In California, in an attempt to encourage recycling, there is a tax on all drink bottles and cans when you buy them at the store. To get that money back, you have to drop these off at a dedicated recycling center. We had just been recycling through the campground until we noticed these charges on our receipts. They appeared at CA Redemp VA and CRV Tax on our receipts.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for recycling. We did it at home for many years. However, it’s a pain in the rear end to drive to a recycling center, especially when you are from out of town. It is not an intuitive process, at least at the center I went to. It wasn’t well marked from the front of the parking lot. After driving around a little bit, I finally called the number on the website. The person I spoke to on the phone was very polite and helpful in finding it.
She was not the person at the booth. The person at the booth was not a happy person (which I can’t really blame them having to be there all day). To exchange your recycling, you separate cans and plastic bottles into different tubs. They then dump them into a different tub to weight them. (This station paid you by weight.)
Some of the receipts with the bottle tax/fees.
During our stay we went twice to the recycling centers. We only got back $5.84, which seemed really low based on the fees/tax we ended up paying in the stores. Just on the Costco waters, we had a $2 tax on the pack of water ($2.99/40 pack). We bought at least 2 packs of Costco water, plus probably about 15 packs of fizzy water, sodas, and Monster. The math just didn’t add up with the fees from what we bought and what we got back. Granted, in the first week or so, we recycled at the campground. But even if it was only half of what we bought, we should have gotten more back.
Since the Fair Foodie Fest was further north, we decided to visit Los Angeles on the same day. On our way into Los Angeles, we stopped at the Bagel Shack for breakfast. Their bagels were really good, nice and soft. We picked a berry cream cheese, which had bits of berries in it! The strawberry and chocolate chip did not have a very strong flavor, although they were still a nice bagel. Things like bagels and donuts are just more expensive here: small cream cheese $3.50, 1/2 dozen bagels $9.
We drove up to Venice Beach first and walked around. Ben and I had been there many years ago, before we had kids. It was still just as unique as I remember it. The scammers with CD’s were still there, lots of touristy kiosks and shops, street artists, etc. The size and amount of homeless camps set up along the sidewalk and the beach seemed much larger than I remember. And of course, there were still rollerskaters, rollerbladers, bikers, and skateboarders. VIDEO: Walking Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA
We walked down to Santa Monica Pier and walked around. The Chess Park was neat and there were a few people playing. The boardwalk/pier area was really fun to see. The rides and games were not open, but many of the restaurants were. People were enjoying the beach, exercising, or walking around. We even saw a dance class being held outside.
The “original” muscle beach at Santa Monica was closed, although a few people snuck past the fencing and ropes to use some of the permanent equipment. The muscle beach at Venice Beach had several people there as well.
We drove over to see the Chinese Theater and the stars in the sidewalk. It was a little crowded and also hard to park the truck, so we just drove by and took in the sights. On our way out, we saw the Hollywood sign on the hill.
We decided to get the boys a surf lesson. When/where else would they be able to do it? Plus, they’re still pliable as kids and not as breakable as we adults tend to be. 😉
We chose a surf shop at Pacific Beach, Pacific Beach Surf Shop. We got them in a lesson together. The temperature was a little cool, both in the water and out.
The shop provided the boards and wet suits for the lessons. The kids also wore a bright yellow/green shirt over the wet suit. Lessons were 1.5 hours long, starting out on the beach learning about the board and how to stand on it, and then moving out into the ocean.
Their instructor, Angie O, was very encouraging and patient with them. She did a great job. Every time they got on the board she cheered, even if they fell off quickly. I think it helped give them confidence to keep trying.
They both managed to get up on the board in the water. They also made it into shore on the board a couple of times. There were plenty of wipeouts as well, but they kept getting back on. We were proud of them.
Since we didn’t take the lessons, the boys wrote a little bit about their experience! 🙂
Hey Guys! This is Will. How are you? The surfing thing was cool. We only learned about it 2 days before the event and I was pretty excited. It seemed like forever until we got to surf. We got there and talked to our instructor for a few minutes and she got us wet suits that were maybe 1/8 or 1/4 inches thick. They felt like winter coats all over your body except not hot. We went down to the beach and she taught us about all sorts of things such as how to swim with the board, how to get up, and how to, well, surf! We even got to ride the waves a couple of times and one of their guys got a couple of pictures of us. It was super fun and if you are looking for something to do in San Diego I would recommend, if it is in your budget, getting surf lessons.
Hello, my fans, this is Nick. You may have seen that Will and I went surfing. It was really cool. It was hard to get on to the board at first but we got it at the end. We did 30 minutes on land and then a hour in the water, it was fun. I made it about 4 to 5 times all the way back to the shore line. Some advice is to not go all the way to the shore line at the start. The reason is it will hurt if you do not land right. I got thrown off the board and got sand in my eyes on my first try. Another tip is that the wet suits are really hard to get on, but not as hard to get off though. Our instructor was really nice and was really good at teaching us how to get on the board and surf. She gave us most of the instructions on land and some in the water. That was my experience surfing!
