Venice Beach, Ocean Front Walk

We always look forward to a stroll along the Venice Beach promenade. It's alive with people of all ages, with separate pathways for walkers and people on wheels (bikes, skates, skate boards). There are lots of eateries, and shops selling souvenirs, original paintings, t-shirts, hats, sunglasses and jewelry.

Dual pathways on the Venice Beach 'Boardwalk'

A nice surprise is the Small World Books store at 1407 Ocean Front Walk (a few blocks up from the Skate Park). It stocks a wide range of books from major and small presses. If you are looking for books by Californian authors (fiction and non-fiction) you will not be disappointed. It's where I discovered T. Jefferson Parker's "California Girl", Anna Stothard's debut novel "The Pink Hotel" and Joan Didion's "Play It As It Lays". 

Venice Beach Skate Park

Another favourite shop is Native American World at 1207 Ocean Front Walk. Old folks like us can do with a bit of bling to make us sparkle so we always visit this store to add to our growing collection of jewelry. This is where I bought my favourite earrings - little spiders (spiders are symbolic of creative energy due to their stunning web weaving skills).  

Native American Spider Jewelry

It's also the place to find the perfect light-weight, travel-friendly gift for friends and family. I chose a variety of beaded earrings and beaded medicine pouches for my young granddaughters. Here's a sample of them.

Native American beaded turtle jewelry

Native American medicine pouch necklace

When we get hungry we head toward the Venice Ale House on the corner of Ocean Front Walk and Rose Street. The food is nourishing and the people watching is free. 

Venice Ale House, Rose Street Santa Monica

From Rose Street we exit the beachfront promenade and walk along Main Street. First stop is Angel City Books and Records on Pier Avenue (a small side street to the right). This is a treasure trove of rare and hard-to-find books, CDs and vinyl records where it's easy to lose track of time while browsing.

Continuing down Main, Dolcenero Gelato at #2400 is a must for icecream addicts. My choice is the exceptional Ricotta and Fig.

By now we are nearly at Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, and we have one more stop before ubering back to our hotel on the marina. El Texate is a Oaxacan restaurant at 316 Pico blvd - one we return to each time we visit LA because it has the best moles imaginable and two of the best Californian hosts. Here we are, enjoying a beer and sangria. 

 

El Texate Oaxacan Restaurant, 316 Pico Blvd

Maui – Haleakalā Crater

We have just returned from a nostalgic trip to our favourite states of America, Hawaii and California, thanks to Hawaiian Airlines and The Pride of America cruise ship. We had a charmed travel experience: no flight delays, no missing baggage, and negative covid tests prior to the cruise. The weather was beautiful, in contrast to the heat waves across UK and Europe.

Fascinated by the online images of Kilauea's latest eruption activity on The Big Island, we wanted to visit Hawaii's volcanic landscapes as soon as borders reopened.  First stop was the Haleakalā Crater on the island of Maui (Pride of America's first port of call).

View of Maui from Pride of America

Cinder cones on the crater surface

A small bus transported us to the summit of the Haleakalā Crater, at an altitude of 10,000 ft/3055 m. The road was a little scary as it snaked and twisted through green ranchland, but the driver calmed us with his entertaining tales and knowledge of the area. There were very few guard rails, so it would not be for the feint-hearted to hire a car and do it independently. 

Visitors Center at the summit

Panoramic view of Haleakalā Crater

In Hawaiian language, Haleakalā means "house of sun".  According to the legend, the demigod Maui slowed the descending path of the sun by lassoing it to make the day longer.

Unlike Kilauea on The Big Island, Haleakalā is currently dormant (with a moderate threat potential). It started growing about 2 million years ago, and in the past 1000 years at least ten eruptions have been recorded. https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/haleakalā

The fragile Silversword plant is very beautiful; it will die if touched by a human hand. We saw many of these plants and admired them from afar.

