I Am An Explorer - A Day of Discovery

My husband loves maps!  It can be a globe, an atlas, Google Earth, or an AAA local map…he can pour over it and notice things that never hit my radar.  I look at a map and I search for the name of a city I am hunting for and that is it.  He sees so much more…the change in altitude reflected, blue curvy lines of rivers, the green patches that indicate a grassy area.  That is why, when we travel, I handle the logistics…the airline flights, the hotels, the trip insurance while he handles each day’s itinerary…where we are going and the route we will take.  As a result I have been treated to some of the most interesting sights and undiscovered jewels of locales and we always travel in a loop…so we never retrace our steps.

Yesterday, Jay stopped at AAA and procured recent maps of our locale and last night he was pouring over them with his highlighter and his magnifying glass.  

Today, he invited me to go with him for a ride.  He promised it would not be far and yes, we could stop at the Italian market, A-1 on 8^th street on the way home.

Where did we go?  About one mile down the street from our house to the end of Western Ave.  There he had seen a small patch of green on the map that turned out to be White Point Park.  We are fortunate to live along the coast but most of the coastline here is rocky cliffs and it is only at a few secluded locations that you can actually make your way down to the water.  This was one of them.  We drove down a steep incline to the water’s edge where there were rocky breakers, surfers, fishermen and people sitting…contemplating.  The air was crisp and clear and we spotted rocks covered with seagulls.

We returned up the incline and discovered a lovely little park and then, a Nature Preserve filled with walking trails.   

This part of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is subject to ground movement and this area is restricted for that reason but has been restored to its natural habitat.   Loved this sign..."On this restless ground lies a gem of open space!"

We walked around the preserve, commenting on the plants, the birds, and reading the signs about the Native Americans who originally lived here.  We passed many people walking their dogs, some boys on a dirt bike, everyone just enjoying the natural beauty set in the midst of our urban area.

From there we headed to the Italian Market.   

We have shopped here before and always seen the sign of Mirabella Winery next door but it is always closed.  Today as we walked buy it was open so we ventured in.   

How could we pass up a building with a bulletin board like this to greet you!

 

What a surprise!  Inside this large warehouse were all shapes and sizes of wine casks, grape crushers and other wine making equipment 

and inside the tiny salesroom was Tony Mirabella.   

He told us his story…his family had run this business for over 70 years and were able to provide everything a home winemaker could need to make their own wine.  It used to be a booming business. Now, even though most of the old Italian and Croatian home winemakers have passed away or moved away from San Pedro, he still stays in business, open 2-3 days a week unless it is crushing season,  because it is his heritage.   

Just standing in there looking at the items brought back old memories of homemade wine, the glass bottles under the sink or under the table, ready to be pulled out when a guest arrived at the house.  My brother, Fred, is such a wine-lover…maybe I can introduce him to Tony and he can take up wine-making when he finally decides to retire!  I will know right where to take him!  Salute!