Things To Do In...Los Angeles

Why, Santa Monica Beach & Pier of course...

if you leave Chicago on Route 66 and keep driving, until you can't drive anymore...

you end up HERE.  So as you can imagine, there are all kinds that wind up visiting.

Overall, the pier was fun.  It has a cool atmosphere, and lots to see.

It was a little dirty, compared to some of the other beaches and areas we have visited however.

We ran along the ocean, watched the waves, walked the pier and had lunch at Bubba Gump's!

santa monica beach

see the surfer swimming out?

serious waves!

I made a new friend!

this man just takes donations and lets people pose with the birds

lots of homeless people...made me wonder what their stories were...

this is husband's "bubba gump" face

So I would like to talk about Bubba Gump's for a minute.....  husband and I have eaten at the same restaurant on Navy Pier in Chicago and it was pretty good.  We had the chowder at that time and it was delicious, although it was $8 dollars for a small bowl. Our experience at this Bubba Gump's wasn't that great.  It was 3pm on a Thursday afternoon and not that busy.  The servers seemed more interested in making jokes with each other and being smart-alecs than actually providing great service.  We ordered the all American 1/2 pound burger with cheese making it about 12 dollars.  It came with fries that were pretty cold and the server didn't come back around to refill our waters once.  In fact, he seemed pretty irritated we were splitting a burger and not ordering separately. We just needed a snack and thought we would give our business to a place we had enjoyed before but were sorely disappointed.  We will never return to this Bubba Gump, and I highly doubt if we ever return to another one period.  The food seems t be way overpriced for what you actually get.  Add to it the shotty service and we are done.  Overall, we rate this restaurant a 2/10.  

Over & Out,

A