Andrea Fletcher
Professor Lisa McBride
English 121
2 October 2017
Santa Monica Pier: The End of Route 66
The California coastline is full of many beautiful beaches and breathtaking views. One of these places is the Santa Monica Pier, which is one of the oldest piers in California and has a rich history of change and resilience in spite of many challenges to its survival. If you arrive early in the morning before tourists swarm the amusement park side of the pier, the charm and nostalgia of the wooden pier transport you to a different kind of life, where nothing feels more important than the creak of the wooden planks beneath your feet, the fresh salty air, and the ocean that stretches out endlessly in front of you. Santa Monica
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I was newly on my own after moving out of my parents’ house and had just ended a harmful relationship with an aspiring boxer whose career had brought us to Las Vegas, Nevada. The logical thing to do would have been to immediately return to my hometown of Wichita, Kansas, and surround myself with loved ones, but being the rebellious and dramatic young adult that I was, I decided to do the opposite and try to stay on my own. I began to look for a job and a place to stay besides the extended stay hotel I was at, and in that process I met someone new. The man I met was very generous and sweet and after casually mentioning that I had never seen the ocean, he surprised me with a weekend trip to Santa Monica, which was only about 4 hours away. I was ecstatic. The happiness I felt when I first stepped on the sand washed over me and I couldn’t stop smiling as I walked into the surf. I stood there for at least thirty minutes, feeling the current pull the sand out from under my feet, lost in the vastness of the ocean. My date had to practically drag me out of the water to see the amusement park. I rode on the roller coaster several times, which was an amazing experience, but the Ferris Wheel was surreal, as I dangled up high over the ocean. I wandered through the rides, but all I really wanted to do was go back to the shoreline and bask in the sun and
The whole island is in the shape of a giant square with white sandy beaches full of people sunbathing, swimming and fishing right on the shoreline. From the end of the hot pavement parking lot to shore of the beach is an ocean of soft white sand. The pearlescent white sand seems to know how to invade every nook and cranny almost as if it enjoys it. Walking around the beach on the fluffy whiteness surrounding the parking lot, the seagulls are fighting over scraps of food on the ground. “Sandy beach ecosystems provide invaluable services to humankind. Their functions have been exploited through history, with significant anthropogenic effects (Lucrezi, 2015)”. This white sandy beach is a beautiful refuge from the mundane grind of everyday life. The smell of the misty ocean air mixed with the sound of seagulls hovering above and kids playing is a tonic for the mind. The feel of the sand between their toes and the waves crashing over them as people swim in the water, or the jerk of a fishing pole when someone is catching a fish makes Fred Howard Park one of the best places to relax. Standing on the beach looking out on the water, people are kayaking and windsurfing. The lifeguards watching vigilantly in their bright red shirt and shorts, blowing their whistles when they see someone being unsafe. After a long day of swimming and laying around visitors head back over the soft white sand to the showers, in order to rinse off the menacing sand that clings to everything like a bad habit. Everyone rushes over the hot pavement burning their feet to reach their cars so they can put away their beach paraphernalia which is still covered in the white sand, nearly impossible to completely leave behind, so when they get home it serves as a reminder of where they were that
Moving to a new community is exciting, especially one that’s as vibrant as Costa Mesa. Its Spanish name reflects its geographical feature, literally a coastal tableland that affords views of the Pacific Ocean, just one mile from its southernmost border. It is an ideal location with easy access to nearby Irvine and Anaheim, and only 37 miles for Los Angeles and less than 90 miles to San Diego – great for commuting to employment centers, shopping, entertainment, recreation and cultural attractions. Costa Mesa’s proximity to the Santa Ana River made it historically important to earlier settlers and cattle ranchers. Today, that same advantageous location makes Costa Mesa a major player in Orange County, attracting businesses and visitors. It is celebrated as “The City of the Arts,” the capitol of the actions sports industry, and home of Orange County’s top 20 revenue-generating retail centers.
I live in the city of Huntington Beach, a city where the waves and beaches are famous and known all around the world for it 's surfing and one of the best places to be able to take your four legged babes to run and romp around in the sand and waves. A place that can seem like a piece of heaven to those that like to surf. But did you know that Huntington Beach has a dark side to it, one that many of it 's citizens do not like to talk about or don 't know about.
I smiled to myself and decided that I would go join in. With that, I took a huge deep breath and jumped into the salty water. The water was cool and refreshing; I felt it slide through my hair making it sway in the water. I swam deeper and deeper into the deep blue water. Sunlight streamed through it, lighting up the water around me turning it to gold. I kicked harder and I felt my muscles surge with strength and I pushed further. My lunges began to burn for the need of oxygen, but I refused to go up. I repeatedly told myself just a little bit longer. Until I was unable to proceed anymore without more air in my lungs, I swam to the top of the water taking a huge breaths, filling my lungs with air. I could then taste the salty water as it ran down my face and dripped over my lips. Just then I thought, I will never forget this moment, this place, or the experiences I felt while visiting
Boasting its diversity, the United States is home to several ethnic backgrounds, making it the “melting pot” it was known for. Among those many cultures, the United States has regions that have developed a culture of its own: conservatives who live in the South, religious folk residing in the country, surfers who live near the beaches, and what not. One destination in particular that seemingly projected appreciation towards many individuals is Belmont Shore of Long Beach, California. Located along the west coast, Belmont shore is a location that attracts those from the streets of Los Angeles to those of the harbors of Newport in Orange County. With the establishment of this historic setting, Belmont Shore continues to maintain a unique cultural
I never predicted this beautiful trip ending up as a nightmare in my existence. I drove for approximately 40 minutes and my partner shared the driving for an additional 40 minutes. We were driving my friend mom’s brand new Toyota Camry XLE; one of the most comfortable cars I had ever been in. We enjoyed the elongated ride with new hit music, and air conditioning set to an exact temperature that met our necessities. On the way to the beach some doubts about going there started to circle around our minds, but the fact that we were about half way there made them a...
