California Adventures--Seal Beach

You know, I almost have to laugh when I refer to my time in California as an "adventure".  Other than my aunt taking me on the long drive to Malibu to visit the Getty Villa, I spent most of my time hanging out in coffee shops playing on my iPad, farting around downtown Seal Beach, meandering through the streets taking pictures and swooning over glorious gardens and funky little cottages with million dollar price tags.  Nothing terribly adventuresome there!  But then again, this WAS the first time I have been away from my kids for more than an evening by myself.  So although I wasn't windsurfing or sky-diving, I suppose the "adventure" was  finding myself again!  I think sometimes people don't realize how hard it is to have that inner dialogue when you have kids constantly interrupting that and jamming the signal!  It was an "adventure" in peace and quiet and in not having to worry about someone else's needs.  As a stay-at-home mom, I can tell you, those moments are PRICELESS!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids big time and I certainly don't regret my decision to stay home with them, BUT it really was so incredibly nice to just have a few days to do what I wanted to do without worrying about who needs to go potty and who's hungry or tired or grumpy.

Welcome to Seal Beach, California!  It's a sweet, little town nestled in between Long Beach and Huntington Beach with a thriving downtown, a beautiful public beach and California's second longest wooden pier and the PERFECT place to laze around for 3 days!

"Slick" the mascot

The Seal Beach Administration Building (Blue skies and palm trees, gotta love it!)

Granted, most of the kitschy little cottages have been bought, torn down and replaced with McMansions, but there are few of the 50's, old-school cottages.  They are of course my favorites!

And although I adore the cottages, this particular beachside beauty caught my eye.  I'm trying to talk Big Daddy into springing for it, but I have this gut feeling the answer's gonna be no.  :(  And in case you were wondering, this IS one home!

Almost every house has a little garden and the stuff that grows there in that mild, salty air is incredible!  Some things I recognized like lantana and roses, but most of the stuff I had know idea what it was, but the streets were just full of color!

I mean really, I haven't seen a rose like this since I lived in Portland.

And the ice plant on the beach!

Downtown has lots to offer, funky little shops, lots of restaurants, and we can't forget the Red Car Museum!

I also adored Brisa's Old Town Garden.  If I could have, I would have bought the place out!  I haven't seen plants that green and gorgeous in years!

There were a couple of antique shops, and I just couldn't resist a picture of this.  I was thinking how cute that thing would be in my backyard with baskets full of petunias or geraniums!

And did I mention the pier?  The longest wooden pier in California?  Needless to say after walking to the end and back with the heavy ocean breezes, I was a bit winded!  So cool though!

And what is the beach without seagulls?

Isn't he a beauty?  This was a lucky shot though.  He flew off moments later!  

At the end of the day, I started walking home around sunset and turned for a last look at the beach for the evening and couldn't help but get a shot of the pier in the far distance with the beautiful, wind-blown palm trees and the moon rising... just stunning.  California was definitely a nice change of scenery!

I hope you have enjoyed my little photo journal of Seal Beach.  I will probably annoy you with another couple of California posts before it's all said and done, but what can I say, I love to travel, I love to take pictures and I love to share my adventures!  Does anyone know how I could get a job with the travel channel?