We have been to LA before, and we had arranged to meet Arnold’s cousin Tonny, for lunch. Immigration processes into the United States can be very slow and trying - we were scheduled to meet at the Vista Lounge for processing at 8.10am, waited to be called and were processed at about 9.40am. The processing was finished about 11.30am. - very frustrating since all aboard time is at 4.30pm. - many of the sights of LA are quite a distance from the port - because ships tours are processed first, this is one city where it is often a good idea to use the ships tour if only to get off more quickly.
The ship docks in San Pedro - really a huge commercial port with very little around it - we took the shuttle to Long Beach - about 10-15 minutes from the pier - and arranged to meet Tonny in front of the Aquarium of the Pacific.
The waterfront area of Long Beach has been renovated recently, with lots of free standing restaurants surrounded by gardens - a few of the chains are available in Australia - but many like Gladstone's, P F Changs and Tokyo Wako, and Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co are unique to the land of themed fast food. We had coffee at Bubba Gump's while we were waiting for Tonny, it is themed on the movie ‘Forrest Gump’ and was a lot of fun’ On each table are two flip signs which say ‘Run Forrest Run’ and ‘Stop Forrest Stop’ - to get the attention of the waiters, the sign is flipped over so they stop at the table - a novel idea.
We walked along the marina admiring the boats filling in time before our lunch. Harbour and lunch cruises are available on every shape and style of ship - paddle steamers, sailing tall ships, luxury launches etc. The famous old lady of the sea - the Queen Mary is permanently berthed here with tours available through the ship - as well as restaurants and a hotel. One boat attracted our attention with the sign ‘Burials at Sea by sensitive Captain’ - we have definitely never seen this is Australia - a new business opportunity for an entrepreneur??
We met up with Tonny and had a lovely lunch - fabulous Bay Shrimp salad - and lots of laughs catching up with family talk for a couple of hours - living so far apart this cruise presented a great opportunity to catch up - I left them reminiscing over coffee because I had some errands to run - cards to post - and a bit of gift shopping to do.
We had a great day - we have been living in a bubble on the ship so it was nice to go back into our real world for a while.
A trip to Wal Mart found these black hats which were worn to dinner by Arnold and Garry, but quickly 'borrowed' by our waiters Watchara and Neal. The 'hats of the day' draw attention from many in the dining room including the maitre'd and the our head waiter Maritzio, and have become a bit of a tradition. One lady said to me in the lift that they always get to dinner early so that they can see what hats they are wearing every night! They also bought some LA baseball caps which they plan to wear backwards tonight!!
Cheers
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