Vacation right by LAX -- Bike along the Pacific

I love B&Bs and inns, and this has got to be on of my favorites. I use several B&B locator sites on the net like BBOnline (my favorite).

We had a very large room with a separate little room for our 12-year-old and a little porch overlooking the bird statuary. The bed was very comfortable. The bathroom was just a bathroom, but like all good B&Bs, there were robes.

There were yummy cookies and tea when we arrived (2pm-ish). We walked to the Pacific Ocean and checked out the restaurants. The inn provided a book with the menus of many local restaurants; there are six or so in Playa del Rey and hundreds in the next town, Marina del Rey. The staff was friendly and helpful. Lovely wine and cheese and crackers and dips were served the very large common room in the late afternoon.

I took a soak in the hot tub in the garden in the evening and then again the next day before leaving. I woke up, still on East Coast time, and it sure was nice to have coffee and wrapped up oh-so-delicious banana bread and a little refrigerator with milk and yogurts. The breakfast was tasty and plentiful. The inn was built as an in so it had a huge kitchen.
They lent us (my son and I) bicycles; the inn had about six from which to choose. We walked to the Pacific shore (three blocks away) and could have pedaled 10 miles south (we made it as far as Manhattan Beach, about six miles away) and it was one of the most delightful rides I can remember.

Check the wonderful inn out here or see what the LA Times said(good stuff just like me).

This is a biker’s dream, particularly one who doesn’t do it often and is out of shape. It’s almost flat and the ocean is in view almost all the time. I watched some surfers.

We pedaled (the inn lent us bikes) from Playa del Rey to Manhattan Beach (six or so miles), but I could have gone twice as far south if I didn’t have a plane to catch. There were absolutely no cars to worry about. We passed (or were passed by) a few recumbent bikes, a tricycle, and a couple of tandems. We passed a huge power plant and an RV enclave. I drooled over the beautiful homes, dreaming which one I would buy when I became a multimillionaire.

Practical considerations: There are soda machines and public bathrooms every mile or so. Of course, you pass towns where you can find restaurants.