A view from White Point Bluff Park of the tide pools and beach below in San Pedro, CA.
Happy Monday, RMT’ers! I thought I’d start out the week with some pretty pictures for all of you to look at as you return to the weekly grind of whatever it is you do, along with tell you about a nice little local find and afternoon we had a few days ago.
Heading over the Vincent Thomas Bridge to San Pedro, CA, with Rancho Palos Verdes jutting up in the background.
Busy Bee Market on 24th Street in San Pedro serves up a killer meatball sandwich and some of the biggest, freshest sandwiches anywhere in Los Angeles. This is just half of the turkey sandwich T ordered - and he ate about two-thirds of this!
Our view from lunch - guess it could be sunnier, but honestly, I can't complain. After all, it's February!
Friday was C’s day off, so we got to spend the afternoon together as a family. And what better way to do that than to grab some sandwiches, hit a playground, and then head down to the beach. We hadn’t been over to San Pedro in a while, and thanks to my friend Richie, I’d just learned about some really fun and easy-access tide pools that we could explore. Well, we already knew of a great sandwich shop and playground over there we’d been wanting to get back to… add in a few tide pools and that sounded like a lovely day to me anyway!
Hermit crabs take shelter at the White Point Tide Pools in San Pedro, CA.
More of the dilapidated foundation of the former Royal Palms Hotel that used to grace this area of White Point in San Pedro, CA. Now it provides safe haven for a variety of sea creatures as a cluster of tide pools.
Hermit crabs lining up for their photo opp at White Point Tide Pools in San Pedro, CA.
After we finished our sandwiches and T got some energy out at the playground in White Point’s Bluff Park, we headed on down to the tide pools. White Point Park’s Tide Pools in San Pedro are pretty easy to find (you can find detailed directions here). You can either park up top for free on weekdays near the playground and walk down the paved road to the beach below (fair warning, though a short, straight walk, it is a fairly steep grade), or you can pony up $5 down below and park right next to the tide pools and beach (fair warning, this is uber-convenient and just a dozen or so steps to the tide pools).
C and T head out in search of sea life at White Point Tide Pools in San Pedro, CA. C said they saw clusters of anemones and urchins in the pools the farther out they ventured.
White Point Tide Pools in San Pedro, CA.
Once out on White Point, you can head out as far from or as close to the pebbled shoreline as you like. I preferred to stay on the concrete foundation of the former Royal Palms Hotel, which was a spa resort with hot sulfur pools predating the 1920s. The hotel fell victim to storms, pounding surf, and an earthquake in 1933, and now all that remains are majestic palms, garden terraces, and remnants of its concrete foundation scattered over the White Point Park area.
Got Rocks? A close-up of the "beach" down at White Point near the tide pools in San Pedro, CA.
As C digs for some small rocks, T climbs some of the larger ones down at White Point Park and Tide Pools in San Pedro, CA.
Just a small handful of the colorful rocks of the dozens the boys brought home from White Point Park and Tide Pools.
T climbing the boulders out at White Point Park and Tide Pools with the bluffs of Rancho Palos Verdes in the background.
Along with the brimming sea life at White Point (mostly hermit crabs on this day out), there’s also quite the collection of stones and rocks. That gave the boys plenty to do: C got to dig for rocks, and T got to climb them.
A mussel in its shell hanging out with a gang of hermit crabs at White Point Tide Pools in San Pedro, CA.
I need to borrow Grandma S's bird identification cards to find out what kind of sea-bird this is... we could not tell if s/he was nesting or injured or just taking a break here at White Point Tide Pools (San Pedro, CA).
The view north along White Point Park in San Pedro, CA.
We’ll definitely return to White Point Park and its tide pools again soon. I’ll just have to be sure to check the tide charts next time so we can take in more of the park and more of the beauty that it offers.