The San Pedro Bay breakwater began construction in 1899. This was to facilitate the building of the Port of Los Angeles. It served well as a breakwater for both ports.
One day while we were on vacation my dad decides to do a group activity and rent ocean canoes from a type of surf shop just a couple miles away. My dad and mom, my brothers and sister, one of my brothers family with his wife and two kids and me. we all pack up and drive to the beach. A street later we arrive. the tide was high and unusual so it swooped around the side and pooled into a makeshift pond that it made in the middle of the beach head. So to try them out and get a feel for it we all paddles around this tiny makeshift pond for about an hour. After we were done with it we decided to take one out for a spin. My brother with the family and the third oldest went first. An hour passed by and they came back. Then it was my father and mine’s turn. We start heading out for the great open blue. about a half mile out my dad spots some big waves and makes the statement that we were going to go into them and have some fun. In about 15 minutes or so we met the waves, but there was a problem. The waves were A LOT BIGGER than what he thought. What he thought t...
People who thinks of Thornton Wilder primarily in terms of his classic novella “Our Town,” The Bridge of San Luis Rey will seem like quite a switch. For one thing, he has switched countries; instead of middle America, he deals here with Peru. He has switched eras, moving from the twentieth century back to the eighteenth. He has also dealt with a much broader society than he did in “Our Town,” representing the lower classes and the aristocracy with equal ease. But despite these differences, his theme is much the same; life is short, our expectations can be snuffed out with the snap of a finger, and in the end all that remains of us is those we have loved.
Semaphore Beach is affected by many factors such as natural processes and human impacts including marine litter and the discharge of stormwater. Therefore, several plans have been employed to ensure that the coast is supported through the method of counteracting erosion. However in the future, many management strategies have been put into consideration as well as the environmental, economic and social impacts as well as the predicted consequences. These impacts include traffic related incidents, noises and air pollution and the disruption of wildlife and the erosion of dunes. A method that should be considered for future management of the beach is the use of a concave sea wall, although efficient, this structure would be quite costly. Without the use of coastal management, Semaphore Beach would be unsupported, therefore negatively being affected by a variety of
The smell of the restaurants faded and the new, refreshing aroma of the sea salt in the air took over. The sun’s warmth on my skin and the constant breeze was a familiar feeling that I loved every single time we came to the beach. I remember the first time we came to the beach. I was only nine years old. The white sand amazed me because it looked like a wavy blanket of snow, but was misleading because it was scorching hot. The water shone green like an emerald, it was content. By this I mean that the waves were weak enough to stand through as they rushed over me. There was no sense of fear of being drug out to sea like a shipwrecked sailor. Knowing all this now I knew exactly how to approach the beach. Wear my sandals as long as I could and lay spread out my towel without hesitation. Then I’d jump in the water to coat myself in a moist protective layer before returning to my now slightly less hot towel. In the water it was a completely different world. While trying to avoid the occasional passing jellyfish, it was an experience of
One of the best aspects of the city dock is the amount of activity that can almost always be found if you know where to look. Every year the Great Dock Canoe Race – an event in which teams of two people race a canoe across the bay - is held at the dock, and you’re guaranteed to find many teams racing their canoes in the bay. Hundreds of people crowd the dock to watch and then move next door to the Dock restaurant to celebrate with the winning team. Right off the dock is a tiny stretch of restaurants and quaint shops, and then of course there are the boats. Of the dozens of boats - from sailboats to houseboats to leisure ships, from red to white to yellow - that are anchored at the city dock, you’re sure to strike up a conversation with one of the friendly people who live here, and it’s a great place for casual parties with friends. On the last Fourth of July, my friends and I gathered on the top deck of my father’s houseboat to watch the fireworks display that lit the sky. It offered an amazing vantage point from which we could see across town.
We walked around San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico a little. Then we went to the ferry that was taking us where to Culebra. It was about 1pm by now. The ferry ride was about an hour and a half long ride. It was raining a little so we couldn’t sit outside of the boat and see the view. I ended up falling asleep for about half the ride. When we finally got to Culebra, we were so happy. It wasn’t raining anymore, the sun was out, and it was beautiful. At the time we didn’t have car so we were kinda stuck there. After a half hour of calling places to see if they had any cars for rental we finally found a place. We rented two big black jeeps for the next 10 days. When we got the cars and we could drive them around, we drove up the mountain to the house we were staying at for the
Ever since Sunset Beach has been officially opened to the public, there has been a drastic increase of tourists present. Television programs concluded that at least a thousand people visit the beach everyday. Reasons for their stay are that they feel comfortable with the environment that surrounds the beach front, people who are at the beach are joyous and numerous activities to enjoy, and the fresh scent of the sparkly waters, make the visitors feel calm and pleasurable. So I decided to take a trip there.
As we pulled out of my parents driveway, the circumstances seemed very surreal. My entire way of life had been turned upside down with only a few hours consideration. I was very much “at sea” in the ...