Thursday, September 13, 2007

Today’s photo is from The Clubhouse Restaurant. I mentioned this in our blog from last Sunday, when we had lunch with Carol and Ryan. We enjoyed it so much, we went back on Tuesday (without Ryan of course, who was in school). It was so busy we opted to sit in the bar area for lunch and avoid the 20 minute wait (yes, Harold, this technique works pretty much everywhere!). The electric palm tree / lamp on the bar was “interesting”.

Yesterday, Wednesday, we went to the South Bay – Torrance, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, et.al. – to visit with Carolyn and Harry. You’ll remember we met with them in Vacaville earlier this month and spent a great day in Napa Valley.

After catching up on our respective adventures, Harry and I went to the Alondra Golf Course and hit a bucket of balls. Harry is just starting to learn / play, so I gave him some of my golf wisdom. Those of you that have seen me play must wonder what I could possibly “teach”. Well, it was the easy stuff, stuff like which end of the club to hold and which direction to face. We had fun. We did not play however as the course was awash in people. Where did they all come from?

We then reunited with Margaret and Carolyn and went – where else – shopping. If you have ever been in El Segundo, you may remember the large United Carbide plant on PCH, just north of El Segundo Blvd. Well, it’s not there anymore. In its place, sandwiched in between the small golf course on the north and Raytheon on the east, is a large shopping center with the largest Whole Foods Market I have ever been in. Harry had never been in one so it was an eye-opening experience. We were going to try the wine bar (before going to dinner), but at 5:00 they had a free beer tasting, so we tried that. More fun.

After touring the Whole Foods Market – which took the better part of an hour – we moved to investigate Sur la Table, a cooking / kitchen equipment / supplies / accessories emporium. Margaret was able to buy some marionberries from Oregon. She had tried to get some in Washington, but never seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

Dinner was in down-town El Segundo at 2nd Street Bistro. We had eaten there before with Harry and Carolyn. A great spot for dining and watching the world go by. Carolyn took a bottle of the Judd’s Hill Petite Syrah wine she had bought in Napa earlier. It was as delicious as we remembered it from the tasting.

El Segundo has blossomed since we left California. Several of the old industries and businesses have relocated and/or upgraded their facilities. Plus there are lots of restaurants, many of which I’m told are quite good. Unfortunately we weren’t there long enough to try any more.

The old US Air Force base – I think it was referred to as the USAF Missile Command – has been relocated. Apparently many of their old buildings were too badly damaged over the years by earthquakes and could not be easily repaired / retrofitted, so the government gave the land (in El Segundo) to a contractor. In return, the contractor built an entirely new facility for the USAF. Not sure where, but somewhere in California. The contractor then tore down the old buildings and is now erecting new homes, apartments, condos, and commercial buildings. Quite an undertaking.

I was sorry I couldn’t get pictures of all this activity. Photographs from a moving car, especially if you’re driving, are difficult. We did drive past many of the old Raytheon buildings including my old office. Some things never change – they looked just like they did 12 years ago. Sort of like yours truly. Yeah, right!