Saturday, November 20, 2010

Jenniferoni's Red & White Potatoes


So after last week’s adventure I was inspired by the deliciousness of Jody Maroni’s “Red & White Fries”. They were so nummy! I decided to make my own at home. Basically I modified my favorite potato dish and here is how I did it.


Ingredients:

4-6 red potatoes

1 smallish yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic minced or 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

Olive oil

Olive oil cooking spray (optional)

Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tomato

8 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese


1. Heat your oven to 400. Rinse the potatoes and then slice them. Don’t peel them, their better with the skins on. Spread them out in a 3 qt. casserole dish. I like to spray my dish down with olive oil cooking spray first so nothing sticks.


2. Dice the onion. Whew! There is nothing like chopping up an onion to clear your sinuses huh? Sprinkle the diced onion over the potatoes. Then go in the bathroom, blow your nose, wipe the streams of mascara off your cheeks, and wash your hands.




3. Mince the garlic cloves (or use your pre-minced garlic) and spread them over the potatoes and onions.


4. Drizzle about a ¼ cup of olive oil over the whole concoction. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste over the whole deal.


5. Pop it in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the onions and potatoes are getting golden brown and the potatoes are cooked. While it’s cooking dice up your tomato.



6. After 30 minutes take it out and add the tomatoes and the shredded mozzarella. Pop it back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.


Waala! Jenniferoni’s version of Red & White Potatoes. Let it cool for awhile (if you can help yourself) and then dig in.


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Weekend Adventure: Venice Beach to the Santa Monica Pier

”The cure for everything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen

A true sentiment for sure, however I’m not a big fan of sweating or crying. Therefore I take myself to the sea on a regular basis. Living here in the Los Angeles area we are lucky enough to never be too far from the Pacific. Thank goodness for that. I love the smell of fresh salt air! To get my fill of it one of my favorite weekend adventures is bike riding at Venice Beach.

Between the sand and the land is a paved two lane bike path. It runs 22 miles from Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades to Torrance County Beach in Redondo Beach. I have aspirations of someday doing the whole 22 miles, though this may lead to the other salt water “cures” of sweating and tears. Honestly, probably both at once. Until that fateful day I’m content to do the stretch from Venice to the Santa Monica Pier. Round trip it takes me about an hour.

If you don’t want to haul your own bike there you can easily rent bikes at several places along the path. Most of these places have those cool old Schwinn beach cruisers. I always get a red one.


Along the way you’ll have your fill of beautiful ocean vistas and the circus freak show that is Venice Beach. Venice is known for its eclectic folk. Street performers, craft vendors, musicians, they all flock here for the happy go-lucky vibe that is the style of Venice. If you’re easily shocked let me forewarn you that Venice is colorful to say the least. One of my favorite street “performers” in Venice is an elderly looking African-American guy who dresses up in a caveman-like tunic and carries a big dull spear. He likes to shout out about how mad he is that Californians did not pass Proposition 19 (to legalize marijuana) and he also goes on about how he’s going to “eat some white people for dinner” ‘cause he’s so hungry and we’re all fat. It’s all tongue-in-cheek and trust me it’s funny.


Only in Venice Beach: Botox and marijuana. One stop shopping!

Closer to the Santa Monica Pier you’ll have a great view of the Ferris wheel and roller coaster there. Just before the pier is a playground with a set of swings and bars for pretending you’re a monkey. Hey, it’s the weekend so why not? Ride under the pier and on the other side you’ll find a sobering yet heart warming sight. Every Sunday morning volunteers come out to the beach just north of the pier and put up an “Arlington of the West” to commemorate all of the American service people who have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These amazing volunteers put up a cross for each and every service person.




After your bike ride you have to take time to walk the boardwalk along Venice Beach. Between the street performers and the crafts being sold on rickety card tables you’ll find plenty of interesting things to gawk at. There is also a pretty “high” density of medical marijuana offices too if that’s your thing. (Pun totally intended).

While there I bought some incense from one of the street vendors. I don’t always like incense because I think a lot of it stinks. I kept smelling something really good though so I followed my nose to the guy making it by hand at his path-side table. He calls it “Caribbean Breeze” and it smells like strawberries and coconuts. WARNING: Do not attempt to eat the incense. Also do not be fooled by imitations. According to the incense guy, there is another incense guy making a similar scent in Venice but he calls it “Pacific Breeze”.


"Red and White" Fries at Jody Maroni's

After all that bike riding, people watching, and fresh ocean air, I was really hungry. There are lots of little stands along the beach in Venice to get a snack at. People get the munchies around here you know? At Jody Maroni’s hot dog stand I discovered my new favorite thing to do with potatoes and cheese. Jody Maroni’s takes French fries and covers them with sautéed onions, tomatoes, garlic, and then smothers the whole concoction with mozzarella cheese. They call it “Red and White Fries”. I ate it while sitting on the beach and watching a glorious sunset. The seagulls were pretty jealous and circled me like a bunch of winged hyenas, but I didn’t care because it was scrumptious. I’m pretty sure I’d need to do the whole 22 mile bike ride in order to burn off even a fraction of the calories!


Make sure to stay late enough to watch the sun set. It’s an amazing sight. I love when there are sailboats on the water and they sail back and forth right in front of the sun as it sits on top of the horizon. The sailboats get silhouetted against the bright orange and yellow light, and the sky above is dark blue with little stars just beginning to wink. Everyone on the beach stops whatever they are doing to just watch and say goodnight to another day. Peace, man.



Monday, October 25, 2010

Weekend Adventure: Temecula

This weekend’s adventure was a day trip out to Temecula. Temecula is an easy drive from almost anywhere in Southern California and once there you’ll be rewarded with a great Old Town district and acres of gorgeous vineyards.


Our first stop was Old Town Temecula. It’s easy to find free parking there and it’s small enough you can easily walk from one end to the other. Our first stop was Old Town Root Beer where they have hundreds of different kinds of soda and not the usual vending machine line up either. I tried one that was a Pumpkin Pie Soda. It tasted just like a fresh made pumpkin pie. Delish and so fun! After that we browsed through a few more great stores including the Temecula Lavender Company, the Temecula Valley Cheese Company (yum, yum), and Old Town Antique Fair. The antique shop was huge and they had so much to look at we could have spent hours there.
Okay, this Halloween sign at the Antique Fair totally cracked me up.

After all that shopping it was time to get something to eat. We settled into a table at the Longshadow Ranch Winery’s tasting room and Cowboy Bistro in Old Town Temecula. The food was delicious. I had a three cheese blend melted on toasted flat bread with a green salad sprinkled with almonds and cranberries and a raspberry vinaigrette. The chardonnay I had with it was a great pairing. My fellow adventurer’s recommend the turkey and roast beef sandwiches too.


Old Town Temecula.

With our bellies full it was time for some serious wine drinking. Temecula has several wineries located just outside of town. Many make award winning wines and are beautiful destinations unto themselves. One of my favorites is Wilson Creek Winery. I love Wilson Creek for the following 5 reasons:

5. They have beautiful grounds where you can sit and enjoy a glass of wine and take in the gorgeous scenery.

4. The Wilson family has a few very friendly Golden Retrievers, all named after wine varietals, who are the friendliest greeters and always happy to be petted.

3. Wilson Creek is where they make the almond champagne.

2. Wilson Creek is where they make the chocolate port.

And the number 1 reason I love Wilson Creek? Wilson Creek is where they make a drink called an “Angel’s Kiss”, half almond champagne, half chocolate port. Lord have mercy it is awesome!

The grounds at Wilson Creek.

So we got kissed by angels at Wilson Creek and then made our way over to South Coast Winery. This is a big winery that also has an excellent resort and spa. They also have an extensive list of wines. The tasting room was packed when we got there so we headed over to the restaurant and bar. A word of advice, if the tasting room is super busy at South Coast then go to the restaurant bar. The bartenders there are just as knowledgeable about the wines and they were fun to chat with. Plus at the bar they serve you these fluffy warm rolls with herbed butter. (Am I saying that right? "Herbed butter"? Anyway, it was butter with herbs in it and it was tasty. I almost ate the whole basket they were that good.)

We decided to end our Temecula adventure with a trip to Pechanga Resort & Casino. I’m not really a gambling girl, but if you like to take your chances with Lady Luck then Pechanga is the place for you. I did try my hand at some penny slots and I won $14! Yes, I know, I’m such a high roller.


A bar at Pechanga Resort & Casino.

I had a super great time in Temecula and I’m sure you will too. Find more info here:

City of Temecula
Temecula Wineries

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Another cozy crock-pot soup

Outside the sky is low and gray. The air is chilly. Everywhere it is wet and drippy.



It sounds like I’m describing Seattle not Los Angeles but unfortunately no. Today is a day for furry blankets and soup. Here is another super easy crock-pot soup to make. Let it cook all day while you’re at work and when you walk in the door its coziness will greet you with a hug.


Creamy Corn Chowder


2 cans cream of potato soup

2 cans of cream style corn


Mix both up in the crock-pot and heat on low for at least 6-8 hours. Really that’s it, that’s all you have to do. I can assure you this is not low fat but hey, it’s cold out and you need the extra calories to stay warm right? Right?

Friday, October 15, 2010

What are you doing this weekend?

Well...

This weekend I will be indulging in my love of historical preservation and volunteering at the Pasadena Heritage 19th Annual Craftsman Weekend. If you enjoy the American Arts and Crafts Movement you should check it out. There will be bus and walking tours of many of Pasadena's historical Craftsman homes and all weekend long there will be a Craftsman Exposition going on at the Pasadena Convention Center. There will be over 90 exhibitors there featuring furnishings and decorative arts.

See more information here:

http://www.pasadenaheritage.org/

On Sunday I'll be a hostess at the Hindry House tour. Hope to see you there!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Red Sky at Night

Red sky at night, sailor's delight,
Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.

Or so the old saying goes. As you can see in these pictures we had the red sky at night but the next day it just rained some more. I took these photos last week when we had a few days of thunder storms and rain. As the sun set it pierced through under the cloud cover and gave us a beautiful show. With the palm trees silhouetted against the pink sky like that I just had to snap some photos.



You'll see some birds flying around in these shots. Those are our neighborhood parrot flock. The descendants of someone's pet, they roost every night in the palm trees along our street. They are LOUD! I joke that in the evening they make so much noise because they are busy telling each other all about their day before they go to sleep.



Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Weekend Adventure: Santa Paula

This weekend’s adventure was to Santa Paula. Situated on Hwy 126 between Santa Clarita and Ventura it’s not hard to find. The drive is a scenic cruise in the country side with farms and produce stands along the way.


The Airport and Museum alone are worth the drive. Make sure you go on the first Sunday of the month because that’s the only day they’re open. Confused about where the museum is? Well, the museum IS the airport. On that first Sunday of the month the whole place is opened up and the public can walk from hangar to hangar. Not all the hangars are open but the ones that are are full of treasure and some of them are done up nice enough you could live in them! You’ll find new planes, old planes, stunt planes, exotic planes, and some helicopters. You won’t just see planes either as many of the hangar owners store antique cars and other collectibles there. One of our favorites was the Donalson Hangar where Mr. Donalson has a Radio Museum. Traipse past the 1948 DeSoto convertible to where Donalson has radios of all kinds dating back to 1922. Some he’s restored himself and he’s a wealth of knowledge about everything from radios to stunt flying to dog agility training. Hang out for a bit and his adorable yellow Labrador Retriever Nugget will show you some of her tricks.

Model A's at the Airport Museum.




