Sunday in Seal Beach

My Aunt Marilyn celebrated her birthday in June, but since she was back in Minnesota for the actual day, I didn't get to celebrate with her...

So, I decided that we should have a fun day together celebrating HER and enjoying each others company!

On Saturday night I went to Seal Beach to make sure that stores would be open on Sunday. It turns out that it's just Monday that a few stores are closed -must need a break after a busy weekend. While I was there, I walked out on the pier to watch the sunset. Pretty nice! You know, I just realized that when I lived in Seattle you endured more than your fair share of Mount Rainier pictures and pictures taken from Kerry Park. I guess the main theme during this assignment is sunset pictures! Hope you don't mind too much!




I love the progression of colors from the orange to the dark blue, and if you look closely in the middle of the picture, you can see the moon.


On Sunday after church, Marilyn and I hopped in the car and went to Seal Beach. It turns out that Seal Beach is a little more crowded on a hot Sunday afternoon compared to a Monday morning. But, that just means more people watching opportunities and it was still a great beach to be on!

We started out by eating at The Crema Cafe, which had some tasty pannini's. The crepes looked really good, too, so I'll have to head back there sometime.

After lunch, we walked down one side of the street, stopping in ALL sorts of fun little shops. They had everything from dress shops to swimwear shops to house decorating shops with a beach theme, to cute little Tea-themed shops, to art galleries. We really enjoyed our time just strolling in and out of them!

After getting to the first side of the street, we walked along the beach,





took in all the fun colors of the beach umbrellas,



and headed up on the pier where Marilyn found the seal statue in honor of Seal Beach!



It was fun to watch the waves and the people jumping in them (or trying to surf!)





and we saw this authentic fishing boat which had been out farther but came in to dock and do some unloading.



If you look closely (or enlarge the picture by clicking on it), you can see one of the three islands off the coast in Long Beach that is actually an oil rig made to look like a regular island with transplanted palm trees, etc. I guess the people of Long Beach really didn't want oil rigs so close to shore, so they were "dressed up" quite a bit!



Two happy women who have really enjoyed their day!



The last store we got to right before it closed up was this great little shop with a cute archway out front. It's called "The Back Porch" and there were lots of things in it that made me wish I had a back porch!



This Coral Tree is so unique I felt the need to hug it!



Here's the view looking up from the center of a Coral Tree!



The cement base around a Coral Tree had these great leaf-imprints in it.



Wonderful architecture in the town of Seal Beach. I missed getting a shot of the really great red front door. I've always wanted a red front door!



Taken from Main Street in Seal Beach, which leads directly to the pier. It's such a wonderful little town that makes me forget I'm in the LA area!



After leaving Seal Beach, Marilyn and I came back to my apartment for a bit, headed to Walmart to pick up one thing (and found quite a few other things -why does that always happen in Walmart??), stopped at Borders for a book, then headed back to Fullerton. It was a full, and very fun and wonderful day together! Thanks for the fun, Marilyn! I'm so glad I live close to you again!!

When I got home that night and looked at some blogs, I found that Jamie and Krista had just posted a picture of Jayden wearing a new shirt from his aunt. I had to laugh because I had just bought little David this shirt, and it's from the same company! Great aunts and minds must think alike! (Shhhh, I got it sent off to him today, so give him a few days to get it before you ask him about it!) Maybe his parents or grandparents will post a picture of him wearing it??