Another Southern California Visit
Initially, I wasn’t planning on having us visit southern California during our whirlwind, month-long, five-state tour of the United States. After all, we were there last year when I applied for a residence visa at the General Consulate of Spain in Los Angeles.
But then Ryvid–an electric motorcycle startup I’ve been advising–invited me down to ride a prototype of its first product dubbed the Anthem. Of course, I was very interested in doing so, and Ryvid’s CEO even offered to take me on a personal tour of Huntington Beach. Plus, I would get to meet the Chief Technical Officer, whom I had talked with for many months.
So that was the primary reason for the SoCal trip. I wrote a separate post about the Ryvid Anthem prototype, but here’s how we spent the rest of our time in the area:
- Hung out at Huntington, Newport, and Balboa Beach. I mean in the sand, not just in the towns named after those beaches.
- Had lunch at the BLK restaurant and dinner at HQ Gastropub. Both were in Huntington Beach and had an ocean-side view. We were able to watch the Monday night football game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Visited my friend Dan Shockey, the current Editor of the MG Owners Club.
- Visited the Petersen Automotive Museum.
- Have lunch at a Japanese restaurant in Japantown in Los Angeles.
- Walk through the flower and fashion districts of Los Angeles.
- Amble through Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
- Visit Venice Beach, famous for various bodybuilders working out there. Of course, I did some pull-ups there.
- Take a ferry over to Balboa Island and take a stroll by the waterfront homes there.
Unfortunately, all of the beaches were super windy. On the plus side, we were the only ones there because of the wind.
On our first day in Huntington Beach, there were the ISA World Surfing Games. We took a few moments to admire the skill of the participants, such as this one:
Perhaps the most shocking memory was the contrast between the flower district of L.A. and Rodeo Drive ten miles away.
At the former, we encountered several blocks of homeless encampments. At the latter, we saw Rolls Royces, Bentleys, and Land Rovers. It was like alternating between two alternate realities within a span of an hour.
The best part was strolling through Balboa Island. It felt very tranquil, uncrowded, and relaxed. It was a great place to grab a beer and unwind before a flight over to Alaska the next morning.
