I made a rookie mistake at the beach yesterday which has left me with half of my face a bit tender and burnt. I protected my body amply with spf-30, but not my face sufficiently. The east coast of the US leaves you with bad habits when it comes to the sun. I having been living in a desert city for seven months, so really, no excuse.
We spent yesterday afternoon and evening in La Jolla, CA [pronounced la hoya]. It is a wonderful seaside community, kind of Coogee-ish, for lack of a better analogy. The town has a colony of sea lions that hang out on the rocks there. A couple of them were braying loudly in a dispute over a resting place on a rock.
The bay at La Jolla had buoys out in it, approximately half a mile from the shore. A group of swimmers numbering about 200 maybe, swam out to the buoys and back. They gathered up in the park in a mix of swimsuits and wetsuits. I thought that was wonderful. If I was living in there it would be a great way to unwind at the end of the week with a mile long ocean swim.
The shore line was a significant public space beyond the normal swimming and walking. The park had a big blow up screen on it for a showing of the movie 'Field of Dreams'. It was for anyone there, and as a consequence there were vendors there with ice cream, face painting etc. There was also a group of people dressed in green, blowing bubbles, holding hands in a circle - and even one girl with fairy wings dancing around - typical California.
The hill at the top of the shoreline had a mix of trendy and upscale restaurants and shops. Including a
Peter Lik gallery. The mate I am with saw his gallery in Hawaii and nearly pulled the trigger on a photograph there. Lik's work is a bit too candy coloured for me, but I can see how people would like and be drawn to it.
The Californian coast has very even weather and many of the restaurants have open patios, including one that is nothing but a patio at the top of a building with a wonderful view. It was an hour and a half wait, which was just too much, so we hit another restaurant further down the street.
The fare included a couple of local micro-brews.