Ben once again found a unique event to go to: the Drive-Thru Fair Foodie Fest held at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. Admission was free and if you made a reservation online, you got a free mini funnel cake. The event was only held on weekends in October. We weren’t sure exactly how it would work, but it sounded like a fun experience and definitely something new.
We went in the later afternoon, a little before dinner time. Although we put in the address on the website, it was a little hard to figure out how to get into the stadium. The first couple of gates were locked and there were not signs up directing you where to go. We finally turned into this maze of a parking lot with concrete barriers and cones. We saw a few people coming out that way and gave it a try. There was finally a small (8.5×11 size) piece of paper taped to a pole with an arrow for the fair food. There was nothing closer to the street though, making it extremely hard to find.
There was a small line when we arrived, but it moved pretty quickly. They had a few non-food booths set up along the way to give it more of a fairground/festival type of feel. We had already pre-planned on what we were going to eat, as the food was not exactly cheap. We stopped at booth #1 for a gyro ($12.93), booth #3 for a giant turkey leg and roasted corn on the cob ($21.55), and finished it off with a funnel cake ($11.85) from booth #5. We did get our free mini funnel cake when we entered, but it was just big enough for everyone to have 1 bite. The booths only took credit cards and charged tax as well.
Ben is a nut and had carnival themed music playing on his phone to help set the mood.
At the end of the food line, they had stuffed animals on display (the kind you would win at a festival) for sale. You could also play ring toss from your car! We didn’t play, but it certainly was an ingenious idea.
There was another side parking lot where you could park and eat your food. It was a good thing we stopped: funnel cakes were not meant to be eaten in a car!
Ben heard an ad on the radio for Scream Zone, a drive through haunted attraction. California certainly is creative with keeping Halloween going through COVID. We tried to get tickets early in our stay, but the earliest we could get them was for 10/22. They sold completely out rather quickly.
It was quite an experience. It was held at Del Mar Fairgrounds. They had two events going that night: Scream Zone and Mainly Mozart (movie/music event), quite the odd combination! We drove on what looked like a utility road behind the fairground, past campers, storage areas, equipment. It was about 6:45pm, already dark, and it was a little unsettling driving back there.
Driving behind the fairgrounds: it’s almost like the haunted trail has started, but it hasn’t! Sorry for the lack of pictures. Photography and videos were not allowed along the trail.
We drove past a mini fairground food area with the option of funnel cake, gyros, and light up gear. They had a soundtrack you could tune to online while you drove through and had signs when to switch tracks.
Some of you may be wondering why the heck I was there, because although I love Halloween, I hate horror movies and haunted houses. You could customize your experience a little bit. If you wanted more of a scare, roll your windows down. Less of a scare, keep the windows up. I kept mine up the whole time. Ben and Will had theirs down. Nick mostly had his up, although he did try it down a few times. After he about hit his head on the ceiling from jumping after a startle, the window stayed up almost the rest of the drive.
The trail incorporated motorized figures, statues, and real people to create the scenes. The actors all wore masks (face masks/COVID, not just Halloween type masks) as well and were not allowed to touch you (although they did come right up to the window!). When it was your turn to enter the trail, you turned off your headlights and slowly traveled down the road (3mph limit).
At one point, Ben had a clown come towards the car, drop down, somersault, and pop up next to the truck and blow a horn. Everyone jumped on that one.
From my side, the beginning of the trail was a little scarier with more actors coming near you. We got there right when it opened, so maybe not everyone was in place yet? The exit gate was also still shut, so we had to wait a couple of minutes until someone came to open it.
It was a really neat experience for the boys, and I think they did a great job of working within the COVID restrictions to still be able to offer a Halloween event.
There are 7 caves along the La Jolla coast. Most of them are accessible only by water, but Sunny Jim’s Cave can be walked to through The Cave Store.
The history of the Cave Store goes like this: Gustav Schultz, in 1902, hired two men to dig out a tunnel down to the cave. (It took 1.5 – 2 years to finish, depending on the information sources I read.) He then charged admission to walk down and see the cave. The original path did not have lights or stairs. The stairs were added in later. The store claims there is 145 steps; however, Will counted 142 (including the ones beginning at the store level).
The store employees said it is still the original foundation for the store, which is pretty cool! It’s a great hidden spot on the coast, so apparently smugglers also made use of the cave many years ago. There is still a charge for admission ($10/adults, $7/kids ages 3-17). You can also book your time online, as reservations are required due to COVID.
I definitely took the stairs slowly, as they were uneven, some slanted to one side, and some were wet from moisture dripping out of the rocks.
Once we entered the cave area, we saw a large sea lion resting on a rock in the cave. He had a fishing hook in his mouth. The store employees said he frequently comes in to the cave. Video: Walking Down the Tunnel to Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave
If you are in the area, I think it is definitely worth the trip to see it!
San Diego has a lot of quirky locations to visit. We’ve managed to see a few of them this past week.
Mini Taco Bell: This mini Taco Bell is right next the drive thru at one of the restaurants. It is easy to miss as it is under a tree and a little hidden. The back of it looks like a utility box. The boys got a burrito, so they were very happy to get lunch out.
