Lunch By The Sea

Above, part of our lunch with the Pacific Ocean in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Denise Santos and I managed to head over to Pacific Palisades for lunch at Gladstone's 4 Fish (located on Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset Blvd.).

There, we had oysters, crab cakes, cerviche, spicy shrimp and other delicacies. We had a nice outside window table which provided a view of Santa Monica Bay and the surrounding beach.

From Gladstone's we headed over to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Denise had never been there before, so I decided to show it to her. While there, we stopped in a Coffee Bean coffee shop for some coffee as we were both "suffering" from food comas from Gladstone's.

In one shop, a life-sized statue of Superman stood in a window (below, right). It was nice to see a Superman that actually looked like Superman, not the abomination that DC Comics is currently passing off.

We passed by the Cineplex Odeon where, eleven years ago, several of us Godzilla fans attended the last American Film Market screening of Godzilla x Mothra x MechaGodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (courtesy of Toho Co., Ltd.). The theater looked a little run down to me. It is hard to believe that it has been eleven years since we last gathered in Santa Monica for an American Film Market screening.

While we were walking around, a nut-job was screaming and cussing at the top of his lungs, annoying people. I supposed it is to be expected, after all, we were in Santa Monica.Another stop was at Brookstone's where we checked out the latest gadgetry they had to offer. Denise tried out a massage lounge chair while I browsed around the store.

We were thinking about going to a movie when we got back to the Valley, but it was cutting too close (time-wise) as Denise had her evening baseball league game to play in.

We headed back to the Valley via Topanga Canyon (known to us as "the scenic route") as the San Diego Freeway (I-405) would be a mess with rush-hour traffic.

Above, Denise in the massage chair at Brookstone's. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

All in all, it was a pleasant excursion for a few hours.