After a few morning errands of taking one of the kids to school and walking the dog, we decided to have a day by the beach. It was typical June Gloom weather, a term we use to describe when the marine layer moves in and we get persistent low grey clouds, fog and drizzle.

On clear days, one would be able to see the blue of the Pacific Ocean.

Each street sign also included a small emblem so you could tell what city you were in.

There was a report of a shark spotted along one of the nearby beaches, but since we weren't planning on going in the water, we weren't too alarmed. While shark attacks are still relatively rare, they have increased at a steady rate since 1900. According to statistics from the International Shark Attack File, there were 72 unprovoked shark attacks on humans in 2013. This doesn't mean sharks are getting more aggressive. There are simply more people in the water for longer amounts of time, which increases the chance of an interaction. The numbers of incidents will continue to increase as the human population increases.

Our plan for the day:

1 - Newport Beach Civic Center
2 - Corona Del Mar (lookout point)
3 - bridge to Balboa Island
4 - ferry to Balboa Peninsula (Fun Zone)

We made our way though the city to our first destination.

The Newport City Civic Center Park contains 16 acres, much of it filled with various native landscapes such as wetlands, coastal sage scrub, a desert garden and even a palm garden.

A magnolia in bloom

My sister led us to a hill with a bunch of odd statues... bunnies!! Bunnyhenge, as this bizarre display of concrete cottontail is sometimes called, was built the beginning of this year. They are not intended to be art but rather a playground for kids. The landscape architect, Peter Walker Partners, felt that traditional manufactured equipment just wasn’t a good fit. All sorts of ideas were discussed... giant sea turtles, spider webs, quails, lizards, etc. Eventually it was decided to use something actually found in Newport Beach, and Desert Cottontails were not only native but also abundant. The final price was just over $221,000, or about $13,800 per rabbit (there are fourteen 3-foot baby rabbits and two 8-foot adults). While many locals despise them, the rabbits are successful in what they were meant to do... attract attention... and visitors. It worked for us!

I have to admit, it was somewhat of a creepy feeling... being surrounded by all those things!

Their eye color followed that of the light spectrum.

This is one staredown you are definitely going to lose!

The adults were placed in other sections of the park. We only found one of them though.

We made our way to Corona Del Mar and the beach where there was every style of house imaginable!

The place to go to get beautiful... an entire building filled with plastic surgery and body contouring offices, laser centers and cosmetic dentistry.

Getting close to the beach

From contemporary to modern...

... to Spanish stucco, this area had it all.

We stopped at Lookout Point. The haze detracted a bit from the vibrance of the ocean, but it was still lovely.

Overlooking Newport Harbor and the southern tip of the Balboa Peninsula. The beach down below was used to film some scenes from Gilligan's Island in the mid-1960's.

Upper Newport Bay is canyon that was formed by a prehistoric flow of the Santa Ana River. The lower bay was formed much later by sand carried in by ocean currents, forming the peninsula. Throughout the 1800's, settlers began to arrive. The State of California sold acre-plots of land for $1 a piece in this area. The city was officially founded in 1906 after being connected with downtown Los Angeles by a new railway line. The semi-artificial harbor was formed by dredging during the early 1900's. Several artificial islands were also built, including Balboa Island. The harbor once supported industries such as ship building and commercial fishing but is now used mostly for recreation. With around 9,000 boats, it is one of the largest recreational boat harbors on the west coast.

Corona Del Mar beach

Lots of activity on the water!

A tiny hummingbird takes a quick break on a palm tree.

A curious pigeon ambles past.

Clearly not everyone is fond of the pigeons, to which these artificial hawks (intended to frighten off the birds) can attest.