LA – Day 4 (Tide Pools and Spaetzle)

Hello! We're back in Omaha, but I'm here to recap day 4 of our trip to LA.

After being up late for the Turkish dinner party on Thursday, we started Friday with a nourishing breakfast. I had coffee and some yogurt with granola. We also shared some apples & grapes, leftover cheese & spinach pastries with cucumber & tomato salad from the night before, and feta cheese.

After fueling up, we headed out to the Point Dume  Tide Pools. A friend of Mine and Colin's suggested we take the short trip out because the low tide was at a good point in the day for viewing sea life. We drove about an hour (?) to Zuma Beach, then we hiked up and over this bad boy to where the tide pools are located:

On our hike we saw snakes, lizards, and a snake eating a lizard. No pics of those, but here's one of a cactus!

There were nice views from the top! (and apparently it was a bit windy)

Once we got to the other side, we were told there was a baby seal on shore so we had to be quiet so as not to scare it. We could see it, but we weren't close enough for a good picture. We wandered around the pools for a while, and Colin pointed out sea anemones, star fish, hermit crabs, and other small sea creatures.

After hiking back to the car, we were ready for lunch. Colin knew of a little roadside seafood place along the coast that sounded perfect. Not much for a vegetarian, but the fries and coleslaw were awesome! It was just perfect to be sitting outside next to the ocean eating lunch.

Dinner that night was something equally unhealthy delicious! We went to a homey German restaurant/bar called The Red Lion that had a rooftop terrace. We had some yummy German beer to wash down our authentic German food. Mine and I split potato pancakes that were served with sour cream, apple sauce, and cranberry chutney. I also got a side order of spaetzle, which I had never had before. It's like pasta that is formed by pressing dough through a colander into boiling water, so it's a bit irregular shaped.

Katie ordered a smoked pork shank. This thing was huge! It came out with a huge knife sticking out of it. She thought it was very good, but obviously it's not for me. I tried her mustard and sauerkraut, though, and they were both very good! (Vegetarians may want to shield their eyes.)

After dinner, we drove through Silver Lake on our way home. I tried to convince Mine to let me go night swimming in the ocean, but it didn't work. Good thing, too, because I felt that water a few days later and it is freeeezzing!!

Ok, I'm off to go sleep in my own bed - woohoo! Stop back tomorrow for my Day 5 recap!