Three Days in the LBC & Then the Fourth

The day after our Scripps Ranch debut, I loaded up my beach cruiser to the back of the Ford Escape & headed north.  Kate wanted to stay home for the holiday weekend, but I used the extra days to go visit my old pal, Chase, from Lincoln College.  We were off until the OB market on Wednesday so I took some time to enjoy some coastal bike paths around Doheny State Beach & San Clemente Pier.  

I reached Belmont Shores & Chase's one bedroom apartment in the early afternoon.  We took some time to catch up over drinks before we rode bikes over to some pirate festival on Long Beach harbor.  

One thing hadn't changed in the last five years since I'd been back up there- Chase was still into festivals, in any capacity.  And, there were plenty of wenches, scaliwags & rum drinks to go around. 

"The people watching alone makes it worth the price of admission," he said. "And this one is free."

We ran into one of his buddies down there & decided to go out to Ballast Point.  "It wouldn't be a true pirate party without taking a boat ride," he said.

Once again I found myself at a brewery tasting room.  I was really starting to get their appeal, though.  This Ballast Point location was near the end of a jetty, facing the Queen Mary out in the harbor.  They had food there, but it was from their own kitchen, in house.

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The next day he took me to a great breakfast joint inside of an old house called The Attic.  The place was super cool & the bloody mary's we're top notch.  Later, we rode our bikes to the beach.  

"Lube up before you ship out," we always liked to say back in school.   It's a good thing we did, because we spent most of the afternoon there, catching up.

"I got a girl, now," he told me.  "We've been dating for a little while."

"Nice, where did you meet her?" I asked.

"Right around the corner from my place.  She works right there."

The last time I came up to visit I had just started dating Kate & also found her in my neighborhood.  I got to meet Lynn later when we all went to watch the July "3rd" fireworks that night.  They took me to their favorite burger place & we spent the rest of the night drinking until we ran out of stuff to drink- just like back at Lincoln.

It was a great catching up with my old friend.  If you ever have the opportunity to do so, take it.  You can always make time, even when you think you don't have enough of it.  And, don't worry, your work will always be there when you get back.

It felt like neither of us had changed in the last 15 years but somehow we were different, just a little more grown up, I guess.  

I thought about that a lot the next day, while I hiked around & through the waves at Crystal Cove State Beach on the 4th of July.  I was all alone out there amongst the big crowds of tourists at the beach, but knew I was on the right path.  

The last 5 years had been quite a hike for Kate & I & Mad Munch, but I knew we still a lot farther to go to reach the summit.  You gotta take it one step at a time.