Beaches We Have Visited & Explored

I have seen and visited many beaches all over the United States and Croatia, and I wish to share a few of them with you.

Doran Beach, Bodega Bay, CA

Pensacola Beach, FL

Florida is home to Pensacola Beach, which is a thriving little beach town along the Gulf of Mexico. When I visited Pensacola beach, I swam in the enclosed area, which has banks on each side and an entrance to the ocean on one end. I fully enjoyed the swimming. The sandy shores of the Gulf are the kind of beaches that I prefer, over beaches with rocks for the surface or the cold waters of the Pacific or Atlantic.

For those who want to go to Pensacola Beach, it is located south of Interstate 10, just over the Pensacola Bay, on highways 98 and 399. There are a wide variety of restaurants and surf shops to fit your needs, and a few beach resorts are there as well. The town also has multiple beaches, both located on Pensacola Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. This town is quiet and relaxing, and it is great for those who want a beautiful view, while not being disturbed - well, at least when it's not Spring Break!

Bodega Bay is home to Doran Regional Park, which has a beach, a campground, a Coast Guard station, and the duck club restaurant. There are tons of beaches on the coast line heading north from Bodega Bay, and Highway 1. This highway twists and turns through the towns along the California coast, eventually merging back into highway 101 at Legget. There are a ton of little shops with all kinds of things to see and to buy.  They are all conveniently located along Highway 1, so you can shop for whatever it is that fits your taste. One thing that I remember about Bodega Bay is the sailboat that was left in the mud for years, and it was just a normal sight to see. Sadly, when I returned to Bodega Bay a few years later, it was gone - erased from history. The Tides Wharf Restaurant & Bar, which is located in Bodega Bay, is one of my favorite restaurants. The food there is absolutely great, the employees are friendly, and the views from the restaurant's windows are awesome. I would rate this place an 8 out of 10 on my dining chart, I really enjoy seeing the crabs and lobsters moving around in the fish tank right where you walk in the door, and the souvenir shop right outside it as well.

Split is home to multiple beaches strewn along the coastline, having the Mediterranean look to them, beaches here are rocky, unlike beaches back in the United States. Znjan Beach is nearby, having the rocky surface, and a trampoline center for the kids, and a skate park for the older kids who just want to have a little bit of fun. I don't mind rocky beaches here in Split, but I prefer the sandy beaches back home in America, where I can walk without worrying if my feet will ache after I walk on rocks!

                                                  -Emilio Galo

Driving From Phoenix, Arizona to Santa Monica, California

Back In California!

      We have officially arrived in California. We took I-10 from Phoenix, Arizona all all the way to Santa Monica, California.  First, we made it in five hours to L.A and then we drove west to Santa Monica.  When we arrived in Santa Monica, we saw that the state park we were planning to go to was closed so we had to find another place to car camp.

 

       Santa Monica is a beach community, consisting of 90,377 people, and it is the place where the original Route 66 ends. When we visited Santa Monica, we went to Starbucks in the morning, (My mom's favorite place to get online.)

     We then went to Santa Monica State Beach after parking and paying for a meter, which goes up to five hours, and then we went to the beach, which is a beautiful beach with warm showers. We swam there for a approximately two hours, and then we went to the Santa Monica pier - where there are rides, food stands, and coin tosses. My sister and I went on the roller coaster there, and then we saw our photo of us.  I was laughing in the photo, and my sister was freaking out. She said that they caught her "private moments," a phrase she totally made up one day.

     We also played a game where you have to squeeze the trigger of a gun to shoot water into the hole of a rising object with a hole in it (Hello Kitty sat on top of this thing), and I lost the first time, but won the second time. I won a big dark snake, who I named Sharkey. We then realized that the time on the meter was going to expire, so we bought something at the souvenir shop there, got a picture of me and my sisters underneath the Route 66 sign, and walked back to the van, which I call "Mecur", because it is missing the y in Mercury insignia on the back of the vehicle.