Southern California in November is glorious—the temperature is moderate and the skies are clear—perfect conditions for a stroll along the ocean. Looking for something new, Barbara and I ventured out for Paul Haddad's 5 mile there-and-back hike from the Hermosa Beach Pier to the Redondo Beach Pier, two of the iconic western-facing beaches between Marina Del Rey and Palos Verdes. Close enough to tackle on foot, yet different enough in personality to make the trip interesting. We began at Hermosa Avenue in the small, funky town of Hermosa Beach, population 18,566. Walking west toward the pier along Pier Avenue, one of the main shopping, dining, and entertainment areas of the city that self-bills as "The Jazz Corner of the West," we passed The Lighthouse Café, home of jazz concerts since 1949, and, in 2016, the home of Ryan Gosling's piano performances in LA LA LAND. Cool. At the end of Pier Avenue we walked out onto the pier, the original built in 1904, and, when parts were washed away in 1913, replaced by the charming, 1000 ft., concrete fishing pier we strolled along today (the pier also had a LA LA LAND cameo in Gosling's "City of Stars" number). Lining both sides of the first half of the pier is the "Surfers Walk of Fame"—names of famous surfers embedded in tokens, and at the end of the pier, several anglers had their poles perched on the rail. Easy, lazy, beautiful, and just the kind of place to exercise the dog or sit on a bench to enjoy the view with your morning coffee. Leaving the Hermosa Pier, we headed south along The Strand with walkers and cyclists toward Redondo Beach while we did a bit of fantasy beach house shopping. On the ocean side: surfers and game after game of beach volleyball. The Strand ends at Herondo Drive, so we walked over to Harbor Drive then continued south, taking in the "make the city beautiful" mosaics and local artist Wyland's huge, 87-ft whale mural on the generating plant on the east side of the street. We felt the difference in atmosphere as soon as we entered Redondo Beach. Every SoCal beach brags about its surfing reputation, but only Redondo Beach can claim the origin story for California surfing. George Freeth (1883–1919), "The Man Who Can Walk on Water," came to Redondo in 1907 and revived the lost Polynesian art of surfing with his 8 ft., 200-pound surfboard. Redondo Beach is bigger—population 63,261, and busier—the fishing boats in King Harbor, and the ocean-view bike shacks, seafood restaurants, and outdoor gyms. To our delight when we reached the pier area and looked out at the breakwater, there was some kind of Thanksgiving competition going on. (Gosh, I hope it was a competition.) Picture paddle boarders dressed in tutus, turkey heads, turkey feathers, and pumpkin heads, some solo, some with kids, others with dogs on the boards, paddling their way to a meeting point near the marina. We stopped, happy to reach our destination: the horseshoe shaped Redondo Beach Pier that started in 1889 as a wharf to handle the lumber trade. Two more wharfs were added in 1895 and 1903; another in 1919...and then it got complicated with storms, a fire, and reconstruction until, in 1995, the pier we stood on today was completed. It's now the largest "endless" pier on the California Coast. A quick break, a deep breath, and then we retraced our steps back to Hermosa and the car, grateful to be living in SoCal.