Venice beach CA. buzzing through the Walk Streets.

Apart from the exotic locals, there's a wealth of pampered gardens and still one or two of the non-cherried out, original shanty beach homes from the 20's and earlier.

Aquatic Park - a little bit of Zihuatanejo in San Francisco

Amazing it's taken me so long to do a photo dump of my favorite place - I simple can't overstate how much pleasure I've found in this little gem of a venue. There's something so solid and personal about the place and I feel some kind of ownership nowadays.

The personalities and stories of the regulars, built up over years are vibrant, the seals and sea lions are even in on the act but that's for another time.

I think we were sitting right about here

Our 3 week trip to Mexico. DF. Puebla. Oaxaca. Puerto Escondido.
Stage 1- distrito federal, zocalo, thunderstorms, organistas and chicken soup in Sanborns.
Contrast that to the barely attended Museo Antropologia in the Reforma which is so sprawling and spaced out.

Chile Chicken Relleno with creamy almond nut sauce and pomegranate

Puerto Escondido
Puerto Angel

Island Bait Shop and Beach Ball

Alas all gone since 1980? along with Muffin the Mule and other sultry enticements

Who wouldn't be teased into casting your luck to the waves with treasures like this to be hauled up. This photo from Ryde Pier head was taken decades after the glory days: 1950, my closest venue for boyhood fun and adventure, with miles of beach combing options running East and West as far as the eye could see, and in those days we had good eyes.

Matson Lines Aloha Hawaii menu 1948

This image alone would probably suck me into a cruise despite my abhorrence of the very idea. Some awesome babes laying leis on the guys from another island. Whatever, but I've hung onto this thing for years - and still like it.

In 1940, Eugene Savage completed, nine 8'x 4' murals for the Matson Shipping Lines. They were not used until1 1948 - after the war - when nine-color lithographed menu covers based on these designs appeared on the company’s flagship LURLINE.