Long Beach & Rancho Los Alamitos CA

We are still in L.A only with the truck and are taking every opportunity to visit the area,this time to Long Beach,Naples and Rancho Los Alamitos, they are close by but anyone that is familiar with the traffic knows that it takes time to get from one place to another and find a PARKING spot.

Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the United States and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257.In addition, Long Beach is the second largest city in the Greater Los Angeles Area (after Los Angeles) and a principal city of the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Port of Long Beach is the United States' second busiest container port and one of the world's largest shipping ports. The city also maintains a large oil industry with wells located both underground and offshore. Manufacturing sectors include those in aircraft, car parts, electronic and audio-visual equipment, and home furnishings.

After a short stop and walk on the beach we succeeded to find a parking spot in Naples, an Island further East and walk along the canals that were loaded with boats and yachts from all kind,I do not know why this place is called Naples,it should be Venice or at least “Paradise”…

It is a difficult life ,imagine going down stairs ,climbing into the boat,cross the canal to visit your friend that lives on the opposite the Canal, it is TOUGH…

Naples is a neighbourhood of Long Beach, California, United States, built on three islands located in Alamitos Bay. The islands are divided by canals which open into the bay.

    

At 1PM looking for a parking spot next to a restaurant  we were lucky again,the sign said “No parking on Friday between 12 and 2PM” we looked around and saw a road cleaning truck approaching the place to do his thing and also saw cars double parking with drivers in the driver’s seat, as the cleaner’s truck finished cleaning the side road they all drove to catch a parking spot –and so did I..

With an Indian Buffet in our bellies we continued to Rancho Los Alamitos ,(no parking problems here).

We took a guided tour to see this Ranch and learn the history of the place.
Rancho Los Alamitos is twice listed on the National Register of Historic Places - once as the sacred Tongva village of Povuu’ngna, the traditional birthplace of the native people of the Los Angeles Basin and, second, for the evolution of its significant historic landscape over time. The site includes traces of the ancestral village, an adobe-core ranch house ca.1800, four acres of lush historic gardens developed during the 1920s and 30s, and the restored working ranch barnyard of the early-mid 20th century. With the opening of the Rancho Center, the film, new exhibits and room environments feature the landscape, the people and the place over time and within the context of the development of the region and the state.

And there is a lot more to see and visit.

The Huntington Library,Art Collection & Botanic Gardens CA

San Marino the small beautiful and rich town is located between L.A and San Gabriel Mountains is hosting The Huntington Library,Art Collections and Botanic Gardens.

As a landowner, a businessman, and a visionary, Henry Edwards Huntington, (1850–1927), played a major role in the growth of southern California. Huntington was born in 1850 in Oneonta, New York, and was the nephew and heir of Collis P. Huntington, (1821–1900), one of the famous "Big Four" railroad tycoons of 19th century California history. In 1892, Huntington relocated to San Francisco with his first wife, Mary Alice Prentice, and their four children. He divorced Mary Alice Prentice in 1906, and in 1913 married his uncle's widow, Arabella Huntington, (1851–1924), relocating from the financial and political center of northern California, San Francisco, to the state's newer southern major metropolis, Los Angeles. He purchased a property of more than 500 acres that was then known as the "San Marino Ranch", and went on to purchase other large tracts of land in the Pasadena and Los Angeles areas of Los Angeles County for urban and suburban development. As president of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, the regional streetcar/public transit system for the Los Angeles metropolitan area and southern California and also of the Los Angeles Railway Company, (later the Southern California Railway), he spearheaded urban and regional transportation efforts to link together far-flung communities, supporting growth of those communities as well as promoting commerce, recreation, and tourism. He was one of the founders of the City of San Marino, incorporated in 1913.

Huntington's interest in art was influenced in large part by his second wife, Arabella Huntington, (1851–1924), and with art experts to guide him, he benefited from a post-World War I European market that was "ready to sell almost anything". Before his death in 1927, Huntington amassed "far and away the greatest group of 18th-century British portraits ever assembled by any one man". In accordance with Huntington's will, the collection, then worth $50 million, was opened to the public in 1928.

(Quote from Wikipedia)

The huge house is surrounded by  beautiful gardens has a great art collection that includes paintings,statues and silverware,there are so many rooms that it is hard to imagine how all of them were used in those days and how one found the other…

The Magna Carta Law and Legend,1215-2015 was presented in one of the rooms to the public and it was the first time for us to see it.

In 1215 Magna Carta was a peace treaty between the King and the rebel barons. In that respect it was a failure, but it provided a new framework for the relationship between the King and his subjects. The 1225 version of Magna Carta, freely issued by Henry III (r.1216-72) in return for a tax granted to him by the whole kingdom, took this idea further and became the definitive version of the text. Three clauses of the 1225 Magna Carta remain on the statute book today. Although most of the clauses of Magna Carta have now been repealed, the many divergent uses that have been made of it since the Middle Ages have shaped its meaning in the modern era, and it has become a potent, international rallying cry against the arbitrary use of power.

 

Leaving the “history” and the Library behind us we strolled to the Japanese Gardens to relax…

     

The small bridges,waterfalls,reflections and the “laud” quietness puts you in the right mode for relaxation..DO NOT MISS this place whenever you are in the area.

Down Town Los Angeles

Los Angeles down town is spread and can not be done by foot in one shot,so during the week end Rony and Sara took us to the focal points in Down Town L.A to us the big city…it took 4 times to park  ( not easy)  and explore the area by foot while the temperature was in the 100’s…luckily we carried a big bottle of water with us.

  

If you want to feel the “beat” of a town then go to the local market, and L.A has a huge covered one with air-condition to escape the heat,you can shop,eat ,drink or just wonder around.It is colourful,clean and a great place for shopping.

Afternoon we made our way to China Town,an area with many small/big shops,market ,squares and restaurants,it always attracts us to see the architecture,the colors and feel the cooking smell coming from all directions, we of course had a fantastic meal at the well known and recommended place by Rony & Sara.

Siesta time at work…

   

 

I noticed that Eilat a Sister city to L.A is “only” 7744 miles from here ,“just” around the corner…it kind of feel like “home”.

That’s it for today,we were more tired than hiking 5 miles uphill…

Redondo Beach area California

Rony and Sara took us to visit the coast South of L.A ,it is an amazing area with great Ocean vistas,marinas,fish restaurants,piers,sailing boats and expensive houses.

Even the sea seals were enjoying themselves.

The sea food restaurants and markets in the area are fabulous, you can choose the fresh seafood that is displayed ,and pick your food when the number is called,there is so much variety that it was difficult to choose ,but we made it…. and it was GOOD.

 

A walk around the pier to digest the food was our next task of the day,it was packed with people having fun all over the place ,there is something for every one starting from bicycle riding,roller skating,sailing,rentals from all kind ,bars that make great cocktails and a lot of FOOD.

Above is a sample of a family dinner table ….wow

The weather was great,the company was fantastic and we had another perfect day in the paradise…thank you Rony & Sara.