Beach - Blogabond

Had a beautiful day in Santa Monica.

Drove down to the beach. We were told by a friendly guy at our motel that it's cheaper parking on the left side of the pier, when you face the sea. But I was still a novice at left-hand drive, and making multiple U-turns along the highway next to the beach wasn't an attractive option, so we ended up paying USD 6 instead of USD 2 for parking.

The beach itself is a wide swathe of sand, probably about 400m from turf to surf - you can literally plonk yourself at a spot and not get bothered by anyone walking within 10m of you, if you wanted. Seagulls, though, follow different social rules.

Goodfeathers at Santa Monica beach

We walked along the beach up to Santa Monica pier, which houses an aquarium and an amusement park. Hand-in-hand, we strolled down to the tip of the pier, which was probably another 300m out over the water.

View of the beach from Santa Monica Pier

Unlike Bedok Jetty at East Coast, this area is not merely a resting place for skaters and cyclists. It's actually a place to commune with the ocean. Sure, there were a couple of guys fishing, but what struck me more was the cool, crisp ocean breeze and the warm sun on my face. We took a seat facing the Pacific Ocean and listened to the melodious crooning of a very talented busker by the name of Terry Prince. Terry was performing songs that he composed himself, and singing about love, beauty, appreciation, imagination - all nice and calming tunes, set off perfectly by the gentle lap of the waves beneath us. I looked out to the ocean, and was mesmerised by the dancing sunlight sparkling off the waters, creating a lighted path towards the wife and me. It was one of the most peaceful experiences in my life.

Tip of the Santa Monica Pier

We spoke to Terry as we were about to leave, and found that he had just finished a one-year contract performing at Harrah's at Las Vegas. Such a nice guy! Purchased his CD for USD 10 (eventually ripped it into iTunes, and iTunes did detect his CD info, btw) which was a little pricey, but probably worth it, because I don't think we will otherwise get a chance to listen to his music again.

After this delightful experience, we took another short walk along the beach, and eventually made our way back to the motel. Lovely day, lovely place. Lovely as a peacock!