Portofino Hotel, Redondo Beach, CA

 February 15, 2023 

This morning was very easy. We left our cabin around 8:30 am. Finding the luggage and winding our way off the ship took about 15 minutes. We had facial scan for customs and immigration was fast. The Blacklane driver was right there. We took the 35 minute drive to our hotel: Portofino Redondo Beach. We were able to check in early. We have a great view of the harbor and a colony of seals. We had lunch at Captain Kidd's Fish Market. Glenn had shrimp tacos. I had the fish tacos. They were both very good. We went for a walk around the harbor. We found several restaurants that look like great choices for our lunches and dinners over the next couple days. We came back to the hotel to work for a little while and then headed to Baleen - the hotel restaurant for dinner. We had the octopus and chorizo, green salad, pasta Bolognese, and carrots. It was all very good. The meal ended on a bit of a sour note with Glenn's Sticky Toffee Pudding dessert. Key elements of the dish were missing. Eventually, the server took it off the bill, but it was a bummer end to an otherwise very good meal . 

February 16, 2023 

Yesterday we hung out around the hotel in the morning while Angie finished a video. As lunch time approached, we took a twenty minute walk down past the Redondo Beach Pier and found the farmers market. This is only open on Thursdays from 8:30 to 1. It had your usual assortment of vendors selling everything from pastries, skins creams, ghee, vegan baklava and prepared foods such as pizza, enchiladas and crepes. We ordered one of the pizzas from Landoughs which had one of the bigger lines. That's always a good tip for buying street food. Go where the locals are. It tells you that it should be good and that the food is being turned around quickly. We ordered one and it would take about twenty minutes.

 The weather here has been unseasonably cooler as was the case onboard the Crown Princess. And neither of us considered that would happen so we didn't pack many warmer clothes. Angie needed another layer so she ordered a lighter coat from Amazon. Now where would we pick it up? That's the neat part. I wasn't aware of this option until last year when we needed something when we were in Santa Barbara. Amazon has lockers they have placed in most larger areas where your packages get shipped to. It works like the lockers they have at some theme parks. You scan your Amazon order code at the locker kiosk and then the locker with your packages opens up!! She had found a locker than was close to the farmers market. So while the pizza was being made, we made the short walk to pick up the package. It was located at the back entrance of a Chase bank branch so it was easy to find. 

 

It works out perfectly since by the time we got back, the pizza was just being put into the oven. The Veg Delight pizza was pretty good. They made it in one of those small portable pizza ovens that can sit on a table. It had a chewy crust and some fresh veggies. It was a good starter. 

 

We then started walking back towards the pier. I had seen a Mexican restaurant called El Torito that has some good ocean side seating. We'd at least have a margarita and watch the waves. We had two skinny margaritas which see very good. And then also ordered a chicken fajita salad and some amazing carnitas sliders. The carnitas had those nice crispy edges that add so much flavor. 

 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, Angie grabbed her laptop and sat by the pool for awhile. They have a nice heated pool in addition to a hot tub. With ocean views and the dulcet sounds of the sea lions!! 

Angie wasn't able to get a good WiFi signal so we moved back inside to the lobby. They have an amazing space they refer to as the Living Room. Huge windows looking out to the ocean, high ceilings and (relatively) comfortable furniture. At 5PM a singing duo came into to play. They did some great mashups of songs. Such as Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and Kim Carne's "Bette Davis Eyes". Also a great version of Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon". The space was pretty empty for the first hour so we practically had our own VIO concert. 

 

The hotel has a small snack menu which comes from Baleen Kitchen where we ate the prior night. We ordered beef sliders and lobster Mac and cheese. Also had the most amazing truffle fries. They were double fried and topped with truffle salt and parmesan cheese. And had a truffle mayo and homemade ketchup as dipping sauces.

After listening for a couple of hours, we headed back to the room and caught up on some television. One trend I am seeing in hotels is many are adding streaming capabilities to the inroom televisions. So a long as you have a device that can "cast", you can watch almost any stream service.

February 17, 2023 

Another beautiful day in Redondo beach. I worked this morning watching the sea lions jump around outside the window. For lunch, we walked down to the pier and boardwalk. We decided on Kincaid’s – one of the fancier restaurants. We had the macadamia nut crusted baked brie. It was delicious. I had the chicken cobb salad and Glenn had the salmon BLT with avocado. Both were every good.

I worked the rest of the afternoon. We headed back to the boardwalk. We visited Sip and had a nice view of the marina and the sunset trying different beers. For dinner, we went to R10. I had a great dish with scallops with mushroom risotto. Glenn had a salmon bowl with Asian vegetables. We shared some delicious Brussel sprouts.

Back at the hotel, we listened to move live music in the lounge and then headed to bed to catch up on some TV.

We’ll head to the Long Beach port around 9:30 am this morning to board the Carnival Panorama.