Rock n Roller 17: Santa Monica Pier

As we left Knott’s Berry Farm we looked at the map for our next stop, a nightcap at the Santa Monica Pier. “It’s only 25 miles away, thats nothing,” I proclaimed. Little did I know that 25 miles would take over two hours in the crazy and constant bumper-to-bumper traffic on the spaghetti of LA freeways. Remember we haven’t slept yet from our flight down the night before. Michele napped as I drove and cussed at the drivers nearly taking off my fenders as we weaved in and out from lane to lane.

We finally arrived at the iconic Santa Monica Pier at about 6:30. I am almost certain you have seen this coaster in many movies and TV shows. Most recently it was showcased in the series on Amazon called Goliath starring Billy Bob Thornton. In fact the little bar and hotel that he frequents on the show is just down the road from the pier as it is in real life.

We parked quite a ways from the pier because it was so crowded and took in the sights of the cool mini-mansions along the beach.

Our goal was to ride the coaster. We paid our ten bucks or whatever it was and jumped in line. It was a cool old steel coaster that the ride attendant let us ride three times. What a deal! We grabbed dinner at the historic Pier Burger on the pier that reminded us of a 1950s style diner. The fries were amazing and so were the shakes. We sat for a while and people watched before we headed back to the car for an even longer drive to the hotel that was only a few miles away…

 

Up Next: LA and Magic Mountain

Coasters to date on the tour: 8

Do you like what you are reading? Want to see more? use the hashtag #rocknroller17 on social media and you can see pics on Instagram, tweets on Twitter and our daily trials and tribulations on Facebook.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn