Sunday 7th June
Dorothy had a wedding to go to today, so arranged for one of her friends, Grace, to take us out for the day. Grace drove us south along the coast road, through Newport Beach and stopping at Corona del Mar to walk along the road at the top of the cliffs, with stunning views of the sea, the rocky shoreline and the fabulously expensive and lavish houses. The streets were lined with extremely tall palms and the gardens were lush and colourful. bougainvilleas of purple, crimson and orange, draped themselves over walls and fences.
Grace pointed out the homes of various famous people, including one built by Michael J. Fox, the Gillette brothers who made their fortune from razor blades and one hideous looking house that (as rumour has it) is being built for Tiger Woods’ mother.
We had lunch at a lovely little café in Laguna Beach which served very healthy food - such a treat after weeks of French fries, “sandwiches” and other fat-laden fare, and few fresh vegetables. We ended the afternoon with a good English/NZ style cup of tea at Grace’s house. She lives in a retirement village in Laguna Canyon and we were astonished to hear that the village has 18,000 inhabitants. They have several swimming pools, a gym with personal trainers, their own TV station and newspaper, all the usual hobby and many special interest groups (all for free). But the thing that really left us speechless with wonder, was that there are stables for the residents’ horses (I swear this is true). We saw the stables, which were very posh and could accommodate about 40 horses.
We both left, wondering how soon we can become American citizens (and how soon we would be able to both buy a horse and pay for its stabling).
Saturday 6th June
Today, Dorothy took us on a guided tour of Huntington Beach. We walked from her house, through the streets and down to the pier, where there was a huge crowd being enjoying music and other entertainment. The pier was so long that we were directly above the surfers and could watch their skill in riding the waves.
.JPG)
Any thoughts of ‘a healthy salad for lunch’ were blown out of the window when Terry dragged us, kicking and screaming, into a pancake house where she force-fed Judy with pancakes covered with strawberries, syrup and whipped cream!
We wandered slowly home via some of the big and impressive hotels, built in the Spanish Mission style which is so popular around Southern California.
After a long walk in the hot sun a quiet evening at home was very welcome.
1 comments:
Hmmmmmmmm..... I doubt Terry had too much trouble getting you in the pancake house. In fact, it is more likely that she said "oh judy, look, a pancake house" and no sooner than she said it, you were hoofing up the beach at full pelt.
Post a Comment