Straight out of the gate the parking situation is a dis-ASS-ter.  There are a bunch of parking lots near the water with many empty spaces but each lot is marked “VIP Parking” or “Special Pass Required” and they’re blockaded off with “staff pros” standing guard.  None of the staff pros are directing cars where to park so cars are flipping illegal u-turns like “nobody’s business” (present company included).

An hour later (2:45pm) we were able to back track and navigate up the hill to the downtown area where we obtain free parking (Sundays only) in a public lot.  I originally thought downtown might be the best place to park but there was a digital sign directing us to one of those lovely blockaded lots.  There were cops directing traffic at intersections which is great but where are the people directing us where the $@*# to park?

The Walk Along Ports O’ Call

We walk past a bunch of restaurants and shops at Ports O’ Call before utilizing a tiny “fargin’ nasty” public bathroom.  We enter the lengthy lines to purchase admission and lobster dinner tickets.  The costs are $19.00 per 1.25 pound lobster dinner (includes seasoned cubes of potato, packaged coleslaw, dinner roll and a large container of liquid butter).

Lobster Festival Grounds

The food truck craze is in all of its glory here with at least a handful of these trucks throughout the property.

Food Truck, Cheese Balls

I gravitate toward the Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwiches (www.eatcoolhaus.com/la) truck.  Theconcept is that you pick your cookie type (snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, peanut butter, brioche, lemon rosemary etc.) and then you choose your ice cream (brown butter w/candied bacon, dirty mint chip, lemon thyme, Tahitian vanilla bean etc.) and then you select “one story” or “two stories”.

Snickerdoodle with Tahitian Vanilla Bean

I go for the “one story” snickerdoodle cookie with Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream.  The cookies are nice and firm but fresh tasting and the ice cream is creamy and delicious.  The wrapper is edible so I bite through the delicious gooey mess.

“Dirty Pirate”

My eyes wander and it dawns on me that my colleague who grew up here and often joked that she was “from the hood” was not far off.  I’ve never seen so many ginormous “tats on tatas” in my life.  Typically these ladies also had large colorful tats on their upper arms as well.  However, as Jerry said — “not that there is anything wrong with that.”

Attendees

The lobster line is winding into oblivion and as a result people “unknowingly and knowingly” cut in front of us.  I happen to observe that common courtesy and good manners were in short supply here and that applied to children and adults alike.  Given my earlier observation I am not taken aback and simply “roll with it”.  Finally a staff person arrives to re-direct and organize the line.  She apologizes which is the first nice thing a staff pro has done for us today.

The Lobster Line

Industry at the Water

In less than twenty minutes we have our lobster dinners and we’re scouting out a table.  We settle on a tall bar table for two and we stand while devouring our lobsters.  Bella shows me her paws with two fingers on each paw simulating lobster claws opening and closing.  She did this shortly after we met on our first vacation together in Maine.

Maine Lobster Dinner

We stop at a juice vendor and we get a large watermelon juice on ice.  At $4.00 with $2.00 refills it is “all good in the neighborhood”.

Watermelon Juice Vendor

We play two different arcade basketball games.  One is set at a shorter height with a small basketball and the other hoop is set taller with an NBA regulation basketball.  We have a couple of close call shots on the shorter hoop but the taller one looks off from the get-go.  I’m staring at the rim and even with a straight-on view it looks oddly shaped.

Regardless, I play one game and get off one good shot that rims out hard.  Afterwards we walk around the side and the vendor has purposely placed giant stuffed animals along the side to mask the fact that the rim is shaped like an amoeba.  That’s filthy dirty!  Good luck getting a basketball through there…a football maybe…but likely only a baseball.

“Short” Basketball Game

We head back to the juice vendor for a refreshing watermelon juice refill.  A couple spots down are the World Famous Kobbler King booth where I pick up a small sweet potato pie to-go.  I’ve bought these at the Redondo Beach Lobster Fest as well.  Then we walk back to the car and hit the road for home.

In conclusion, the Redondo Beach Lobster Festival is MUCH more accessible but it is also MUCH smaller with a lot less interesting food and product vendors.  Redondo is clearly the cleaner and nicer hood but the event is less noteworthy and for most foodies they’ll be willing to sacrifice the cleanliness of the hood.

NFL Star and Actor

Downtown there are a bunch of celebrity markers.  Fred Dryer starred in one of my favorite detective shows of the 80s’.  Whoa!  Am I watching a crime in progress?  Bella, where is Fred Dryer when you need him?

Crime in Progress?

Where’s Fred Dryer?

Date of Visit: 9/16/2011, 9/17/11 & 9 18/11; Restaurant:  The Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival; Address: Ports O’ Call Village, San Pedro, CA; Phone: 310-798-7478; Website: lobsterfest.com; Key: (5 star maximum per category); Ambiance: ***; Staffing: **; Food/Drink: ****; Grade: A-.