sunny California

We stumbled into our room at about 11:30pm LA time, which is 2:30am our time. My head may not have even hit the pillow before I was asleep. I haven't been up that late for years!

This morning we putzd around getting ready, our heads foggy from lack of sleep. A check of Google Maps showed a restaurant not far from the hotel that sounded promising for breakfast. The 'Happy Diner' was an excellent choice. I had eggs Benedict with thick slices of bacon and a lovely sauce. Hash browns rounded out the plate. Oh my, it was so delicious, and even more so when I spooned on some of the homemade salsa. The salsa was so good that we finished it with spoons rather than let them wisk it away uneaten. We'll probably go back tomorrow morning, but this time I'll try the eggs with spam!

After breakfast we checked out car rentals - this did not go our way at all... our only option was 1/2 day in a big pickup truck for a huge amount of money. Pass. The idea of driving a big car around in LA traffic with jet lag brain was just not appealing. Next time we'll know to plan earlier.

So, we were limited by what was in walking distance: luckily there were a few attractions. First we hoofed it down the waterfront to see the USS Iowa, a retired battleship. Carm enjoyed the tour much more than I did, but there was still much for me to find interesting.

Another walk down the waterfront brought us to the docks for the harbour tour. This was an excellent boat ride around the harbour, with the seals being the first attraction.

We saw dolphins!!!!

First from a distance, and then they raced the boat, right beside us :-)  No photos, I didn't want to take my eyes off them for even a second. We were both pretty excited.

We walked back to the hotel to fix up Carm's shoes (Jo Ellen - I should have had bandaids in my purse!), then we walked down the road to find a wine place and on our way passed somewhere that had some socks... so far I've forgotten Carm's socks!!! Poor dear had to wear dress shoe socks in his sneakers today and got a nasty blister. I feel awful :-(

We walked around some more then came back to the hotel to rest before supper.

For supper we aimed for a Thai place 2 blocks away. Oh my goodness! It was an awesome rendition of 'Drunken Noodles'. My lips are still mildly burning. It was a huge serving so I brought part of my meal back to the hotel for a snack once I've digested a bit - I didn't want to leave it behind it was that tasty :-)

All in all a great day, but now it is time for a quiet evening. It is after 9pm home time, but only 6pm local time so I'll have to fight off sleep for a few hours - wish me luck!