Panama Canal Day 17

We checked out early, even before the hotel front desk was open, and headed south. My plan was to drive along the ocean and pull over to take photos when possible. I hadn’t really seen the beach area in the daylight and wanted to check it out. We did see a tiny bit of Santa Monica Beach but access is restricted and parking isn't free.

We did make our way to the Venice Beach area and put some money in a meter. After grabbing a bite of breakfast at Subway, we walked towards the beach area.

I soon understood why so many people had recommended that we come here in the daytime, not at night.

There weren’t a lot of folks out and about at 9 AM, and the people we did see had had a lot of challenges in life. The area was obviously for tourists but it was definitely unique and very photogenic.

It would be a real interesting place later on in the day for sure. We spent a bit of time capturing what we could with our cameras.

As it was so close to the busy Christmas travel season, we wanted to get to LAX in good time. The car rental return went smoothly, the WestJet check-in was a breeze, we got the super-fast-no-need-to-take-your-shoes-off line, and the plane arrived home 15 minutes early!!! Another GREAT trip!

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.