October 16, 2015 - Today brought us back to the ocean for lunch and an adventure. The adventure was to see the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. The historic Frank Gehry-designed aquarium displays the largest collection of Southern California marine life in the world.
The aquarium, owned by the city of Los Angeles, is an educational, recreational and research facility. Of course the highlight for children and young adults is the "Touch Tank" tidepool.
The educational exhibits are interspersed with the animal exhibits.
For Judy and I, the best features were the marine animal exhibits, mostly seen in habitats duplicating their homes on the California coast.
The aquarium is part of the Cabrillo Beach Coastal Park, which is probably the prettiest section of San Pedro that we've seen. There are walking trails to tidepools, two beaches and a saltmarsh here and it's a simply beautiful setting.
Before the aquarium, we stopped for lunch at the La Strada in Long Beach. We discovered that for 22 days in October, they're having a $22.00 promotion, which includes an adult beverage and a three course meal. We both had Peroni beers for our beverage and a large bowl of lobster bisque for our appetizer. My entrée was their Eggplant Parmesan and Judy had their Fettuccine au Gratin, with chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce, covered with Mozzarella cheese. For dessert, we shared a tiramisu and a big scoop of salted caramel gelato, which was unbelievably good. It was a great adventure!