You sure can’t beat Southern California weather! The sunshine, the breeze, the blue sky are all just perfect. Day after day after day. . . But this is spring; weather will only get warmer and not so clear. Or so they say.
Hello Folks,
We are on our last day, Monday, in California before we fly home tomorrow. So this will be my last blog written in California. I am not sure why, but it takes me a lot longer to write it out here and much longer for B to edit it and add pictures. I guess this is because we do more things here and it takes a while to remember and add the appropriate information and pictures. Life back in New Hampshire is much more organized and routine. Haha.
Anyway, let’s back up to Saturday. Before leaving NH, I actually did some research and found some “things to do” in Southern California and jotted them down. Last year, we just “winged” it, and I think we missed out on some interesting things. So this year, we came semi-prepared.
One of the things to do that I wrote down was the 36th annual Lion’s Club car show in Seal Beach. Seal Beach is about 8 miles from here. There are numerous ways to get there from here, again, unlike home in New Hampshire. We decided on going via an Uber driver, as B said the parking in these little beach towns is bad any time – it would impossible with a big event. So we scheduled an Uber ride.
Sure enough, the driver dropped us off not too far from the event. Not only is Seal Beach a typical small California beach town, but the main streets in town were completely blocked off.
Frankly, we have been to numerous auto museums and auto shows over the years, both here and in New Hampshire. So we have an idea of what to expect. But let me tell you, this was like no car show I have ever been to. I researched what the approximate number of vehicles allowed for the show is, and it is 600. Yes, 600 vehicles to look at! And trust me, when you go to anything like this with B, you look at all 600!
We sort of broke the day into two. We purposely went without eating breakfast. We learned that lesson after going to the Japan Fair last weekend. Also, because our room has a refrigerator, B has been buying orange juice and keeping it in the fridge. So we had OJ to take our meds with. As you age, meds are important!
The car show ran your typical hours, 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Now back home, that usually means people are coming in and going out with the prized vehicles during that time frame. Partly this is because the owners often have more than one show a day as our auto show days are limited due to weather. Out here it is a bit different. Out here, all vehicles were in the designated areas and in place long before we arrived at 10:00 a.m. The downtown streets were blocked off and how they get 600 vehicles into their assigned spots and are ready to go at 9:00 a.m., must take a year to arrange.
When we arrived at 10:00, it wasn’t too crowded. By the time we left around 2:00 p.m. it was wall-to-wall people, dogs, kids, you name it. I did not see, however, anyone with a chicken on a leash.
So we covered quite a lot of ground before we decided to eat. I was expecting a lot of truck food with hotdogs and Mexican hand food and, of course, ice cream. But no, eaters flocked to the many restaurants to eat. By 11:00, I was ready for a break. So I found an eating establishment, Hennessey’s, and the waitlist was short, 10 minutes. I think it was more like 20 minutes, but it was shady and had a good place to wait. We finally got our table. I can’t tell you how big the bar area was, but it was big. Some people were eating at the bar; however, we actually got a table. I guess my white hair helped. The line to the ladies room was long, too, but moved faster than usual.
Anyway, I ordered my customary iced tea, B ordered his customary lemonade with no ice. However, B took one sip of the lemonade and pronounced it the worst he’d ever had. My iced tea was fine. There was an ad on the table for a Bloody Mary, so B had the waitress bring him one of those. The drink was beautiful with a cocktail onion, a slice of pickle besides the usual celery stick and it was plenty spicy! A good drink.
We asked to split a barbecued brisket on a brioche bun and, despite B’s dislike for French Fries, fries on the side. I expected it would be a tiny little sandwich but was pleasantly surprised as it had sliced brisket, cheese, and fried onion rings in it. The staff, despite the hordes of people, cut it for us and we each had our own basket with fries on the side. I was in fries heaven. Even B liked the fries. It was a really good sandwich.
So, having been satiated, we went back out on the streets. They also had 3 live bands playing in different parts of the area. I still don’t know if it was a hindrance or a help. Everything out here is LOUD! So, we continued on our quest to see every vehicle. B took pictures of many of them. That was another thing. It was difficult to take a picture without someone bulling ahead and photobombing your picture. Many people were extremely polite about it, but still, we all wanted to see the cars up close and personal.
By 2:00 we had seen all 600 (no, we didn’t count!), and the show supposedly ended at 3:00, so we walked away from the area, plugged into B’s cell phone for an Uber driver and got a ride home in a Tesla. Tesla’s are extremely popular out here. It was an interesting ride home and I can see where an all electric car out here in California would be a good thing. How it would work back home is another matter. The car is very plain inside. And, it has a very large screen. I suspect it was made ready to drive itself. Scary thought if you ask me.
We aren’t going to talk much about the cars except to say that there was probably at least one of every make and model made. But one did get a lot of attention and that was what we learned was a Tesla pickup. It goes 250 miles and costs less than what we paid for our pickup back home! The body is stainless steel and my best description of it is it looks a bit like the Jetson’s car!
So we decided to narrow down our car pictures. We each chose our one favorite. Here goes.
B’s favorite – an Ultima GTR kit car that goes over 200 mph
That stinker B snuck in a second one – a 427 Shelby Cobra.
