The Korean Bell of Friendship is 12 feet tall, with a diameter of 7 1/2.  It’s made of copper and tin, with other metals added for tonal quality.  A large wooden log is used to ring the bell, only five times a year:

• New Year’s Eve
• January 13 – Korean American Day
• Fourth of July
• August 15 – Korean Liberation Day
• Every September in celebration of Constitution Week

Also, the bell was rung on September 11, 2002, commemorating the first anniversary of 911.

Housed in a pagoda-like stone structure with intricate decorations, the Bell Pavilion has unbelievable views of the Southern California coastline, including Catalina Island.  You have to visit to see for yourself, but it’s hard to find a better view anywhere!

There’s a large park, with a huge grassy area, a basketball court, and public restrooms.  It’s a great place to bring children, fly a kite, have a picnic or just sit and enjoy the view.  And the best part of all is it’s free!  It can get windy, which is great for flying kites, but I’d recommend bringing  a coat with you.

The Korean Bell of Friendship, or the Korean Friendship Bell as it’s sometimes called, is located at:

Korean Bell of Friendship and Bell Pavilion
Angels Gate Park
3601 S Gaffey Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 548-7705

Call ahead to confirm park hours.

I haven’t played volleyball for well over 15 years, but I guess it’s like riding a bicycle (through the sand). It came back pretty quickly, but it’s a workout trying to move in the sand. After a few weeks, I’m finding it much easier to make my way around and almost able to spike the ball now (I feel like I have cement blocks tied to my ankles).

I don’t know if you knew this or not, but volleyball is a fun sport! I forgot how fun it was. Mix that with sun, fresh air and cool breeze, beach, and great people and it doesn’t get much better than that! That combination makes for a truly enjoyable day. Now I understand why I see the same people playing every weekend – it’s addicting!

If you haven’t played beach volleyball, or it’s been a while, I highly recommend getting out there. Because beach volleyball is such a part of the Southern California culture, there’s no shortage of places to play. From Redondo Beach past Santa Monica, pick your beach and you’ll almost certainly find more than enough nets for everyone to play.

Just bring your volleyball, and if you want to get really serious, bring your boundary lines and you’re all set.  If you don’t have anyone to play with, don’t be afraid to ask a group if you can join them.  Or if you’re not comfortable with that, there are groups that you can join that play every week at most of the local beaches.

Meetup.com is a website where people set up groups for all kinds of things, and you can join, post messages, see schedules and “Meet up” with a group to play volleyball.

Some of the active groups (with links to the group page) on Meetup.com are:

• Manhattan Beach – Bump-set-spikers
• Santa Monica – Santa Monica Volleyball Group
• Hunnington Beach – Hunnington beach Volleyball Players
• Long Beach – Long Beach Volleyball Group

And plenty more.  It’s as simple as clicking on the links above, or vising www.meetup.com and looking for a group in your area.  No time like the present to get some fresh air, sunshine, beach and exercise, and it’s a great way to meet people.

The local ABC news has an amazing video on their website that shows these magnificent creatures from their chopper, shot with a high-definition camera.

It’s hard to tell from my photos exactly how huge these whales are, but you’ve got to see the ABC video from the air.

From KABC-TV Los Angeles:

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — A pod of 20 to 30 blue whales was spotted about 3.5 miles off the coast of Redondo Beach on Wednesday afternoon.

Related Photos

Blue whales enjoy sunny day in SoCal

View all 21 photos

Several whale-watching boats and a few paddle-boarders were nearby to enjoy the amazing sight up close. AIR7 HD caught the whales on camera as they enjoyed the clear, sunny day along the Pacific Ocean.

It’s very rare to see blue whales in these waters; some say it’s been 20 to 30 years since they’ve seen a pod of blue whales in the area. The unique experience made the afternoon adventure on the Voyager Excursion a trip of a lifetime for the more than 140 people on board.  (read entire article →)

and this video taken from the Voyager boat:

If you haven’t yet, take this opportunity to make it to Redondo Beach.  You don’t know if this opportunity will come again!

Click here to visit Voyager Cruises →

The endangered Blue Whales, the largest animal on earth, have recently been spotted in record numbers off the coast in the Santa Monica Bay.

Estimates of 25 to 30 whales have been in the area for weeks, and this has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many.  It’s estimated that 2000 Blue Whales, out of a total world population of 10,000, feed off of the California coast.  But never before have this many been seen in the area at the same time.

Blue Whales can grow up to 108 feet in length (33 meters) and weigh 180 metric tons or more.  Their diet consists mainly of Krill (tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans), and experts believe the Blue Whales are in the area because of an unusually large amount of Krill here this year.

The whales blow (the large spray that can be seen when the whales rise to the ocean’s surface for air) can reach around 30 feet high or more (over 10 meters), and many whales blow can be seen from the shore around the Redondo Beach, California area.

If you’re lucky, you can see the whales fluking (like in the video above).  Fluking is when the whale begins to dive deep, and its massive tail comes completely out of the water…quite a display!

Voyager Excursions

After seeing so many whales from shore, we wanted to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and see them close up.  We booked a trip with Voyager Excursions, which operates their 65 foot double decker boat, Voyager, from the International Boardwalk at Redondo Beach Marina in Redondo Beach, California.

