Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway - Day 1

Leaving behind the many lovely places, good Chinese restaurants, and of course good friends in L.A., we headed out on our first day on the Pacific Coast Highway on our way back to the Bay Area.  Our first stop was still in L.A. but by the coast - Venice Canals Historic District.  These canals, built in 1905, had undergone restoration and we were lucky to be here after a rainy winter so there was plenty of water in the four canals - not always the case, it seems.  The developer, Abbott Kinney, had hoped to recreate the appearance and feel of Venice in coastal Los Angeles.  Did he succeed?  ;-)

Venice Canals

From Venice Beach, we headed to Santa Monica beach with its iconic roller coasters.  It also happens to be the end of Route 66 so we were happy to find the end point of the road that we started off midway in Arizona last fall.  

Route 66 map on the pier

Santa Monica Beach

We continued up the coast to Point Dume, the northern end of the Santa Monica Peninsula.  The problem with all these viewpoints is the lack of parking and you can't even park on the roadside at Point Dume because it has some expensive residences and all signs point to limiting the number of tourists in the area.  

View from Point Dume

Would have loved to stop by El Matador State Beach with its spectacular rocks but couldn't find parking and didn't expect to be able to do the steep walk down anyway, so our attempt was a little half-hearted. The Leo Carillo State Beach was a compromise (there is roadside parking and an easy walk) - pelicans instead of rocks... We also had our eye on the time - wanted to make it to Port Hueneme for sunset, and sure glad we did.

Pelicans at Leo Carrillo State Beach

The pier at Port Hueneme

A windy but beautiful sunset at Port Hueneme, which turns out to be a naval base!  That's why the Holiday Inn there has the best rates in the area...

This shot was taken with my phone through the glass of the restaurant as it was too windy to stand outside with blowing sand.