Earlier this year, I felt the need to escape Los Angeles, and head down to La Jolla.  I find that in times of emotional distress, I tend to spontaneously leave on a solo road trip to wherever.  I still hadn't quite processed all the trauma I experienced in the first half of 2020.  And at the time, it started to come up to the surface to be reflected upon.  Hence why I chose to come to La Jolla again after many years, and let its natural beauty guide and/or distract my thoughts while I walked along its shore.

La Jolla Cove is a very special place, and according to my point of view, it is the closest to an Australian beach you can get to!  The coastline varies here, it can be small beaches with caves, to cliffs, to large sandbars.  Since I wanted to experience the full scope of the landscape, I parked near Brockton Villa Restaurant, and headed east along Coast blvd.  There is parking all along Coast blvd, but if you want to start at one end of it, it's ideal to park near Brockton Villa.

Right after parking, I came across this little rocky beach!  At the end, there is a set of stairs to access it, as well as explore the sea caves.  Occasionally you may see a sea lion or two rolling around lazily on the beach, but it is advised that you do not get too close to them.

Here's an outside look into the entrance of the sea caves.  I wasn't able to get in there this time, because I wanted to let the family inside explore.  (I'll do it next time!)

Here's where the landscape starts to appear surreal.  The powerful ocean waves carve these sculptural bas reliefs right into the rock!

There are parts along the cliffs where the sea lions prominently cluster.  They huddle in adorable clumps, although they do have a pungent scent if you are nearby them!  To get a closer view, there is a small area where you can hop over the fence and walk along that rocky cliff.  They are accustomed to people, and you can take fairly close photos of them--but it is still not advised to get too close!

I mean, just look at these fuzzy chonks!!

I feel ya, buddy!  This is what I would have been doing instead, if I wasn't set on running off somewhere.

After the seal outpost, there is this unusual section where all the rocks are completely black, and are smoothed down by the ocean.

What is this...a pay...phone?  This interesting outdoor art piece contains a phone for emergency purposes only.

As I walked further along Coast Blvd, I reached this area called the Children's pool.  At certain times of the year, you can walk along the jetty and access the "pool", but at this time, it was closed off.  

You can walk right up to the gate though, to get a closer look!  This area is heavily monitored, so if you try to hop over the gate, a very stern voice on a loudspeaker will give you a warning.

I came to this spot as it started to get hazy and cloudy, where the sky and sea look one and the same.

Of COURSE I wanted to write my initials here, but I didn't have anything on me to do so!

The flat, barren rocks go on and on from this point, but I ended my journey close to the La Jolla tide pools.  I wanted to stay longer--however my day's travels did not end here!  Later that afternoon, I planned to visit Balboa Park in San Diego, which I will write about in a separate post!  It rightfully deserves it since it was so beautiful, and it was my first time there as well.

For anyone that may be reading this, and if you are trying to work through something difficult, I encourage you to try new things (like visiting here!).  As often as possible--big or small!  At a much more achievable scale, I tell people to do one new thing a week.  It can be either trying out a new restaurant, seeing a new movie, reading a new book, or visiting a nearby area you haven't explored yet. Whether these actions are big or small, it may not seem significant at first, but when you add it all up, it would be 52 new things you've never done before!  (Or much more in some cases!)  I believe that these scalable actions are impactful and helpful, and I hope this philosophy will work for you too.

For more current and past adventures, follow me on Instagram @jennydayco, or search #adventuresofajewelrydesigner.

Check underneath the globe I gave you.  I hope it has and will continue to happen for you.