The tour is $25.00 for adults, and $15.00 for children under 12.  These appear to be higher prices than they normally charge for whale tours, but also seems like the tours are longer than normal.  Either way, at $25.00 it’s still a deal to be able to experience the Blue Whales up close.

The tour was from 12pm – 3pm, with a small group of very friendly people (most of them seemed to be from the local area) and an excellent crew.  Due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which was enacted to protect endangered animals, the boat would stop the engines at a safe distance from the whales and we’d observe them from a short distance.   Occasionally the whales would swim very close to the boat, allowing an amazing view and putting into perspective just how massive these beautiful creatures are.

Blue Whale getting close to a sailboat

As we floated on the water, Blue Whales were seen in every direction, and countless blow seen not too far.  The whales usually traveled in pairs, but there were many pairs in the area, we estimated we saw 15 to 20 whales close by.

Along with the Magnificent Blue Whales, we saw the local dolphin population, some California Sea Lions hanging around the boat, and a few of the unusual Sunfish, or Mola Mola swimming within feet of the boat.

Simply put, anyone that loves nature, or just wants to  be inspired must take this tour!

If you’ve had a chance to see the whales, or have any questions, please leave your comment below.

Contact Info for Voyager Excursions and more helpful links:

Voyager Excursions – click here to visit Voyager Excursions website
International Boardwalk at Redondo Beach Marina, Redondo Beach, California
(Click here for directions)
310-944-1219

View the Wikipedia page about Blue Whales

View the Marine Mammal Protection Act

Before moving to Southern California, my second family would make the best homemade Pozole ever, and it was always a special occasion and resulted in great get-togethers.  After moving to Southern California, I never found a place that served Pozole.  I’m sure there are places, but I’ve never seen one, and haven’t looked as actively as I should have.

Recently, I was really craving Pozole and began looking for places when, by coincidence, I came across El Baja Chef on the Redondo Pier.  They were closed, but they had a sign outside of their restaurant that said they serve Pozole on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I haven’t spent much time at Redondo Pier until recently, but I was happy to stumble on El Baja Chef and came back the next day to try their Pozole.

El Baja Chef is a small Mexican restaurant on Redondo Pier, overlooking the Marina section (across from the arcade).  We met the owner, Victor, and his daughter, and they were both very cool, friendly people.  There a lot of people there (seemed like regulars) having a great time.  The place has a very friendly vibe to it, and the awesome marina view always makes for a great atmosphere.

There’s a small bar inside, and along the outer wall another small bar, where you can sit inside with a great view of the marina, or sit outside in the sun.  The windows and doors open for a very open atmosphere, with a great view and lots of sunlight.  There’s a couple of booths in the back, some counter high tables, and some regular tables in the middle.  A couple of TV’s always playing the popular sports games, and always great music playing.  Today they were playing Maná.

Homemade Chips and Salsa and Pacifico Beer

We ordered the Pozole, with a couple of Pacifico Beers.  While we waited for the Pozole, we had the traditional chips and salsa.  These were not the tyipical chips and salsa that you get at most Mexican restaurants, but the real homemade chips and salsa that you would experience in Mexico.  These would have been enough!  These chips and salsa are great!  They taste like they were just made, nice and thick, with a great flavor.  Very crunchy and tasty!  Perfect to get us ready for the main event, the Pozole!

And then it came.  It’s been a few years since I’ve had Pazole, and I was ready!  It was just like I remembered, along with all the fixings on the side.  Inside the bowl, the hominy and pork in a somewhat spicy red chile soup.  On the side, cabbage, cilantro, onions, radishes and lime.  After dumping in the fixings and giving it a try, I can only say that you have to come here for a bowl of Pozole!  It was delicious, just like I remembered it.  Just the right amount of spice, the pork and hominy mixed with the fixings and I was in paradise.  Add to this a great environment, with beautiful views, good music and great people and it makes for a special treat.

A beautiful bowl of Pozole

I’ve since been back many times, for Pozole, of course.  But I’ve also tried some of their other dishes, all of which are excellent.  And if you don’t believe me, the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies:

There's a happy girl!

El Baja Chef
102 Internatl Boardwalk
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
1 (310) 376-0838

Blue skies, beautiful beach, the great Pacific Ocean and a nice breeze…the perfect combination for the 2010 Annual Redondo Beach Annual Festival of the Kite and Yo-yo competition.  The Redondo Beach Annual Festival of the Kite, LA’s best and longest-running kite festival, held its 36th annual festival on Sunday, March 15th, 2010 and the conditions were perfect for a large turnout.

The skies were dotted with the colorful kites, and the beach was full of people enjoying the festival, which also included the Yo-yo Jam contest and Craig’s Hot-Dog on a Stick eating contest, along with live music and lots of other activities.  The diverse crow of all ages enjoyed the festivities, as the kite fliers worked hard to keep their kites from getting tangled.

It’s really a nice way to spend the day, and if you didn’t make it this year, mark your calenders for next year’s event.  Who knows, if you practice hard enough, maybe you can take the Hot-Dog on a Stick contest next year!

Redondo Pier
100 Fisherman’s Wharf
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
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