Feathered Starfish

Christine and her class partner for Marine Ecology are doing a video report on a Feather Starfish.  I had never heard of one before this week.

The girls called around socal to find a speciman so they could go and take pictures and video of it.

The Long Beach Aquarium said they had some.  That was Tuesday. 

We picked Sammy up from her soccer field and headed to Long Beach.

--The 7th street bridge/exit is torn down for reconstruction.  That was the way mapquest told us to go.

--I had to end up going to the 710 fwy and down to the coast instead, on the fly.

--Had to pay $50 to get in to the place because we were 15 minutes from the 1/2 price time.  Even though when we left home I called them and they told me we would only be charged the 1/2 price rate since it would be an hour before closing.  And I confirmed that they had said feathered starfish.

--Because we were on such a short time frame, I suggested the girls go to the information desk and ask specifically where Miss Feather Starfish was so we could maximize the time they had.

--No one knew where it was.  After making several walkie talkie calls we learned:

--THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY!  THEY TRADED THEM OUT FOR ANOTHER SPECIES A FEW DAYS AGO.

--I spoke strongly to the manager.  She refunded our money and found another location that had the feathered starfish.  In Gardena and Redondo Beach.  They closed at 7:30.  We decided to head up the 405 again.

--The name of the place was the South Bay Aquarium.  Now what do you envision?  Yes, another large 'aquarium' facility, right?  No.  It was a FISH PET STORE IN A STRIP MALL.  They did have one, uno, ein.  They were not allowed to take it out and hold it.  Ahhh!  I went outside and made some calls to the Ocean Institute that closed 30 minutes before that.  We will call them again on Monday.  The store had a horrible odor and was filthy.  And they hardly spoke any English.  Just Asian.  Not much of a help.

Well, that was a bust.

On a happier note:  we were in my growing up city of Torrance.  So we drove around and I showed the girls the house I grew up in.  Sadly, it looks awful.  Back in the day, it was one of the nicest homes in the whole neighborhood.  My high school.  We drove to the Pier and Knob Hill beach where I spent my summer days.  It was cold and the marine layer was rolling in, like it does every night on the coast.  As we were standing on Espanade looking down on the beach and shivering I breathed in deeply and exclaimed, "Can you smell it?  Oh I love that smell!"  They thought I was crazy.  Smell what?  The ocean combined with the sand and the dampness!  I am not crazy!  They laughed pretty hard at me.

We climbed back in the car and got the seat heaters on high.  We headed back down to Long Beach to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

It had been featured on Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives and also on The Best Thing I Ever Ate, so we decided to try our luck.  I don't know that the girls were too convinced about the combination of fried chicken and waffles.  Me either.  But it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.!  Guess the south knows their stuff!  The waffles have a touch of cinnamon in them and together with the chicken and some maple syrup creates quite the taste sensation.

The customers arrived in everything from bikes to limos and the place is so popular and crowded that they have two separate parking lots across the street with attendants to tell you where to park.  It is not a fancy place by any means.  Old tables and chairs set around to accomodate who comes.  Fun atmosphere.  We ate and laughed and people watched.

What a day.

We left home at 2:45pm and got back at 10:30pm.

All for a feathered starfish.