Southwest Adventure on an R18 – Day 6

After five days of raiding through rain, sleet, snow, dessert, and everything in between, it was a good day to start by washing the bike. Today would be all LA area sightseeing, with some riding up the coast and back before my last hotel stop.

After breakfast, I headed to downtown LA. Yay, LA rush hour. It’s been a long time since I spent any time in LA. Like 35 years. So much has changed. It was always a bit of a tourist trap in areas. There are also neighborhoods where you can sense all the transplanted residents from other parts of the world who are yet to realize their dream of LA is not going to be their reality. I have always appreciated the areas where life-long Angelenos have made their home. These areas have real culture and a sense of permanence.

After riding in and around central LA and downtown, I headed to Beverly Hills. I rode along Mulholland Drive for a bit, then over to Malibu. This is when I started to crave a burger from Foster’s Freeze. That’s a west coast burger stand with great shakes, for the uninitiated. Some of them are outstanding, some are probably in need of being shut down. It’s always a gamble. I chose to head to a location in Santa Paula on a whim.

On the way, I stopped at the Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme. Having been a Seabee, and leaving the Navy after serving as a BU2 in NMCB1, I couldn’t pass on this opportunity. The museum is excellent, with a good amount of history and artifacts.

That last photo makes me think only the Seabees would build an altar to a dozer blade.

After the museum, I headed to Foster’s thinking about a chocolate chip shake and a cheeseburger. When I got there, I was tempted away by the smell of the place across the street.

Simply named Best BBQ, their corner place has an open patio where all the cooking is done. I began to smell the aroma a couple blocks away, and by the time I was turning into Foster’s it was only to make a u-turn to go across the street. If you are ever in the area, this is a must try. Excellent food, simple and affordable. I’ll get Foster’s another time.

After dinner, I headed to the hotel near LAX for my last night.