Long Beach: downtown

These photos are from downtown Long Beach during our weekly field trip. We were waiting to cross the street. I don't know what the building is, but there were several others from a similar era and style in the vicinity. I like seeing a city that has preserved its old buildings, even if the interiors were gutted to bring them up to code and it's just the outside that looks neat. By the way, you can kind of tell what part of Long Beach you are in by the streetlights. Just a few blocks away, the lampposts are old-fashioned and painted bright blue and yellow, like a circus.

This photo below is of the Pike area. I thought the contrast from the park in San Pedro was worth highlighting--palms, broad streets, little shade. We were there in the late afternoon and it was quite cool; i'm not sure i'd enjoy the area during a hot summer day. On the other hand, to the right are restaurants mostly patronized for dinner, and on the left, a multi-use shopping area mostly used at night, so maybe shade isn't such a concern as a feeling of visibility and openness that large old trees would obscure. There are interesting issues involved in re-development...some people miss the rough character of old Long Beach. Other people love the liveliness (and the moolah doesn't hurt). The condos are affordable...for a certain income bracket. Hmmm. Tricky questions without easy answers. At least parking was (relatively) cheap for a downtown area.

My apologies to my classmates: I used to avoid having people in my photos but now i am always snapping them in for scale. This sidewalk was huge! because it doubles as a bike path.

A park in San Pedro

Our weekly field trip was supposed to be to San Diego, but due to the fires, that was postponed until November. Instead, we went to the Los Angeles Harbor area (and could have spent several more hours there--we didn't get to the berths or docks.)

These photos are from a park at the very end of Gaffey Street in San Pedro. It's a relatively old park, designed on the passive recreation model (strolling, picnicking, concerts). The more recent park model is active: soccer & baseball fields, basketball courts, things like that. I kind of liked this old park--it's around an old lighthouse and perched on cliffs. The ocean didn't smell so good as it is one of the most polluted bits of ocean in the US. Sad. The view was decent considering the air was filled with smoke from the recent fires--i bet it's breathtaking in scope on a clear day. The photo below is of the restrooms: very discreetly hidden, no?

This huge old tree is representative of many others planted around the edges of the park. It's a kind of magnolia--grandiflora? Not sure. The man with the hat is 6 feet tall, to give you an idea of the scale.

Up the hill from here is an old gun turret base left-over from WWII. Up the hill from that is an enormous bell: the Korean Friendship Bell. I didn't take any photos of it because i was in the wrong place (my class was meeting at the lighthouse) but i'm going to go back sometime to hear it rung!

Now i have been to Arizona

It is hot, dry, and incredibly lovely.

This is the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona. I have a major assignment to investigate the design and history of the chapel, after which i hope i will have a greater appreciation for it and not mental exhaustion. ;-) A few more photos to come, after i download them from my (new very exciting yay!) camera.