Short Term Memories on 420 Day

Yesterday I remembered to pay a past due bill that the bank didn't forget. No rain this morning but the afternoon wind has been coming over the hill the last couple of days making it cooler  The dogs were ready to go early as usually is the case each day. The Telly was on for a few minutes as I got dressed as I listened to the latest freeway reports, shootings, missing hikers or teenagers, but maybe that was yesterday, I can remember.

San Pedro Homeless

Unless you have lived on a boat that is part of the changing ocean your morning starting place at home doesn't usually move. Mine goes up and down with the tide. That change is slow here and we feel no currents ebb or flow but the walk up the gangway can get steep at times. The first things we see this morning are some seagulls, cormorants flying, a few terns and the usual blue heron 

Next to old city hall

The German Shepherd loves to chase feral cats and thanks to several divers (boat cleaners) and a wacky lady that feed these things we try to walk around the stray cats. The dogs warm up with a simple mile walk then I get my camera and we head out again no knowing what we will find. The area around the San Pedro Main Post Office is usually a tent city of homeless and is quite depressing but this morning after going through 22nd Street Park without seeing a homeless sleeping there or a wacked out person we encountered our first person sleeping under a tree on Gulch Street (real name ).

When we got close to the main Post Office we found several shopping cart travelers sitting on park benches but only a few tents or folks living in cars. There has been a major face lift in the area with major street changes and the tearing down of parts of Ports of Call. Traffic on Harbor Blvd. is now rerouted and every time we walk over there something else has been removed.

Fire Boat, Tugs and Iowa

We walked by Vinegar Hill then down to the Old City Hall and I was quite surprised not to see a dozen homeless camping by the old drinking fountain. I stopped to read the plaque about "Bloody Thursday" and went down to see if my battleship was still a float. 

Yes it is still there.

San Pedro has a nice skyline but few take the time to enjoy it.

The flag on old city hall is at half mast for Mrs. Bush. 

After stopping by the fire boat building the dynamic duo and I headed back passing the restaurant Acapulco being torn down.

Post Office Overlooking Harbor

Ports of Call had been dying for years but no one was willing to shoot it. When we lived in Huntington Beach many moons ago I took the family up to Ports of Call and it was new and really nice. 

Swallow

Today I did not see the twin Brigs that the Youth sailing use docked here. Not sure where they went. Several Harbor Cruise Boats have moved from Ports of Call and three are at Cabrillo Way Marina.

In Flight

The Red Car Line that used to run the street cars on the weekend here has stopped while the streets are changed but there still is a Free Bus Trolley that goes from Downtown  Pedro to Cabrillo Beach on the weekends.

Our walk passes the old fishing harbor and we then cross over the railroad tracks and up the little hill past the baseball park where there is a nice grass area across from Crafters. Lots of swallows fly there skipping inches away from the grass in flight.