It’s already been 3 weeks ago that I was on the beach at Crystal Cove having brunch with my sister. I still need to share the photos of the lovely beach and the history of the state park where this restaurant is located…right on the beach. The food was very good!
I took this photo just out front of the restaurant. After you are shuttled across the highway (for $1.50) from the parking lot to the beach side of PCH (Pacific Coast Hiway) which costs $15.00 to park, you can put your name in at the restaurant and they give you a buzzer to let you know when they can seat you. This is a very popular place to enjoy a meal so the wait can be long. In the meantime you can explore the beach and walk along the sand until you are buzzed. If you eat at the restaurant you can show your paid receipt and your parking is free for up to 3 hours. There is a tunnel that goes under PCH if you’d like to walk to the beach side of PCH and get to the beach and restaurant on foot instead of the shuttle. On this day we took the shuttle across because the tunnel was closed due to the heavy rains and runoff that was flooding the tunnel. When we were done with brunch and exploring and ready to go back to the parking lot the tunnel was open with cautions of some running water. We chose to walk the tunnel back. Crystal Cove is a California State Park.
The tunnel was decorated with several murals that were painted by boy scout troops and others. There are hiking trails where you can come across these plants pictured in the mural above.
These two were my favorites. “Protect what you see and what you Don’t see” and the lower one that showed Splash Zone, High Tide, Mid Tide, Low Tide and Sub Tidal.
Linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.
Also linking up to Monday Mural with Oakland Daily Photo.
Now to the present…Dear and I did some walking on Friday and Saturday morning. We walked a river trail and then at a nearby park on a bay. We hope to make it a habit to walk more. Sunday evening we are having Josh and Laura over for an early Valentine’s Day meal. Dear and I have been cooking for a couple days now trying to recreate Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. I hope I remember to take some photos of the finished product. Hope you all had a nice weekend. The sun is shining nicely here right now!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
That’s a CA state park we haven’t been to ! Sigh. So many beautiful places …. love the way you made those collages of the murals and art work — very nice.
Wow, I remember the Bouef Bourguinon story in the Julie and Julia book. You two are brave cooks as well as intrepid walkers!
Really? Four weeks already? Now that puts this passing time thing into perspective…I would have said ten days ago. Hope that your very special meal turned out beautifully.
Oh dear Vee, I went back and counted better. It has been 3 weeks not 4. Yikes.
…I try to keep putting one foot in front of the other everyday!
Good to see these murals. Looks like they had fun doing them.
A mural where you can learn something from. Nice.
Wow, the food looks delicious and such a pretty view of the ocean. I hope your Valentine meal was superb!
I have great memories of time spent vacationing by the Pacific ocean, it’s a view I could look at for hours. The murals in the tunnel are super, the boy scouts did a great job with them.
Happy Mosaic Monday!
Happy Monday
much love…
Cute mural. I specially like the underwater painting. 🙂
Sigh! Love that ocean view from the restaurant !
The murals were a nice find!
Have a great week, & Valentines Day!
It looks like a lovely place to visit, Ellen. Thank you for sharing the pictures with us.
Please don’t forget to take the pictures from your Valentine’s dinner. It sounds like it is going to be a lovely time.
We love visiting the State Parks and this one sounds like fun. I like that you can eat there and be able to park for so long. It’s hard to find parking in so many places…here in Florida too on the Gulf Coast. Love those murals! Hugs, Diane
Instructional themes made by kids probably does more to draw them into the environment and the arts than just about any other experience. Nicely done. Thanks for contributing to this week’s Monday Mural.
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