Donalson's '48 DeSoto.

While touring the hangars don’t forget to stop by the main museum hangar. Here the staff will playfully narrate for you a video of the airport’s opening day festivities in 1930. There are exhibits and pictures of the exciting and sometimes amusing history of flight. My favorite was a photo of Pancho Barnes and her Chihuahua who had his very own very small parachute.


Stop for lunch at the airport’s restaurant Logsdon’s. It’s your average diner but I will recommend the tuna salad sandwich which comes on a toasted croissant. Bonus: you can watch planes take off and land while you eat.

The Clocktower in downtown Santa Paula.

Downtown Santa Paula is cute, but I hate to say it could use a little influx of hip. The architecture is great though if you’re like me and you love old buildings. Downtown is where the Oil Museum is. There they have a full scale replica of an old oil drilling rig. It’s actually really neat because the building it’s in has motion sensors and as soon as you walk in the rig starts creaking and grinding to life. A life size dummy named “Derrick” (haha, oil drilling humor) narrates the exhibit.


On the way back to Santa Clarita stop by the Rancho Camulos Museum on the site of an old ranch dating from the mid-1800’s. A beautiful adobe house from the 1920’s will soon be restored as the museum’s Visitor’s Center. There is also a produce stand here where you can pick up some local oranges for the drive home.

This adobe built in the 1920's will soon be the museum's Visitor's Center.

I loved this courtyard.

For more information follow the links below:

Santa Paula Airport

http://www.amszp.org/



Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup with Cornbread Muffins

It’s been about 100 degrees here in Los Angeles over the past week. Hardly fall-like weather. Nevertheless it’s fall somewhere in the world I’m sure, and what’s more cozy on a crisp autumn evening than a nice big bowl of soup? Just to pretend that it was fall for a day I made this delicious soup in my crock pot. The nice thing about making it in my crock pot was that it didn’t heat up my kitchen too much. Lord knows it was hot enough. You will love this soup. My fiancé gave it a two thumbs up and an enthusiastic YUM!



Soup Ingredients:

1 cup of celery chopped

1 small yellow onion or half of one sweet onion chopped

2 – 6.5 oz. cans of mushrooms drained

1 cup prepared instant wild rice (I used Rice-a-Roni’s original recipe instant wild rice, seasoning and all)

2 10-3/4 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup

EITHER 2 10-3/4 oz. cans cream of chicken soup OR if you want it to be totally vegetarian try cream of potato or cream of celery or one of each. You can easily mix it up.

2 cups water

2 cups milk

Combine all the ingredients in your crock pot except for the milk. Heat on a low setting for 8 to 10 hours or on a high setting for 4 to 6 hours. About 30 minutes before it’s done stir in the milk. It should serve about 8.

Cornbread muffin ingredients:

I’m not even going to list the ingredients because this is how easy these little babies are to make. This is what you do: take yourself down to the grocery store to buy the ingredients you need for the soup. Go to the baking aisle and get yourself a box of Jiffy Cornbread mix. They’re like $0.69 a box. Heck get three, cause you’re going to love the cornbread and you will want more. Simply follow the directions on the back of the box and ta-da! You’ll have some nummy muffins to go with your soup. The end.

Friday, September 10, 2010

My new favorite place

My new favorite place is on the internet. I could spend hours here and never get bored. It's called Taigan and you can go there too. Just follow this link:

http://www.taigan.com/

I'm moving in.

State Parks and Famous Films

So I haven't been up to much this week. My Labor Day weekend was spent at home and the BBQ's of friends. Here though is an upcoming event that looks worth penciling in.

The weekend of November 6 & 7 California State Parks Foundation will be hosting "California State Parks Starring in Hollywood Films". Did you know that many famous films were made in some of California's state parks? This film festival will showcase films such as Spartacus, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Planet of the Apes and MASH.

