Last day in California

As we were driving home from Newport Beach last night, the further up into the hills we got, the more intense the smell of Jasmine became. A definite benefit of traveling to California at this time of year is that spring is definitely bursting out all over. Anyway, the fragrance of jasmine was absolutely intoxicating, something impossible to capture on film.
On the morning of our last day in California, Dawn tried on Gary's 500SL to see if it fit. I think it'll do.


I also included an updated pic of Betty & Gary's place now that the driveway is done.
Today was our 34th wedding anniversary and for our last two days of holidays, we could not have been blessed with better weather, with temps both days well into the 80's. We decided to spend part of today in Malibu walking on Carbon Beach. The fronts of the very expensive beach houses here are right on the Pacific Coast Highway and don't look like much. From the beach however, it's a different story.


We had a beautiful walk on the beach and marveled that dogs had not yet been banned from these beaches - they were everywhere. I'm sure we walked past many movie star's homes, but most looked abandoned.


Following lunch at a sandwich shop in Malibu, Gary noticed he had a flat tire, but AAA came quickly to the rescue and off we went again, this time a little further up the beach to an open house Gary knew about. This place was $9 million and although it had nice beach front, was not overly large or beautiful. Yikes!

We headed back to Bel Air past the Malibu Pier shown above and then up Sunset Blvd. because the PCH was so congested.
After a short rest and change of clothes, we set out for Hermosa Beach and the Comedy & Magic Club. Here we were treated to 3 stand up comedians, the last being Jay Leno. They were all funny, but Jay is super polished and super funny. This was not only a unique way to celebrate our anniversary, but also a great way to conclude our visit to California. So, that's it for this version of our Travelogue. See you in May.

Newport Beach

Did you know that you can't own an Oscar? If you are lucky enough to receive one, you immediately sign papers saying when you die or if you don't want the thing anymore, the Oscar goes back to the Academy, unless you have willed it to a family member who is bound by the same rules. This is to avoid finding them for sale on E-bay. The Oscar is actually only worth $30 so it's strictly the sentimental value that is of any value. Forgot to mention that in the last posting.
With two days left in our visit, we chose to head south down the coast to Newport Beach. Being in Orange County, the wealthiest area in California with the top Mercedes dealership in the world, the real estate here is staggering for the tightly packed housing with waterfront or views.

On the way, we stopped in Long Beach to do some shopping and also had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory - actually didn't have any cheesecake. When we got to Newport Beach, we parked on Balboa Island and did a healthy 3 mile walk around the island checking out the prime waterfront homes averaging 3000 square feet and 4-6 million dollars, with a few heading up to the 20 million price range. And many had yachts moored at their front door! Yikes!


Before dinner we went for a drink at the historic Newport Landing, with a nice view of the little 3 car ferries that cross the inlet giving people a short cut to the peninsula from Balboa Island.


For dinner, we did an early celebration of our anniversary tomorrow and went to the swank Mastro's Ocean Club. The portions here were huge so we shared just about everything, salmon for Betty & Gary and rack of lamb for Dawn & I with side dishes of sauteed snow peas, garlic mashed potatoes and home made cream corn. I had started with escargots and Dawn shared the famous California wedge salad with Gary and for dessert only I had a creme brulee which was also shared.
It was a really happening place, with people packed, standing around the bar waiting for a seat and a parking lot full of every high end car from Masserati and Mercedes to Rolls and Lamborghini. Definitely an anniversary dinner we will remember!