More California Pictures

Every time I've made a trip down to Southern California (three times in the last four years now), I've mentioned to almost everybody that I really hoped to see some live surfing. Although I have no interest in getting on a board myself, the two Endless Summer movies made me really appreciate those folks who can get out there and ride the waves. Anyway, I was disappointed in this regard on my first two trips, but sort of got lucky this last time. I say "sort of" because while I was walking along the beach in Santa Monica I didn't see anything, but then later, from the road above I glanced over and saw this in the distance:

Not exactly like I remember from the movies, but at least now I can say I saw live surfing. Here's a couple of more pictures from the beach that day:

I thought these palm trees looked kind of cool against the bright blue sky. Below is a fancy hotel fronting on the beach (it's called the Casa Del Mar, and must go back to the 1920s or maybe earlier-- it looks like the kind of place where Philip Marlowe would meet a rich client).

I guess I'll have to go back again sometime to see if I can get a better picture of the surfers.