Smilin' Jack: Redondo Beach

There is so much to see and do around this area. So much to see. We're still discovering new things to see and do all over the place.

For example, I've been down this way before but I've never really walked around nor looked at it with a camera in hand. And so, on a lazy Tuesday with nothing else to do and the skies glowering down on us, I decided to head to another part of the Puget Sound by Redondo Beach.

Salty's Seafood Restaurant is the biggest thing here at this beach. It's a local seafood restaurant, one of several, along the Puget Sound. I hear it has a good reputation…kinda pricey though.

I never trust a place to have reasonable costs when they don't put the prices on the menu. Rule of thumb for me.

And, yes, I know. I'm exceedingly frugal. (AKA cheap)

You can see it was a wee bit overcast there at the beach. But, you know the old photographers saying, "If the skies are gray, always shoot down toward the ground."

And I am, if nothing else, an old photographer so I, listening to that sage advice, tried to shoot downward.

Most of the time, anyway.

This shot is of the end of Salty's pier. I think they keep their fish in there. Fresh fish. There were several downspouts pouring out water. The walkway leads back to the restaurant.

OK, if it is good in color on a cloudy, overcast and gray day, then it must be just as good or better in B&W, right!?!

It does look, OK.

Not bad, anyway.

And, the Sound. I'd love to have one of those houses along the Sound.

Ah, but who has that kind of money...Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

What I thought.

"Hello. What are you looking at?"

I got this brassy guy on the pier. He was eyeing me up and down looking for a hand-out. Hmmmmm, I wonder if he is a Veteran?

From piers to Kayaks.

Carol and I have been wondering if we'd be able to handle a kayak. Now I know where we can go and check out our sea-faring abilities. I decided, being the rough and rugged outdoorsy type that I am, to wait until the weather was a bit warmer and nicer for our foray into kayaking.

This top one, the red one, looks like it could hold my heft. Maybe.

And, best of all, they have little seats in them with backs on them. Gotta have the little seats.

And a life jacket. Gotta have a life jacket.

Hahaha, can't help myself. After over 35 years of trying to get one good picture of a sea gull it has become a habit. I see a gull and I shoot. Even with this teenager.

This joint was across the street from Salty's.

This restaurant, with its mature and stately atmosphere, fits right into Washington. Legal pot and all, y'know. And you can see the chef in there creating his Seafood Specialities.

Oh, and here's Salty's. At Redondo.

Someday, maybe, I'll go there for dinner. Maybe.

If I win the lottery. Maybe.

They have two of these things flanking the entry into Salty's. I don't know what they are nor do I know what they're really for other than being very decorative door stoppers.

This one was the more colorful of the two…things. Tikis?

And, next to the main restaurant is this Seafood Bar.

Salty's has all the angles covered.

Getting Artsy-Fartsy with the Seafood Bar. With the little starfish and the seashell…by the seashore.

And another angle of the Seafood Bar.

And the flowers around the entrance to Salty's. They've done a good job of making the place look pleasant. Nautical and flowery.

And this beauty. Nature has its way.

And this flower. Nice, eh?

Beach Baby.

Driftwood is all over the place. The Sound gets more than its share.

Again, color me jealous.

OK, you've noticed I've shot mostly down, no real sky in the pictures. Well, that's what you do according to the Old Photographer, shoot down when it is overcast.

So I did and I got these rocks. I think they've trucked in a lot of these to protect the beaches. We might have liberated one or two of them for our garden. Maybe.