Silversword plant, Haleakalā summit

Looking back to the coast of Maui, the view from the summit was stunning.

Looking toward the coast where Pride of  America was docked

Oahu revisited - beach holiday Hawaiian style

Direct flights on Hawaiian Airlines from Brisbane to Honolulu now make Hawaii a very accessible holiday destination for Queensland families. There is no place quite like Hawaii for the ultimate relaxing holiday experience.

Waikiki Beach viewed from Duke's Bar with Diamond Head in the distance

Waikiki Beach viewed from our balcony at the Circle Hotel

 

Lu'au at Paradise Cove

 

The SWIM bar at Waikiki's Hyatt Regency (very close to the Circle Hotel) hosts live music at happy hour - this is ManoaDNA playing their originals and covers

Santa Cruz, California, USA

The Santa Cruz coastline is an excellent holiday destination for young and old. It has both natural and built attractions that are very accessible. There is an extensive range of rides at the fun park on the Boardwalk, from gentle carousels to wild roller-coasters and everything in between. If you want to get hot enough to brave the chilly ocean you can play a game of beach vollyball with friends or strangers. 

Walking north from the Pier you will encounter the endearing Sea Lions that laze on large rocks grooming themselves and each other. They happily coexist with the surfers that frequent the rocky coves.

Anyone interested in sea creatures has to see the huge whale skeletons that have been preserved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) center. The Blue Whale is the largest known animal on earth.

Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk

Santa Cruz Pier

Beach Volly Ball Courts

Beach volly ball for everyone

Santa Cruz Boardwalk cable chairs

Santa Cruz Boardwalk Carousel

Santa Cruz Sea Lions snoozing on their favorite island rock

Santa Cruz natural coastline

Gray Whale skeleton - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

 

Blue Whale skeleton (NOAA)

Brown Pelicans in flight over the ocean

Angels Flight - Downtown LA

A quaint pair of rail-cars provide transport up the steep incline from the Grand Central Markets on Hill Street to California Plaza on Bunker Hill.

If you have already read the novel "Angels Flight" by Michael Connelly you'll enjoy the ride a whole lot more. Quoting from the backcover of the book: "An activist attorney is killed in a cute little L.A. trolley called Angels Flight, far from Harry Bosch's Hollywood turf. But the case is so explosive - and the dead man's enemies inside the L.A.P.D. are so numerous - that it falls to Harry to solve it. Now the streets are superheating......"





Michael Connelly provides an excellent description through the eyes of Harry Bosch:
"Bosch had ridden the inclined railroad as a kid and had studied how it worked. He still remembered. The two matching cars were counterbalanced. When one went up the side-by-side tracks the other went down, and vice versa. They passed each other at the mid-point. He remembered riding on Angels Flight long before Bunker Hill had been reborn as a slick business center of glass and marble towers, classy condominiums and apartments, museums, and fountains referred to as water gardens. Back then the hill had been a place of once-grand Victorian homes turned into tired-looking rooming houses. Harry and his mother had taken Angels Flight up the hill to look for a place to live." page 11.

Smurf Watch - Los Angeles

In late July, warning signs on the front of the LA Times newspaper and on the sides of the Big Blue Buses of Santa Monica advertised the arrival of mischievous smurfs to LA cinemas.

Santa Monica Place took the hype further by being home to this monstrously large smurf.

I haven't seen the 3-D movie yet, but I did fall victim to the advertising efforts and bought some really cute figurines and soft-toy smurfs from a toy shop in downtown LA - in the Macy's building - to take home as gifts.

Catalina Island - Casino Building

The Catalina Casino building is not a casino, it is an entertainment center that dates back to 1929. Through the 1930s and 1940s the Casino Ballroom was a favorite venue for many of the Big Bands.

The Casino Art Gallery, Avalon Theatre, and Catalina Island Museum are also located in the Casino Building.

This glorious Catalina icon is as tall as a 12-story building.