For more information and tickets go here:

http://www.calparks.org/join/events/second-annual.html

Friday, September 3, 2010

Summertime Grilled Cheese

We love grilled cheese sandwiches in our house. Sometimes I think we could eat nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner 24/7. We love them so much it would take awhile for us to get burned out on them and then we would start eating bean and cheese burritos 24/7, but that’s a thought for another day. When you eat grilled cheese on a pretty regular basis you have to mix it up a little bit so here’s a version of grilled cheese I’m calling Summertime Grilled Cheese.


Ingredients:

- Bread. You want some good rustic, crusty bread. I make my own at home in the bread machine and cut it kind of thick.

- Olive oil.

- Two cloves of garlic minced or be lazy like me and buy your garlic already minced.

- A big juicy heirloom tomato. Get a yellow or orange one if you can. It makes for a more colorful sandwich.

- 1 red bell pepper. (You’ll need about half of it.)

- Fresh lettuce leaves.

- Favorite cheese of your choice. I used mozzarella.

Directions:

- Mix a bit of minced garlic with a bit of olive oil. You won’t need too much.

- Spread the garlic/olive oil mixture on the outside of your bread slices.

- Put your sandwiches together with bread, cheese, slices of tomato and red bell pepper.

- Grill on a griddle until your cheese is melted.

- Poke some of the lettuce leaves in and you’re done.



Ta Da! Fiancé approved!

From China to Mexico in 3 Blocks

In furthering my quest to be a tourist in my own town, some friends and I took the train to downtown LA this past weekend and explored Chinatown and Olvera Street. There is nothing like taking public transportation to make me feel like I’m a tourist. I never take public transportation at home, only when traveling. I hadn’t been on a train in a long time and I loved it! All hail the Metro!




Chinatown looks just like a Chinatown should. The architecture, the paper lanterns, the shops full of paper fans and parasols all said, “Chinatown!”








I wasn’t that interested in the cheap Chinese-esque knickknacks you can find here. A lot of shops had pretty much the same inventory and what do you know it all said “Made in China”. Duh. I went to the historic Central Plaza and there I found a store called Realm. Now I could have spent a lot of money in this place. No tacky kitsch here, just really interesting and unique art, home accessories and tea sets, and fun books and crafts. I fell in love with a tea set here. It’s hand painted by Asianera from Hong Kong. The set included a tea pot and four dainty little cups all in pale green with the most precious little sprays of white cherry blossoms on them. My favorite part? Each cup had a tiny little cherry blossom painted on the inside. Too precious! Oh wow, if any of my family or friends are reading this you know what I want for Christmas now. Seriously, opening a gift to reveal this tea set would make me squeal like a five year old getting her first Barbie. In fact I nearly squealed when I saw it in the store. Asianera also makes the most beautiful tea and dish sets with little koi swimming on them and they had these at Realm as well. (Unfortunately I could not take any pictures.)

One of the best parts about going to Chinatown is eating. Who doesn’t love Chinese food? The funny thing is we actually didn’t eat at a Chinese restaurant. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant. Hey it’s America, we’re diverse here. The place we ate at is called Via Café. I had spring rolls and Queen Shrimp which was awesome. I’d never had it before but it’s shrimp rolled in a batter that sort of looks like small oatmeal and then fried. The seasonings they put in the batter are tast-y and not too spicy, just flavorful. (Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of this either. My picture taking on this trip sucked. Sorry.)

I DID take some pictures of this great fountain.


I also threw some pennies in. I’m proud to say that I got a penny in the cup for “Happy” on the first try. I also aimed for “Money” and “Love” but my pennies fell short. So it looks like I’ll be poor and loveless in my life but I’ll still be happy! Thank goodness for that.


After browsing the shops in Chinatown’s Central Plaza we headed down the street a couple blocks to Olvera Street. This is like the Mexican version of Chinatown. There are lots of vendor stalls filled with Mexican handicrafts and Mexican food. There is a stall right by the entrance, where rumor has it they make the best tacquitos.