This Tesla CyberTruck was probably my favorite -very unique.
That evening we went to our favorite Indian place, again in a strip mall, that we frequent every year we are here. We ate light, as Sunday was brunch day again. The one funny thing was, B ordered 3 mango lassi drinks. The Indian, wearing a turban, looked at us, put up 2 fingers and said “you mean 2?”. B assured him we wanted 3 mango lassi drinks; one for me, two for him. The guy thought B was nuts, but we got the 3 drinks. B LOVES his mango lassi drinks!
Sunday dawned like every other day out here. A cool breeze, sunshine and blue skies. I had made brunch reservations at the Orange Mining Company in, appropriately, Orange, California, for noon. B had a rough night’s sleep and was, in his words, a bit “off.” We all have those days. Anyway, we went to brunch and got to sit outside (with a heater, as the breeze was still a bit chilly) and a wonderful view of Orange from up on a hill.
We ate our fill, and B drank OJ only. B thought there weren’t quite as many choices as he remembered. He was right. After we ate, B discovered that the buffet extended to another room! We think we missed this last year when we went there as well! Anyway, I had enough to eat. I will say that ice cream isn’t as prevalent here as it is at home. I guess New Englanders really do eat the most ice cream year round.
From there we meandered home and had a short nap. Then we decided to go to Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge. It is a huge body of wetlands and you never know what birds you will see. We needed to walk off our brunch. I have learned over the years that one needs to wear heavy clothes, as the breeze this time of the year is still pretty chilly. We dressed appropriately.
We got to see some egrets and here is a picture B took. And there were groups of terns too. We have seen more birds other years but it is all timing with the tides, etc. as to how many you will see at any one time. No dogs and no bikes allowed. Here is a picture B took.
egret and me
Funny thing – when we went back to our van, there was a pair of Mallard ducks resting on the pavement, in the shade created by the van. Be let me in my door, then went around to his door, expecting the ducks to be gone. They were only a couple feet from his door. Nope – still right there. So B walked gingerly by them, got in, started it and backed out of the parking space. The ducks barely moved; maybe a foot or two, then settled back down. Here’a pic B took from the van window.
B was still feeling a bit off, but we decided to go back to the movies one more time! Those lounge chairs were just too comfy for me! We went to the 7:00 p.m. show of the movie, UNSUNG HERO, about an Australian family that moves to Nashville, TN, to work in the music industry in the US. As it turns out, some of the 6 kids are very talented and go on to wonderful careers in the music field. It was a do-good, good feeling true story with lots of ups and downs. We both enjoyed it. By then, B was feeling a bit better. I highly recommend this movie.
And, so, that brings us to today. We slept in a bit later, as B REALLY needed some sleep, and we will need to be up early tomorrow morning. We made reservations with the cab company to pick us up at 10:15. Our flight is around 12:15 p.m.
We went to the Magnolia Cafe for our final breakfast today. Then back to the room, as B had to confirm our flights. He is off bicycling while I write this blog. I needed a “down” day to prepare for tomorrow. I hope to do one final wrap up of our California trip once home. However, once home usually means boots to the ground! We hope you have enjoyed our trip; we have!
Here’s a picture of the latest flowers at the Magnolia Cafe:
Oriental lilies and Calla
B biked for 2-3 hours. He said he enjoyed it. He biked south several miles along the Santa Ana River to a park, hung around there some, and biked back. Here are a couple pictures from his ride:
Acres and acres of these plants. Not sure what they are. B says they look like Rapeseed back home. Note the focused one in the center.
This large tree was on the side of the trail. The “fruit” looks like large avocados. But they are not. They are a very large seed pod that splits open and reveals cotton-like seeds inside. You can see some of the before and after in this picture. They’re about 6″ long and 3″ diameter.
More cotton balls
B said each seed pod splits open into several segments like this one. He said he saw a couple split open while he was standing there. They were all too high for him to reach, or he’d have brought one home.
Then we went to a new restaurant (for us). It’s an Asian Italian place called Ini Ristorante. We were very impressed with the food and the service. Absolutely first-rate. Great menu. B talked me into trying some Beef Carpaccio, which is RAW meat. He adored it. I couldn’t help but like it, too, at least a bit. He also ordered a mixed drink with lots of fruit flavors. It, too, was excellent. Our waiter was VERY attentive, without being overly so. He got a fat tip. We will definitely be back to that place. It’s very popular, apparently; it took us several days to get a reservation for the timeframe we wanted.
Karla loving that Beef Carpaccio!
B finishing up the Beef Carpaccio with our main course in the foreground; pasta, shrimp, scallops, sausage, wonderful sauce. My drink was Pineapple Green Tea; loved it!
And the finale – a different, but wonderful, tiramisu.
After supper, B dropped me off at the hotel and took the van to the garage to put it away and do the final lockup for another year. A few years ago, someone broke the locks on the door and got the door open before our neighbor, Kevin, caught them and chased them off. They didn’t have time to take anything. Now, B has improved locks and locking mechanisms on the door, plus he has it so that the door is absolutely incapable of being opened, even without the locks.
Now, we’re ready to come home.
Stay well.
The Clampetts 