Seeing Southern CA for the Second Time - Day 3

On the last blog, Mom, Chris, and I finished up our evening at home in Long Beach, eating steak and veg.  We stayed up late drinking wine and chatting, so no one got a terribly early start the next day (except for Kaylee - Kaylee always gets an early start).  Chris went out for a run, and as he returned, Mom and I headed out the door to walk to our breakfast selection, the Blackbird Cafe, where Chris met us with the car.  By this point, breakfast had merged somewhat into lunch, but since our plans for the day included staying fairly local, we just chilled out and enjoyed the weather, the company, and the delicious food.

After the Blackbird, we hopped in the car and headed straight up to the highest point around, Signal Hill.  Signal Hill is actually a tiny city on its own completely surrounded by the city limits of Long Beach, and as the oil derricks in the area can attest, it is fairly well funded.  The city has a lot of cute little parks, and most of them have incredible views.  Chris and I had first been up the hill at Christmas time, and we wanted to ensure Mom saw it on this trip.

Looking south,
toward the harbor of Long Beach.

Selfie time!

Given the lovely day, we hopped onto the 405 and went a bit further south to show Mom Huntington and Seal Beaches.  While Long Beach is a much larger city than either, its beaches are enclosed by the harbor, so while it's peaceful, it doesn't get the larger waves that are the hallmark of this coast.  Huntington, however, is known as Surf City for a reason, and although the large crowds didn't leave us any spot to park (everyone had the same great idea we did, obviously), we enjoyed driving along the causeway, checking out the scenery.

A surfer enjoying Surf City.

Not my picture.

While the freeway is the quickest way around this area, on the way back, we chose to take the PCH/Highway 1 so we could sight-see a bit more.  Despite a traffic jam on the PCH we endured for a while (a charity run seemed to be occurring, bringing everything to a standstill), we eventually made it to our next stop, Seal Beach.  Seal Beach is the coastal town adjacent to Long Beach, and it has a really adorable little downtown area.  We grabbed a parking spot on Main Street and headed to one of our favorite places, Beachwood BBQ and Brewery (they have a much larger location in Long Beach we frequently visit, but this is the original and is super cute), where we sampled some of their wares and had a few snacks (mushroom fries and a trio of dips - peanut hummus, pickled crab, and garlic spread, which were all delicious).  After our snacks, we strolled down to the beach, passing a local bakery along the way for a mid-afternoon sweet treat.

Time for snacks!

Shoes off on Seal Beach!

We walked back to the car, wiping the sand off our feet, and then it was back on the road through the bluff area of Long Beach to see the massive houses, including those on Naples Island, where a friend of Mom's used to live.  Our next destination was Ranchos Los Cerritos, a historic adobe home only a few miles from our own house.  On the way, we also drove Mom through the Country Club area of Bixby Knolls, so we could show her more gigantic houses, including Ferris Bueller's home:

And it's one of the smaller houses in this neighborhood!

Anywhoo, we made it to the Rancho just before they closed for the day at 5pm, and one of the docents was kind enough to give us the express tour, complete in period costume.  She did a wonderful job sharing all sorts of interesting facts about the ranch and the time period, as well as the family that gives its name to the surrounding area - the Bixby's.

In the back garden area

Two fig trees planted by the first owners

After the ranch, it was time to head back home for the evening, chill out for a while and make dinner.  While our main dish was roasted chicken thighs, it was the side that really stole the show.  We've been growing tons of zucchini in our garden over the past few months, and although I try to be vigilant about picking them in time, sometimes, they escape my immediate notice and become seriously gigantic.  Here, we pose with the newest member of our family:

Our sweet little baby!

Yup, that's a 5 pound zucchini!

Not to be outdone,
Chris made us amazing chocolate souffles for dessert!

We stayed up for awhile again, just chatting and eating and hanging out, and then it was off to bed!  On the next blog, tea and The Usual Suspects (yes, really)!

Later!

Amy