My friend Jana has been trapped in Ohio for almost the whole summer so we never really got to do anything this summer together and we definitely didn�t get to celebrate her birthday (which was back in August). Finally, this Saturday, we had some time to spend together. I put together 3 ideas and let her choose which one she wanted to do but she said she liked them all so left it for me to choose. So�.. here�s what we did.
We met up at a local mall, had some coffee and checked out some kayaks at Sports Chalet (they�re now allowing kayaks on our lake and since I can literally go out in my back yard and hop in a kayak, I�m thinking of checking it out. It�s a very relaxing way to get out of the house and build upper body strength.) . After that, we drove down to Balboa Island.
Now, here in So Cal, there�s a pretty famous beach called Newport Beach, (home of the show The OC), and then within Newport Beach, there are different areas. So there�s Balboa Island and then there�s also Balboa Peninsula, with a bay in between them. So we started out driving on to the island, finding a place to park and having lunch.
Here�s the main street of the island:
And here�s where we had lunch:
We had this nice little booth looking out the (open) window and on to the street. Here are some pictures looking from the inside out and the outside in:
And here�s what I think is a good picture of my friend Jana:
Jana�s favorite color is Orange and she loves Paul Frank, so she had to have a picture taken with this bike:
We walked down to the island boardwalk and just walked along the bay:
Here�s one of the quaint island streets:
Some of the boardwalk and the bay:
Then we took a ferry across the bay to Balboa Peninsula:
We walked along the peninsula and then over to Balboa Beach and down Balboa Pier:
After that, we returned to the Peninsula Boardwalk where they have a �Fun Zone� and walked around there a bit and then took the ferry back across:
Now this building is right on the bay. When I was growing up, my dad�s father and his 2nd wife (as you remember, my grandmother died when I was one), owned a condo in this building. I�d like to say that we had idyllic childhood vacations visiting them at the beach, but that was not so. Long story for another entry, but near as we can tell, my step-grandmother�s blood pressure medication made her a bit unstable and staying with them wasn�t always fun, though I do have SOME fun memories of visiting them there.
Then we got back to Balboa Island and just walked around the island looking at the interesting and unique houses and wishing we were rich enough to live there:
After that, we stopped for some frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and went back home. It was a really nice day. The weather was beautiful, I was glad to be out with such a good friend and it was so relaxing. Plus, we did a lot of walking which is good for both the body and the soul. My soul needed all of the above.
