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spending the day in a 2 block radius

From Walking the Pacific Coast in Santa Monica, United States on Jan 26 '08

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I can't believe I have slept in. It is 9:30am and I have just awakened. I dress and attempt to meet Luke at 10:57am (the time we have arranged to meet, as he must check out at 11am). At 10:59am I run the four flights of stairs to his room to knock on his door. Unknowingly, he was taking the elevator down at that same time. When I make it to the front desk, reception tells me he has already checked out...oh well. I wander around downtown for 10 minutes before going back to the hostel to grab an umbrella. Luke is there and we make plans to find breakfast. We eat across from the hostel at Jinky's Cafe and I have an incredible open-faced omelet with eggs, feta, sundried tomatoes, asparagas, and portabella mushrooms. We wander to Goodwill Industries, but the store is boring and we leave to check our email at the Apple Store. After a quick visit to the hostel, we head to the Santa Monica pier to wander about and then to Mann's Movie theater (there are 6 movie theaters in the four blocks of 3rd Street Promenade). We attend the 4:20 pm showing of Michael Clayton, and despite the fact it is a mantinee, the cost is $11 a person! Why so expensive? The movie is great, I truly enjoy it. Luke and I head down the street for 1/2 price sushi...we each eat 4 sushi rolls at about $2.75 a piece. Then, it is on to roaming 3rd Street Promenade and wasting time before Luke leaves on the 11 pm bus to San Francisco. It was nothing near a hiking day for me today, but I did have fun, and isn't that what vacations are supposed to be about?

What should I do today...I have really hiked as far as I can go around here, without taking a train back.

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