La Land cafe

Gilmore Girls

Ellen set

There was lots of Harry Potter stuff too!

Even managed to find something from one of my favorite shows of all time.

I wanted to see a bit of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, so we walked a couple of blocks of it and came across the movie premiere for Shang-Chi. It was kind of surreal. After we got home, I came across some photos and a write-up of the movie premiere, and it was really weird to see the glamour without any of the workaday stuff behind it.

The studio tour was that way too, making abundantly clear that these are people's jobs -- albeit ones whose products are seen and judged by millions. But there are also the extras, the caterers and the ones carting around supplies. Jobs, too.

We ate at In-N-Out Burger before heading back to Anaheim -- how could we resist? Los Angeles isn't my favorite city in the world, but it was fun to see what the city is famous for in the limited time we had.

Photos: March --> September

A few of my favorite photos from the last few month -- some you've seen, others maybe not.

March 3, 2021: The day Edith inherited my Baby-Sitters Club books.

March 5, 2021: Always visiting the penguins at the zoo.

April 14, 2021: Both kids tried baseball in the spring. Here, Atticus is running to first base.

April 24, 2021: Edith's First Communion, in the dress her mom and grandmother both wore.

June 6, 2021: A spring of cicadas.

July 31, 2021: Both kids got a good foundation with swimming lessons all summer long.

August 11, 2021: In Albuquerque.

August 12, 2021: Driving Route 66, in Arizona.

August 12, 2021: At the Grand Canyon. Finally a good picture of me, even if I had to take it myself.

August 13, 2021: Grand Canyon.

August 15, 2021: Staying safe at Disneyland.

August 18, 2021: Masks and 3D glasses at Disneyland.

August 18, 2021: Atticus's new Wall-E souvenir had to ride along at Disneyland.

August 26, 2021: School five days per week once again!

September 15, 2021: Atticus uses up his energy while Edith is in archery class.