62. Best Sight L.A. to Learn a Travel Tip from a Pelican

Surprised? It's currently award season in L.A.

In honor of the season, I have created a Bjork's Best Sights L.A. Award for "Best Sight L.A. to Learn a Travel Tip from a Pelican".  And the award goes to the rock pile landmark on the beach in Venice, California.

Now if you have been following "Bjork's Best" blog posts so far, you know there is a method to my madness with the sights I have chosen to honor.  I've put a mini-tour (if you will) together which I've dubbed, "The Hotel California Tour", as the Hotel California is an award winning sight in my "Bjork's Best" series.

One of the perks of the Hotel California location is by going north you are privy to a smorgasbord of Santa Monica tasty sight delights.  If you go south, you are privy to an equally tasty smorgasbord of delights aka the beach area of Venice, California.

For your appetizer, I suggest walking down the stairway to beach heaven (assuming you are coming from the Hotel California).  Bring those flip flops (which in my mind should be voted "official footwear of California").  Seriously consider getting those tootsies wet.  Seriously.  Walk where the sand is wet.  Risk a rogue wave all too willing to cover your feet with its salt water goodness (unless, sadly, it has rained in the last week or so and then walk the wet sand in footwear which does not expose your skin to the water).  If you love the beach as much as me, your little journey to the rock pile will be a tasty treat.

I find this Venice beach landmark of rocks delightful as I watch the ocean waves smack up against them; intermittent waves causing water spray to leap in the air in random display.  On this day when I learned my travel tip from a pelican by this very landmark, I was scoping out where I would find myself if I turned left (going east) at the rock pile landmark.  I know where I would find myself if I went west.  In the ocean and wet.

At first from the glare of the sun, it wasn't until I was up close and personal that I spied this brown pelican.  As I stood what couldn't have been more than six feet from it, the pelican appeared to be enjoying the play of the intermittent waves that would make it over the rocks with the water landing at its webbed feet.  The pelican seemed to take my presence in stride.

Who knows what nature communing may have ensued if not for a group of teens who were now joining the pelican and me.

I try to remind myself that I once was a teen.  Actually, I try to remind myself to see the "little bit older than a teen" in others when I think of it.  If they are like me, regardless of the number of birthdays I've celebrated I still feel like I am about twenty-three. Although, much of what I found funny or entertaining then, I no longer do.  

Truth be told while I was very excited at this chance encounter, I was a little afraid.  What if the pelican inexplicably went wild?

Seemingly no such fear was present in the teens I was sharing this experience with.  They proceeded to attempt to touch and annoy the pelican.  The pelican moved closer to me in an effort to get away.  I thought the bird was afraid.  When you watch the video and hear me cry, "no!", part of it was fear for the pelican and part was fear for me because the pelican was coming closer to me as a result.

Later at home watching the video of this event, I feel I had a revelation.  This brown pelican (which are the smallest of the pelican family) in my mind never looked afraid.  It could have flown away at any time.  In truth if I were to assign it an emotion (assuming they have them) it would be "annoyed".

As you watch the video, notice how the pelican calmly walks amongst us until it is ready to fly away.

This is the travel tip I learned from the brown pelican.  If you find yourself in the midst of some annoying teens, just walk away.  

For those who wish to join me, we'll be going east in the next blog post to see what tasty sight treat I discovered.

Ahhh!  It feels good to celebrate the sights of L.A.