Panama Canal Day 16

It was a short night with the bow thrusters waking us up early again with our arrival in Los Angeles. Actually it was the Port of San Pedro. Much to our surprise, we were cleared to disembark earlier than they had estimated. That went smoothly and US Customs was a breeze. The line-up for the taxis however, was about 45 minutes. That was followed by a rental car line-up almost as long.

Finally we were on our way. The GPS sent us on the 405, a 6-lanes-each-way piece of asphalt. I was elected to drive as Dawn didn’t feel comfortable behind the wheel on the freeways. With the GPS and her navigation, we easily made it to the Getty Center. It is an extensive museum showcasing mostly art, photographs and the grounds are interesting too. We toured the photography exhibits and really enjoyed them.

Next was the La Brea Tar Pits, an area in the middle of LA where hundreds of animal skeletons have been extracted from the asphalt. Especially numerous were the dire wolves, sabre tooth cats and many bird skeletons. It was a cool and very interesting place to visit.

 

We were fairly close to the Grove Farmer’s Market and we had already paid for parking so we decided to walk. It was a smart decision as the traffic near there was heavy and moving very slow. The market sells food of all kinds, fresh like fruit, veggies, meats and cheeses, as well as all kinds of restaurants and food stands. I had a falafel pita which was so, so good.

Then we crossed the street and visited a Trader Joe’s store. We had heard so much about them and knew they are quite popular here in the states. It was interesting but we really couldn’t figure out was all the buzz was about.

It was dark by the time we got back to the car. We decided to check into our hotel in Santa Monica. After doing so and depositing our luggage, we set off again to the nearby Santa Monica Pier.

It is over 100 years old and consists of food vendors, rides, carnival games, together with a few souvenir shops. The evening got quite a bit colder, in the 50’s.

We photographed the lights of the rides and then I ordered a funnel cake because I was curious about what it was.

A funnel cake is clumps and lumps of fried dough sprinkled with icing sugar and chocolate syrup for a topping. I couldn’t finish it all as it was a huge serving. I can’t imagine all the calories and fat!

Our hotel was near and we headed there. I can hardly stay awake.