Newport Beach II: Beach Memories

Dave and I continued our quest, on March 18, 2022, to understand why Newport Beach holds a special place in our children's hearts.
 

We did initiatory ordinances at the Newport Beach Temple at 7 a.m., and then an endowment session at 8:30.  The temple is small—only one ordinance room—but very beautiful.  It is Spanish Colonial style, surrounded by a large garden.   We remembered seeing a photo of Camille's family, when the children were young, taken at this beautiful temple. 

The statue of Moroni on the temple marked this as an LDS spiritual outpost within the materialism of California.  Actually, California is one of the states with the highest numbers of LDS residents, after such obvious states as Utah and Idaho.  Some 600,000 LDS people live in California.

Camille sent me a list of places to visit and dine in Newport Beach, and we have been checking off that list.  Since Camille is in Europe, we have also called Emilie to gain insights for this trip.  After leaving the temple, I followed David’s lead in walking four miles, from the Newport Beach Pier to the Balboa Pier and back.  I was huffing and puffing, but four or five miles is the length of Dave’s everyday jaunt.  

We paused to watch the surfers from the pier.  Emilie told us that one of her special memories is getting up early in the morning in Newport, going to the beach with her dad, and then having breakfast together.

There were whole families fishing from the pier.

We ate lunch at Ruby’s, at the end of the Balboa Pier, looking out into the ocean.  

I ordered a “premium” hamburger which, the menu disclosed, contained 1000 calories.  It had all sorts of goodies on it—blue cheese, bacon, avocado.  I ignored my better angels and also ordered a chocolate/cherry shake.  Dave texted Emilie a photo of me eating my burger.  She told me, over the phone, that Newport Beach holds a special place in her heart.  “When I was little, I came every year, alternating between my Ebert relatives and my parents good friends.”  Emilie suggested adding an acai bowl at Banzai Bowls to our Newport Beach experience, but Dave and I were simply too stuffed.

Emilie confirmed the name of the condos where the Eberts stay in Newport Beach—Marriott Newport Coast Villas.  Dave and I stopped by, and admired the lush, elegant development.  It is a far cry from the beat up condos we reserved for our family reunion six years ago in Ocean Shores, Washington!  The springs were broken in the hide-a-bed that Michael slept on, and there was no elevator in the three story condos.   After that experience, our children insisted on fancier lodgings, and agreed to help pay!

Dave and I then drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to Laguna Beach, to admire the cliffs with blue sea below, and the many art galleries.

When we sized up the parking problems in Laguna Beach, we decided to save those art galleries for another day!  We called Jonny to ask what else we should see.  “You’ve done the usual itinerary,” he assured us.

The delights of a trip are never done till you re-open your own front door.  As we walked through LAX to catch our flight to SLC, we passed this woman with her little dog.  The dog wore a sign that said "Pet Me!"  The woman said that she was part of an organization that volunteers in America's major airports, walking their dogs through the corridors and stopping to let children and adults pet them.  "It lowers stress," she said.  I gave that sweet pup a pat, and I did feel my stress level go down!