Harper’s Topiary Garden: This is someone’s personal garden on the hill in front of their house. The topiary gardens were crafted from existing plants, so it must have been a lot of work to form the figures.
El Campo Santo Cemetery: The cemetery is located in Old Town, San Diego. The cemetery was partially paved over to make way for a streetcar. Only one grave was moved! The road and sidewalk now cover the grave sites, although there are small medallions to mark the sites.
We explored Liberty Station and Market. We went midweek and it seemed like a lot of the shops were closed, but some of the restaurants open. There was a lot of outdoor seating options, which seemed to be a gathering space for people working on their laptops.
We stopped at Le Parfait. There were so many tempting goodies in the cases. I ended up with a Nutella macchiato and a chocolate almond croissant, which both were really good. I never would have tried a Nutella drink on my own, but the barista recommended it.
Liberty Station used to be a Navy barracks and training center. While walking around, it appeared that not all of the buildings had been renovated and reused yet. There was a lot of open green space which would be great for hanging out and enjoying a book or any goodies you bought from the stores. It looked like it would be a really neat area when everything was open. (When we drove by on the weekend, it looked packed, so maybe more things were open on weekends?)
We woke up early to go to San Diego’s Open Air Fish Market, the Tuna Harbor Fish Market. It is down near the Seaport Village shopping area, past the USS Midway.
It was a very foggy morning. There was a line to get into the market, complete with social distancing marks on the ground. Due to COVID, they were limiting the amount of people on the pier at one time. At one point, the fog was so thick that we couldn’t see the Midway or the tents on the pier. When it cleared a little, we got a glimpse of a seal swimming and sea gulls diving.
We waited in line for about an hour until it was our turn. Out of sheer luck, we picked the right line. Apparently there were two lines: one for crabs/sea urchins/snails and one for fish/crabs/prawns/squid.
We walked the pier first, taking a look at all the booths and fish available. There was a shark, small squid, prawns, and a variety of fish. VIDEO: Tuna Harbor Fish Market (walking the waiting line, walking the pier, buying spot prawns).
We stopped at Hiro Maru Fisheries booth. They had live spot prawns. I have only bought fish from the grocery store where it is already on ice, deveined, beheaded, etc. I told him that I had never dealt with live seafood before and asked for advice. I am smacking myself now because I meant to record it, but I must have hit the photo button instead of video. You will just have to take my word for it that this guy was amazing. He was very patient and explained about the prawns, the different sizes, and best way to prepare them.
These are caught at 900-1000 feet down and have a sweeter taste. The tails are often used in sushi, as well as the eggs. He said even the heads get coated and fried (what?!). I’m not a huge sushi person, so we also got some tips for grilling them. You grill these with the shell on and can split it down the middle to add butter and seasoning.
If you are ever in San Diego and go to the fish market, I would definitely recommend checking out their booth (Hiro Maru). They were very helpful.
On our way out of the market, we also grabbed a swordfish filet from another booth (a favorite of Will’s) and filled the bags with ice (provided by the fish market for free). If you buy a whole fish and do not want to filet it yourself, there is a booth there that will do it for you.
We brought our prawns home and placed them in the fridge (he highly recommended cooking them that night). We ran to the grocery store to pick up a few items to go with dinner (some fries, steak, and seasonings for the prawns and swordfish).
While the kids were at the campground weekend craft event, Ben and I got started on dinner. It was definitely a learning experience. One of the prawns was still moving, so I (being a chicken) put them back in the fridge while I worked on the steak and the seasoned butter.
Ben scooped out the eggs. I put some of the olive oil/butter/seasoning mix in the prawn bag to marinate. I sliced them down the middle and added some more seasoned butter to the inside of the shells. I removed the organs from some of them, and some I left in (you can apparently eat it all). While we were doing some reading on preparation online, we saw people also eat the whole prawn, shell, legs and all. VIDEO: Making whole prawns
We used the outdoor kitchen to grill these to minimize the fish smell that leaves me nauseous. Even though they were outside, I still needed to use Febreeze to get the house back to “normal.” We feasted on fresh surf and turf. Everyone tried the eggs (roe), but no one was brave enough to try the head. I was not a big fan of the eggs, it was like eating the ocean, a little too salty for me. Will said the legs were tasty.
Ben was interested in taking a harbor cruise. We found a great deal on Groupon (half off!) for Hornblower Cruises. We booked an afternoon 90-minute harbor cruise.
The first part of the tour was narrated by the First Mate. He gave lots of interesting information about local sights and history. The second part of the cruise was narrated by the captain, who was retired Navy and gave us lots of interesting information on the Navy ships we passed.
We saw sea lions sunning on piers, sea gulls and double crested cormorant (some species can dive 100 feet into the water!). We also passed the Cabrillo National Monument where the first San Diego lighthouse was located. You can still see it, although it is not in use. They found a better location for a new lighthouse. We also saw a three sided arch (Model Range Arch) that the Navy uses to help know where to put antennas on the ships.
It was sunny and warm, no shade on the decks, but there was a nice breeze, so it made it nice. I would definitely bring a hat and wear sunscreen. The staff was nice and mask wearing was definitely encouraged (required indoors).