The entrance to Olvera Street and the line for tacquitos.

Everywhere I saw those little “Day of the Dead” dolls. Forgive me if I’m not calling them by the right name, but these are the dolls that are skeletons like the kind you see everywhere during Day of the Dead festivities. I think these skeleton dolls are kind of cute, if something made to look dead can be cute. They had them dressed up in different outfits and again I nearly squealed like a 5 year old when I found some that were brides and grooms. My future sister-n-law informed me though that I’m not allowed to use a bride and groom skeleton doll set as my wedding cake topper. No one lets me have any fun around here.

To make up for it she bought me a churro and this magnet.



Also at Olvera Street you will find bands playing Mexican music everywhere and people dancing. Some better than others. Olvera Street is pretty much where Los Angeles began and there are 27 historic structures located there.



Olvera Street is located right across from Union Station so we hopped over there to catch the train home. While inside Union Station we ran into a television show filming in progress. This is one of the perks of living in LA. A fellow onlooker told us they were filming a scene for the new Law & Order Los Angeles. So here’s the scoop: When you are watching the show and you see a scene where the actors are walking through what looks like a big marble walled lobby, that’s Union Station in downtown LA. It might even show up in the opening credits.
If you love Art Deco and trains you will love, love, love Union Station. The place makes me wish I worked downtown so I could ride the train everyday.

The lobby of Union Station.


As my friends and I hurried to our train I looked out a window and saw a wedding being held in the garden courtyard. Rails and romance, how perfect!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Tuna Mac 'n Cheese Two Ways

Please do not get your hopes up about this posting. This is definitely NOT a gourmet meal. What this is though is a yummy, easy dinner that makes everyone happy. Well almost everyone happy. I started to make it my way but the Fiancé had other ideas. He though my version was “too fancy”. Seriously? He challenged me to post this on my blog and see which version would be the favorite. So we each made it our own way and then I took pictures of both. You decide which one you like the best!


Ingredients:

- Start with your standard box of Macaroni in Cheese. Use whatever kind you prefer or happen to have on hand.

- Two cans of tuna in water.

- EITHER two small tomatoes or ketchup. (This is where the Fiancé and my tastes diverged.)

Directions:

Prepare the mac ‘n cheese the way it says on the box. Then add the two cans of drained tuna. Mix it up well. Then (this is the part where you get to pick your own ending) you can either quarter the two small tomatoes and add them to the mix a la Me. (See below)



OR

You can add a generous portion of ketchup a la Fiancé. I like to call this version “Little Boy Mac ‘n Cheese”. Little boys of all ages will love it I’m sure. Chef Ramsay will probably not be calling me for my culinary expertise any time soon though.


You should have seen this after he mixed it all together. Bleh.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Eat, Pray, Love, Commit

I just finished reading “Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Yes, that Elizabeth Gilbert, scribe of “Eat, Pray, Love”. If you are a fan of her now famous book, or if you’re a fan of the movie (which I haven’t seen yet), or even if you’ve never heard of her, you should read this book. If you haven’t heard of Ms. Gilbert or “Eat, Pray, Love” I will assume you’ve been living under a rock and the rest of this post may interest you not at all.



SPOILER ALERT!!!


Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I will tell you that “Committed” takes up a couple of years after “Eat, Pray, Love” ends. Liz has been dating the fantastic Felipe and is super happy but the United States Department of Homeland Security doesn’t give a crap. They kick Felipe out of the U.S. and he and Liz learn that the only way they will be able to stay together in the U.S. is if they get married. To them this is a nightmare. As anyone who has gone through a divorce will know getting into another marriage can be way scary. As Liz and Felipe jump through the hoops of what the government requires for them to legally marry, Liz jumps through the hoops of what marriage itself requires. “What is marriage?” she asks. Good question. Ironically I myself am engaged to be married, so this book and all it entailed really piqued my interest.

The first few pages in and I text a friend:

"OMGyouhavetoreadthisbookitssogoodeveryoneshouldreadit!"

