Last month, I made a week-long jaunt out to Los Angeles for some friend time plus a little wedding action. Between hikes and hipster bars, I met up with a work-conference-friend turned real friend for a seafood bucket lunch in Orange County's Newport Beach. The last time I was in LA, my buddy slogged out to his company's downtown office to meet me for a kickass steak and gin lunch that took up most of his afternoon. This time, I figured the least I could do was trek out to meet him closer to his OC digs—even though it meant 50+ miles in LA traffic.
The company was good, the seafood was tasty, and the post-lunch views from atop (and underneath) Newport's pier were surprisingly lovely. The sublime wash of sea over sand and the roll of the fading fog was even worth the five-highway crawl back to Eagle Rock in rush hour traffic.
Not a bad view for January.