Monday was the optional “tourism day” for the PSDP convention. We planned to go to Shoreline Village, which is a little group of quaint shops and restaurants on the marina.
Most people were unable to make it, so it was just me with Hestia and Alice, Brad, Deanna with Jaxson, Allison with Ruby, and Marguerite with Boone.
We had made our taxi reservation with the same taxi driver who took us to my sister’s house, and he showed up right on time! We were the first to arrive at the meeting spot, so we took the opportunity to get some fun pictures (Brad’s pictures will be posted in a week or more when he edits them all—the pictures in this post were cell phone pictures mostly taken by Deanna). Eventually everyone else showed up, so we started our day of fun.
Our first stop was the sock store. Everyone but me found something they wanted in the sock store! They had SO many socks of all kinds! Brad found a pair of compression socks with dogs on them!
We had a great time walking along, looking at all the shops as we passed. There weren’t too many people and pet dogs there, so it was pretty nice! It was beautiful to see the marina and all the boats, and I loved the smells of the ocean.
We found a hat store, and Brad found a really pretty purple, black, and grey driver’s cap! They had the exact same one in mint green, but since he already has a mint green hat, and needs a lavender one, he got the purple. Deanna got some pictures of Brad in the mint green version.
They also had a chocolate store there, which was very tempting to us all! Unfortunately Marguerite had to leave with Boone at this point, so it was just the four of us plus four dogs. The chocolate place had some sugar free English Toffee, so I got a piece! Allison and Deanna got caramel apples, which looked super tasty.
We sat at a table and enjoyed our snacks, the breeze, and talking with friends. We had a great time talking about things for next year’s convention! Deanna and Brad had a long discussion about cameras, and Allison and I talked about gear and puppies 🙂 Deanna got a great picture of Ruby in the foreground with me and the girls in the background, and another of me with the girls with our hair blowing in the wind.
After a while, Deanna and Allison wanted to head back to the hotel.
And here comes the problem with wheelchair taxis in Long Beach… We tried to reserve the taxi to come home at about 3PM. But the driver said that all four of the accessible taxis (for a population of 500,000!!!) in Long Beach are busy from 2:30–4PM doing school runs for disabled children. So he would have to pick us up either before 2PM or after 4PM. We chose the later time so we wouldn’t be rushed for sure.
It turns out that Allison and Deanna left at about 2PM, so we would have been fine doing it earlier, but oh well. We didn’t know that, so made the reservation for after 4PM as soon as the driver was done with his school run.
When Deanna and Allison left, Brad and I went to get some lunch at Tequila Jack’s. They had some pretty good Mexican food and we could sit right on the water and watch the boats. It was really lovely. Even though they have really good looking margaritas, I didn’t get one. I really wanted to try their fluorescent green jalapeño margarita, though!
After lunch, we found a shop that sold pashmina scarves. Brad loves these types of scarves (he wears a scarf every day along with a hat and tie and brooch)! He found two that he especially loved. One is a lavender background with rainbow colors, and the other a pastel turquoise and gold. The seller gave us a disabled discount LOL!
We still had about an hour to kill before the driver came back, so we left the Shoreline Village area and found a trail that went directly along the marina. Since I had my power wheelchair I was renting, we were able to go on a walk! Actually it was more like a zoom! I turned my speed up to the highest setting and we raced down the path! It was so fun and absolutely gorgeous.
Eventually we came to the end of the trail—it dead-ended into a beach! I LOVE the beach! Unfortunately you can’t go on the beach in a wheelchair, but they had a paved pathway along the side of the beach that led out onto a jetty where people were fishing. So we went out to the end of the jetty.
Brad took loads of pictures of me and the scenery, and while we were out on the jetty, a woman approached us and told us how incredibly cute we were as a couple! She even asked to take a picture of us to share our cuteness! We were happy to oblige. It was really fun!
Then we zoomed back to our pickup spot. But the taxi driver texted us that he wouldn’t be able to get to us until 4:30. So we took off for a quick walk in the other direction and ended up at the Rainbow Lagoon which is a lagoon with swan boats and a trail around it. We had a great time zooming around the lagoon and seeing everything and taking pictures. I did get Brad to take a picture of me and the girls at the lagoon with my cell phone, so you get to see at least one picture right now that he took!
Eventually we made it back to the hotel! We decided to unwind with time in the hot tub with Allison and Deanna. I leashed Alice and Hestia to the railing. Alice was too uncomfortable, so Brad held her. I left Hestia on the floor and she was OK… Until I reached over and pet her! With my wet hands!!! Oh no, danger danger!!! She backed up and backed out of her harness!
She ran away, so I got out of the hot tub and chased after her! Luckily she just ran right to the door to go back in. I was able to grab her and bring her back. I tightened her harness and stopped trying to pet her with wet hands LOL!
Deanna got a picture of Brad with Alice on his lap, me in my swimsuit, and Hestia in the background looking peeved after I got out of the hot tub.
It was a great day! I think tourism days after the convention are going to be a regular thing. Even if it’s just the four of us in attendance, it’s worth it!