2021 - May 11th - Rancho Palos Verdes

Today our local outing took us to the beautiful Rancho Palos Verdes community. Located on the "lost" peninsula of Southern California, it overlooks the ocean with spectacular views. Years ago the area was the home to Marineland of the Pacific which operated from 1954 to 1987. We took the kids there on several occasions in those early years.

We began the day with a mid-morning stop at The Yellow Vase for coffee and a pastry! The experience here is like non-other. It is a combination bakery, café and flower shop. Upon entering there is the immediate aroma of decadent pastries and coffee. The menu boasts delicious breakfast and lunch items. Not only is the Yellow Vase a place to treat yourself, but it is a full service, florist and retail shop. What a fun and yummy place to start our day!

Onward to Roessler Point. From here we viewed what is locally called "RAT Beach". They call it this as it stands for the beach between Redondo Beach and Torrance Beach. Here is located the Roessler Point Gazebo. It is perched above the beaches as a scenic outlook that overlooks the beach and has incredible ocean views of the coastline that stretches all the way from Palos Verdes to Santa Monica.

We decided to walk down to our next site and passed the Palos Verdes Beach and Athletic Club. We opened the gate and walked down the various levels above the club and pool to take in the view and the beautiful flowers.

A little way further down the walk is The Neighborhood Church. There is an unobstructed view of the ocean and coastline from the church and its surrounding grounds. With the Covid restrictions not yet relaxed enough, the grounds were not open. We took in the beauty of the church from outside. We saw surfers in the ocean below on our walk to the church.

We visited the grounds of the ever-so-lovely Malaga Cove Library of Palos Verdes. The library has serene grounds to just relax and enjoy nature and the beautiful outdoors. Before the entrance to the library is a most stunning statue of "The Storyteller" rabbit. What a welcome to the library!

There is also a fabulous fountain at the library. Probably due to many non-essentials being put on hold during the pandemic, unfortunately the fountain was dry with no water spraying from the carved fish or flowing down the various tiers of the fountain. However, the fountain is still a great sight to see!

We drove through the Malaga Cove Plaza which has beautiful architecture with a stunning Italian Neptune fountain, nice shops and a market. The Plaza is fashioned after Bologna Italy.

Following the winding Palos Verdes Drive we came to Pelican Cove and Terranea at Vicente Bluffs Reserve. There is a trail that will lead down to the ocean and if taken, will lead to a sea cave and several tide pools. The path was rather steep and the rocks on the beach looked a little to formattable for us to take-on this journey today. We did go down the the initial trail and took some wonderful pictures.

About a mile up the road is the Point Vicente Lighthouse. The government land was not open today, so we admired from outside the fenced compound!

We really wanted to see the Wayfarer's Chapel as our last adventure here in Rancho Palos Verdes. Once again, due to the Covid pandemic, the Chapel grounds were closed to the public. Again, this gives us good reason to come back at some point in the future when we are "back to normal"!!!

We really enjoyed our visit in Rancho Palos Verdes/Palos Verdes Estates. It will be a great trip to come back and go into a couple of sights that we could only view from the outside during this day trip. We left the Wayfarer's Chapel and entered San Pedro from the other end of town than we have done in the past. We decided to have lunch at "The Happy Diner" there in San Pedro. Enjoyable home cooking!

After enjoying our lunch we drove over to see the Korean Friendship Bell on the hill above Point Fermin Park. It had been awhile since we had been here. Our first seeing it was back in 2014 when Carrie's 2014 published book "100 Things To Do In Los Angeles Before You Die" came out. Still as beautiful as ever!

Driving down the hill, we drove through Point Fermin Park where the lush grounds have such sprawling and magnificent trees and the beautiful Point Fermin Lighthouse sits.

We decided to return home through Long Beach so that we could drive over the Vincent Thomas Bridge and the new Gerald Desmond Bridge which was opened in October 2020. The connection between downtown Long Beach and Terminal Island is a vital part of the country's trade infrastructure, with 15 percent of the nation's imported waterborne cargo trucked over it. In addition, it is a critical access route for commuters between the Port of Long Beach, downtown Long Beach and surrounding communities.

Built in the 1960s and in need of replacement, the Gerald Desmond Bridge was not designed to accommodate today’s larger cargo ships or the dramatic increase in trucking traffic with the growth of the Port.

The Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project now spans the Port of Long Beach’s Back Channel with a deck rising 205 feet above the water. The sleek, cable-stayed bridge includes additional traffic lanes, a higher clearance to accommodate larger cargo ships, and a dedicated bicycle path and pedestrian walkway, including scenic overlooks. With two towers reaching 515 feet into the sky, it is the second-tallest cable-stayed bridge in the United States.

Vincent Thomas Bridge 

Complete Photo Album