Southern California Highway 1 is beautiful. Full of beaches and risky surfers.Our original plan was to completely avoid Los Angeles, but we just had to see it for ourselves. Plus, this was our launching point to Hawaii.
We spent the evening at a noisy state park about 100 yards from the busy Highway 1 and approximately 40 miles north of Malibu. Needless to say, the next morning we were aching for some coffee, so we stopped in Malibu at a local coffee hut. Our first impression... WOW - how plastic! It was a bizarre atmosphere. The barista was straight from a soap opera - he had the prettiest eyebrows I've ever seen! Everyone was eyeing everyone else. And this was just Malibu!
We couldn't check in to the hostel until the late afternoon, so we decided to brave the road and drive the overcrowded streets around Santa Monica and Los Angeles. We spontaneously searched for the Hollywood sign - only to find it was pretty impossible to get to and also surrounded by a large fence and alarm system. Eeek! But we enjoyed the winding roads and the hiking trail near the sign. I've gotta say - It's amazing where people will build homes!
We drove down the dreamy Sunset Boulevard - all the while singing Don Black's overly dramatic Broadway version...
"Sunset Boulevard, twisted boulevard..."
Now the only reason I know anything about this song or have the fascination of Sunset Boulevard is because I took a Classic Movie course at LSU - and studied the movie Sunset Boulevard for the majority of the semester. I had to see it for myself.
Yes, the street is lined with palm trees, but it is filthy with cars, trash, and enormous billboards.
Sean John anyone?
There are hundreds of shops and convenient stores. Sort of a let-down for me, I must admit.
We road our bikes along a nice beach bike path to the Santa Monica Pier.
Now the great thing about the Santa Monica Pier is it is actually wooden - you can't imagine how excited I was to see this!
The last two piers we've been to have been covered in concrete... which sort of removes all the nostalgia.
A vendor at the Santa Monica Pier
"Walk on LA"
(A giant roll that when pulled across the sand leaves a
large stamp of Los Angeles on the beach. Pretty impressive!)
Oh yeah, after searching the two previous piers... we FINALLY had a funnel cake!
While we didn't see any Bay Watch scenes, we did spot all things that make this beach classic...A muscular man wearing an American flag speedo (Sorry I didn't get a photo of this guy. I thought it would be a bit awkward photographing him.)
The guy on stilts dressed as a tree.
A graffiti park - most impressive!
A bike with a surfboard rack - yes, a surfboard rack!
Million dollar beach "cottages."
And lifeguard huts every 20 feet. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.
We really felt out of place with all the glitz and glam that is Los Angeles. People race to the next red light and we almost always felt like we were in someones way.
This experience makes us really appreciate the quirky and comfortable dress of the Pacific Northwest and the laid back attitude of her people.
With that said, we drove Sally the Subaru to LAX (Los Angeles Airport) and hopped on Hawaiian Airlines to O'ahu Hawai'i, not knowing if we'd tour more of Los Angeles or if we'd had enough of it.
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