I do still think that though I give you a word of caution: the middle section will make you doubt any desire you have ever had to want to bind yourself to another hopelessly imperfect human being. Grateful I was though that Ms. Gilbert did not leave me in that place of doubt. With her usual frankness, warmth, and good humor, she takes the subject of marriage by the lapels and gives it a good shake. Every little nook and cranny of what it means to be married is looked at. Up, down, and all around Ms. Gilbert looks and asks great questions about this ancient ritual of pledging yourself to another. She finds some equally great explanations. You will say “hmmm” a lot, and “Yeah! That’s just how I feel!” In the end I’m glad to say I was wholly satisfied. I agree with Ms. Gilbert in how she chose to view the institution of marriage and I even find it a more exciting prospect now than I did before.

Married people are rebels! That’s right, you heard me.

More Fun in San Pedro

After visiting the Point Fermin Lighthouse we wandered down the road to the Fort MacArthur Museum. You can still see where parts of the fort were positioned on the hillside. We found some old doors, bolted shut, which lead underground to where ammunition and such was stored. Those doors and the thought of what might lie beneath them were creeeepyyyyy! I told my friend, “You know there’s dead bodies in there right?” She was not amused.

You know there's dead bodies in there right?


The Korean Bell of Friendship




Not really sure what the purpose of these fellas is, but I like 'em.


 We climbed up to the top of the hill where we found an Asian-style pavilion with a huge bell hanging inside of it. This is the Korean Bell of Friendship which was given to the United States from the people of Korea in 1976. There were all kinds of people milling about and even a wedding party taking photos on the steps of the pavilion. From here there are fantastic sweeping views of the ocean, Point Fermin, and the parks and neighborhoods to the north and south.

This one day in San Pedro was really only the tip of the iceberg as far as all that this city has to offer. There is so much to see and do here no matter what your interests. The real history of Los Angeles seems to have begun here. There are many historical houses, museums, and naval related exhibits. And of course, more lighthouses! We can’t have enough lighthouses you know. There is also shopping and dining in Old San Pedro. I will seriously be going back to check out more.

For more information on San Pedro go here:

http://www.sanpedro.com/

Friday, August 20, 2010

Point Fermin Lighthouse

Last Sunday a friend and I went to visit the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, CA. I love lighthouses. It’s on my bucket list to live in one someday. The Point Fermin Lighthouse was built in 1874 and is built in the “Stick Style” of architecture and is very Victorian looking. It is an actual house with the light on top. I love when there is a house because I like to think about the lighthouse keepers and what their lives where like when they lived there. It turns out the Point Fermin Lighthouse had some very interesting keepers. From 1925-27 the light was run by two sisters named Thelma and Juanita Austin. As you can imagine it was not common for women to be running lighthouses in those days. The Austin sisters had some experience though, as they had been living at the Point Fermin Lighthouse since 1917 when their father was the keeper. What interesting women they must have been! Below are some pictures of the lighthouse.










The lighthouse was restored in 2002 and opened to the public in 2003. You can tour the lighthouse, though we were not able to while we were there. I guess I’ll have to go back sometime. Oh darn. Volunteers from the Point Fermin Lighthouse Society give tours and keep the lighthouse open. The gardens there are gorgeous. I went a little crazy taking pictures of all the flowers. Some of the photos I took are below.






I love, love, love this one!



I'm really curious as to what these are. Any ideas? There's a more detailed picture below.






There are a lot of other attractions to see in the Point Fermin area. The lighthouse is close to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Fort MacArthur Museum, and the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

View of the ocean through the wall at Point Fermin.

For more information on the Point Fermin Lighthouse their website is here:

http://www.pointferminlighthouse.org/

As an aside, this was the second time I had to write this post. Note to self: It might be a good idea to write your entries ahead of time and save them somewhere before you write them on Blogger and then accidentally delete them before you get them posted. I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud here.