Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

I found out that there was an aquarium at the Santa Monica Pier. On my last visit to the pier I didn't even now it was there so I thought, great! I love aquariums so I make a special trip, some 60 miles or so, lug my camera along and finally make it in after waiting for it to open. I paid $10.00 to park and $5.00 to get in. There was one room with two large tanks and three flat ones where you could touch some star fish. I was SOOOO disappointed. I wasn't in there five minutes so I don't even have any pictures to post with this.

Now, I understand that this is an organization dedicated to helping keep our oceans and shores clean and that maybe my $5.00 went towards a very good cause. Heck, I would have given them $10.00 if they'd said it a donation toward keeping our oceans clean. But I don't know what that $5.00 was for, at least not when they took it. The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium only suggests a $3.00 donation.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that it's non-profit and I'm not telling you not to go. What I'm saying is, don't go unless you're also going to enjoy the pier and you've already spent enough money that another $5.00 is no sweat off your nose. The kids might get a kick out of it and I understand they have events or things that they do for the kids. What I'm saying is don't drive 60 miles to visit, waste all that gas plus $10.00 for parking. You won't be happy.

At one point I nicely asked one of the people if that room was all there was. I wasn't mad and I'm still not mad now, just disappointed. My point in asking was that I just didn't want to miss another room because I didn't see it. I was told that was all there was and though it wasn't the Long Beach aquarium it was local and featured only fish off the local coast. My thought was, "It wasn't local for me."

i. CUGINI's

I had a really nice birthday. I was taken to dinner on Friday and went to Benihana's. In case you don't know what or where Benihana's is, it's a Japanese chain of restaurants where they cook your meal in front of you. Wonderful food! If you've never been, you've got to go at least once for the experience. But this post is about i. Cugini's so I digress.

Image from www.rentacarinlosangeles.comToday I went to i. Cugini's. It's pronounced eee-koo-gee-nee. I learned about this place on our local jazz station 94.7 The Wave . The have a D.J. there on Sundays for their Sunday champagne brunch with a live jazz band. Man, the food is out of this world and they have a little bit of everything from cute little round waffles to octopus salad and everything in between!

Whether you sit inside where you might find the band just a little loud or whether you sit outside and enjoy the beautiful day and the view of the Santa Monica beach and the pier across the street, the food is marvelous. Even though my sister calls me a waste at a buffet because I fill up too quickly, I managed to sample everything I wanted to (and I did say sample) - waffles, egg potato suffle, onion and bell pepper with chicken sausage, garlic chicken, garlic potatoes, ham, salmon, chilled crab legs, bread. I personally wasn't interested in (even though you might me) the oysters, different pastas, omelette and other dishes they had that I can't even remember.

And yes, I had my fill of champagne, orange juice and coffee which was excellent as well. Should I mention the dessert bar? Yummmmm! Lots of chocolate!

And if you attend for a special event there is someone there to take a picture and place it a really nice paper frame it if you wish. I highly recommend taking a trip to i. Cugini's and expect to spend about $40.00 but I personally think it was well worth it!

And believe it or not, I didn't get any pictures. I was a little embarrassed and didn't want anyone to think I'd never been to a restaurant before. I think I should make a sign for myself that reads "Taking Pictures for My Blog". LOL!