In the spirit of increasing my familiarity with my surroundings, I’ve decided to take advantage of the “Day Trip” feature in the local AAA magazine.
So yesterday my friend A and I set off for Palos Verdes Peninsula. Look at the map, and you’ll probably think “Set off? Why be so dramatic? It’s not far at all.” And you’d be right, except that distance and time bear no relation to one another on Los Angeles freeways.
Magazine in hand, we headed down the 405. Except because neither one of us is all that great at blindly following instructions, we made our first stop in Torrance.
If you like spices, you’ll love Penzey’s. I’ve ordered from their website any number of times, but I’ve never been to one of their stores. It turns out that one of the advantages of going to the brick-and-mortar location is the sample jars. Now I know what whole allspice looks like–and, based on a sniff test, I’ve decided that next time I order cinnamon, I’ll get the Vietnamese Cassia instead of the (really quite good) Chinese Cassia I have at the moment.
Having smelled and purchased spices, food was on our minds. We had lunch at The Original Red Onion, a chain which I had not realized specializes in Mexican food (although if you really want a corned beef sandwich, you can get one there). I was glad to see that they offer dishes with ground beef, but I ordered the chile verde enchilada, which comes with pork, and was very tasty. A ordered and failed to finish what may have been the world’s largest burrito.
From there, we headed to the peninsula itself. A and her husband were married at the Wayfarers Chapel there, on the southern side of Palos Verdes. The chapel and the views are striking, and it’s not hard to see why it’s such a popular location.
Next up was the Malaga Cove Public Library, a Spanish-style building that was closed for the July Fourth holiday. However, we were able to see the small park and large fountain immediately adjacent; it looked like a nice spot to spend some time.
With plans for a group viewing of “Public Enemies,” it was time to leave the cool, misty peninsula and head north into the (sweltering) San Fernando Valley. It was a really nice day, and I think we’ll probably try to do more of the AAA-sanctioned day trips, although I’m reasonably sure that we’ll wind up customizing those, as well.
And maybe I’ll even come up with a Sandwich-based nickname for A.