{"id":4031,"date":"2024-02-17T02:02:57","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T07:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/?p=4031"},"modified":"2024-02-17T02:02:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T07:02:57","slug":"l-a-vacation-2024-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/?p=4031","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Vacation 2024 – Day 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We started today with breakfast at our hotel. \u00a0We then drove from Glendale down to Dana Point. \u00a0Our first stop was the Dana Point Headlands Conservation Area<\/a>. \u00a0The docent there was very nice and gave us some tips based on what we said we wanted to do. \u00a0Our next stop was The Shwack<\/a>, a restaurant in Dana Point\u2019s Lantern District. \u00a0From there it was a short walk to the Bluff Top Trail. \u00a0Very reminiscent of Rochester, NY\u2019s Secret Sidewalk<\/a>, this short trail takes you along the bluff high above the Pacific Ocean. \u00a0On one side are the front decks of what must be very expensive real estate. \u00a0On the other are magnificent views of the ocean and Dana Point harbor far below.<\/p>\n

After taking all that in and lingering in the breeze we drive down the hill to The Ocean Institute on the western end of Dana Point Harbor. \u00a0The docent had told us that there is a stairway to the beach behind the Institute and so we went to spend some time on the beach just watching the waves come in as the tide slowly rose. \u00a0I\u2019ve never thought the ocean was particularly interesting. \u00a0In fact, I find it generally very boring when compared to the likes of Lake Champlain. \u00a0But I will admit that I could spend hours just sitting there watching waves come in. \u00a0It\u2019s hypnotic and peaceful; and in that respect I understand why people are drawn to it.<\/p>\n

From Dana point we made the short drive to San Juan Capistrano and toured the mission<\/a> there. \u00a0I can\u2019t say I gave it the full attention it as a museum deserved, but it was awe-inspiring. \u00a0The church in particular gave me pause. \u00a0As a lapsed Catholic I do not feel a \u201ccall\u201d to my Faith these days. \u00a0But the mission\u2019s church, incredibly preserved and still in use today, is a thing of beauty. \u00a0My hat came off, my finger touched the holy water and then my forehead, and I just had to sit there for a few minutes and take it all in. \u00a0We toured the grounds and spent some time (and a few dollars) in the gift shop and then it was time to head back to Glendale. \u00a0Amanda, her Dad Kevin, Kevin\u2019s friend Beata, and I had all been in the same car so far; but Kevin and Beata were scheduled to pick up Amanda\u2019s sister and her husband at the airport this evening, and so we had to return to Glendale so Kevin could get his car. \u00a0(In retrospect I guess we should have rented a minivan!) After a bathroom break we drove down to Manhattan beach and had a very nice dinner in a seaside restaurant called The Strand House<\/a>. \u00a0Our table was close to the open-air deck and the propane heaters took the edge off the cool ocean breeze. \u00a0The only thing missing was a view of the ocean. \u00a0It was right there in plain sight, but invisible in the darkness.<\/p>\n

After dinner Amanda and I returned to the hotel. \u00a0It\u2019s a good thing I like to drive. \u00a0Driving in and around L.A. is an adventure like no other. \u00a0I have many comments about the \u201cdesign\u201d of their highways out here, but I\u2019ll save them, perhaps, for another post some day. \u00a0We are having to much fun to let these posts degenerate into a grump-fest! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Enjoy some pictures from today\u2019s adventures.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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My bride and me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rock at Dana Point Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On The Bluff Top Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dana Point Harbor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Mission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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View of the Mission Courtyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Mission Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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AManda exploring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mission Courtyard through an archway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fountain at the mission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We started today with breakfast at our hotel. \u00a0We then drove from Glendale down to Dana Point. \u00a0Our first stop was the Dana Point Headlands Conservation Area. \u00a0The docent there was very nice and gave us some tips based on what we said we wanted to do. \u00a0Our next stop was The Shwack, a restaurant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4045,"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4031\/revisions\/4045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeyn.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}