Sunset Beach....is actually where our condo is...on a inland waterway with boat dock and all types of boats out our back door. We are staying in a lovely one bedroom one bath place one block from the beach. So far our mornings have been cloud covered with a burn off of sunshine by 11:00. Larry and I have enjoyed walking a paved trail to the north and to the south.Great ocean views and lots of boats to look at....Newport Beach Pier is 5 miles to the north and Huntington Beach Pier is 5 miles to the south....great for riding the two beach bikes on. We also have a double kayak to enjoy.We are loving this area too. I think Larry and I have fallen in love with California.
You can understand why this area is called "Surf City". The surf is always there and no matter what time of day that you go to the beach...the surfers are there (in their wet suits) catching a wave.The water is too cold for us to even think about getting into it.... the jacuzzi was so much better. Give me hot water anytime! We did enjoy the discount movie theatres here. We went to see The Grey, (so scarey that I must have jumped a dozen times out of my skin) as well as Miss Potter and Capote.
Tuesday evening we rode our bikes to Huntington Beach to see the street market. Leaving about 5:00 we took our time riding by the ocean and taking in the sights along the way. The people who live in this area as so lucky to have this paved road way that is closed off to traffic to walk, jog and ride bikes on. The beach has fire pits every few hundred feet so that you can have a camp fire at night and make samores....Yes, in the local magazine they have recipes for a lot of varieties of samores to make. Some suggestions to get your mouth watering...coconut, peanut butter, butterscotch chips, mint chocolate chips....Now isn't that getting the juices flowing. As we approached the town, tall palms reached up to the sky and the roadway separated into two paths...one that went right down on the beach and another that stayed on top of the bank. You could choose either way and end up back on a single path after going a quarter of a mile or so. So cool!
Huntington Beach has a Doggie Beach and there were lots of big, medium and small dogs enjoying the surf and sand with their owners. People walk their dogs all over the place...so cute to see them out and about wagging their tails with happiness. They actually have a wiener-dog race every third Sunday. (Molly, are you training for this?)We stopped to watch the kite surfers being pulled around in the nice waves. One guy had tied a long wide cord between two palm trees and was practicing his tightrope walking skills.
We rode right to Pier Plaza and right across the street from the pier, officials had closed down the Main Street and set up booths with live music interspursed...This particular night there were five different bands and Larry, of course, managed to find a bluegrass one. He loved that.
Oil wells off shore made it impossible to get a decent sunset pix.
There were many things to do.... side walk sales, lots of varieties of food vendors, a farmers market with fresh produce, and street preformers. Larry and I enjoyed dinner and people watching....so cool to see 50 somethings riding their surf skate boards into the area...Imagine growing up here as a kid and having that skill to use in your golden years. A town magazine stated that there are more interesting people per square foot here than at a Woodstock Revivial...we agree. The street was lined with endless restaurants, surf shops, fashion boutiques, souvenir shops. salons, spas and just about anything that you would want. The variety of vendors were numerous, but the one we enjoyed the most was selling gas burning firepits with glass in the pit....very eye catching and enjoyable to watch the light from the fire dancing in the glass bits....plus it was nice to warm up to. When then sun goes down here, it cools off real quick.
Our favorite band
Spent Friday at the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, a great little city that reminds us of Temecula. It was Pat Nixon's (his wife) birthday, March 16....so close to St Paddy's day that her father, a true Irishman, celebrated her birthday on the 17th. Anyway, we happened to go on her birthday and they were celebrating her 100th birthday by opening up a new section of the library dedicated to just her. When Larry and I arrived there were hundreds of people waiting in line to see it. After viewing the wall of over 50 Time Magazines that Nixon appear on the covered, we decided to go to see the rest of the library that was dedicated to Nixon until the crowd died down.
We walked out to the Patricia Nixon Rose Garden and there standing was her daughter Tricia. So cool to see her there escorted by her son.
In the Nixon Rose Garden, the gazebo that Trisha was married under.
Trisha Nixon, daughter of Richard Nixon (pink suit)
After getting a few pictures, we went on into the Nixon Museum/Library and wondered around for about two hours and still didn't get through it all. It was so well done and very interesting. Short videos of his life were interspersed with pictures and memorabilia. Old television news videos of Nixon during his whole life were played. Many, displays of his life in the House of Representatives, then the Senate, then as Vice President with Eisenhower, after his loss of the Presidency to Kennedy, as President, Overseas in China and Russia, and last but not least, Watergate. There were handwritten love letters to Pat, letters from Elvis, gowns and clothing that they both wore, jeweled gifts from dignitaries, a Presidential (Lincoln) Limosine, part of the Wall that divided east and west Germany, the Lincoln sitting room furnishing, and on and on.
Larry and I enjoyed this so much because it was history that occured during our younger life when we didn't pay much attention to what was going on in our government. We left at 1:00 to grab some lunch and came back and spent till closing at 5:00 going through the rest of the exhibits as well as Patricia Nixon's new section, Nixon's modest (950 sq. ft.) original family home that he and 3 brothers were born in sits adjacent to the museum. We walked through the helicopter that took him to places all over the world. There was a picture of the helicopter in front of the Egyptian pyramids inside the cabin.What a great day! We enjoyed every minute of it!
Nixon's Birth Place, the original house and furnishings
Official Presidential Helicopter
Gravesite of Richard and Pat Nixon
The flowers in our complex are a delight to the eye....Here are a few.
The last two days of our stay, there were torrent of rain and unusually cold temperatures. The locals were wearing heavy winter coats and the lady next door said, "I've been here for 12 years and never seen weather like this." It amazes us to see that back home in Virginia the temps are in the 80's....not the usual March weather. We can't complain because the weather has been so good for about 99% of our trip.
Decisions....Decisions....Do we ride bicycles, go kayaking, go for a walk...watch a movie, play a game of tennis, sit in the jacuzzi, or just catch a few rays? We really enjoyed every minute of our stay at Sunset Beach.
Life is good!
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