Santa Monica Pier

After two more days of conference, I decided I needed a break. A local suggesting renting a bike and riding along the shore. I thought this was a good plan.

I headed toward the beach, and found myself next to the Santa Monica Pier. This is a stereotypical fair/tourist trap location, with colorful characters, memorabilia shops, restaurants, and of course an amusement park.

It was a sunny afternoon, so I soaked a bit of the atmosphere on the pier itself.

When I got to the bike rental place, it turned out they close early, and so I had to change my plans. Instead I took my shoes off and went to explore the beach.

Below the Pier there was a forest-like maze of wooden posts that held the structure together. The receding tide exposed mussels and barnacles growing on the base of the columns. The local seagull population used the opportunity to explore various food options.

Walking along the beach, there were large number of seagulls roaming the water line.

Returning to the columns, I discovered several large sea stars hiding among the mussels.

Few local kids collected stars into a large pile. I am not sure if this ecologically correct (although I assume that the fact that these stars survive here means that they are resistant to such exposure). However, it gave me a nice photo oppertunity.

The forest like feeling of the pier structure led to games of light and shadows.