Iron Kid Oceanside

This picture has been going around on the internet. Coney Island 1940 - when everyone went to the beach. Everyone and his dog. When I saw this I thought about how lucky we are to live so close to a very uncrowded beach, fairly easy to access.

As the temperature climbed yesterday, we decided to go to Oceanside for dinner.Whenever it gets really hot, we've fallen into the pleasant habit of driving over to the coast and enjoying the long walk down the pier to Ruby's restaurant perched at the end. It could be a Slovenian restaurant for all we care...we go for the walk and to enjoy all the pier activity.

Turned out yesterday to be the day of the Iron Kid competition. Kids 3 to 12 participate in two races, one a 1/4 mile and one a full mile. When we arrived, the mob of kids had just left the starting gate. 

 And here they came......

 And more of them. A girl was in the lead as far as the turn. I didn't see results published anywhere so I don't have the end of the story. 

 A little further down the pier, waiting for scraps, as they are always, were a few pelicans, looking majestic and nonchalant, until a nice juicy piece of fish head or tail is tossed their way. Then appetite supersedes dignity and there's a bit of a melee with lots of wings flapping.

 After dragging out the walk as long as possible, we arrived at the restaurant and were seated in the primo corner seat at Ruby's where you can watch the fisherman out of two windows.  Here's Richard and the menu...they've 86'ed our favorite sliders so we have to resort to the cheeseburger which is fine - nothing special though.

I ordered my burger with the garlic fries which were excellent. Greasy, salty and loaded with garlic. 

 On the way back down the pier to the car, the surfers were in action. Waiting, waiting for the perfect wave. 

 The light was waning and the whole scene was bathing in a kind of golden color. 

 We never noticed the sign declaring that Oceanside is "Tree City" until we were driving in this time. Perhaps it's new? From this angle looking back at the town, you can appreciate the palm trees. 

 And to contrast with the Coney Island beach photo, here's how the beach was looking at about 6:00 p.m. on a Friday, temperature in Fallbrook, over 90 degrees. Hardly what you'd call crowded. 

 We enjoyed watching this young family, Dad obviously a marine with high-and-tight hair, posing for a photo on the sand. Perfect evening for it.