March 21, 2010

Eco-tourism, the guilt-trip.

Enough whale-watching for you. Time for urban cruise where the sightseeing is the pollution and blight of L.A. harbor.
On a drizzly afternoon, a group of tourists huddle aboard the Christopher sipping wine, nibbling cookies and gazing out at the ocean just off Long Beach. Cameras dangle from their necks, ready to record the sights....

Corroded metal shipping containers, belching smokestacks, trash-strewn waterways and oil islands highlight this harbor cruise.

The 2 1/2 -hour excursion takes passengers through a seascape short on the picturesque but full of concrete and metal -- a ride through exhaust-tinged air and past power plants, rusty warehouses and the Terminal Island prison that once housed Charles Manson and Al Capone.
What's with the wine and cookies? Shouldn't it be something more medicinal and off-flavored? Wheatgrass juice and vegan sushi, maybe.

(I must admit, I would enjoy this cruise. 1. Great photo-ops. 2. Reality is always beautiful/interesting from a safe distance.)

13 comments:

Xmas said...

Hey, pickled daikon or cucumber sushi can be pretty tasty...

mesquito said...

When I was at UT, we met some New Zealanders who had arrived in-country only hours earlier. They were eager to see some real American crime, so we drove around east Austin for a few hours very late on a Saturday night.

Anonymous said...

Don't you find it at all hilarious, Ann, how they've chosen to document this cruise photographically?

It's not a picture of belching smokestacks ... no it's a picture of crapping wildlife standing in its own filth that the wildlife itself creates.

Ron said...

Detroit -- the New Serengeti!

Paco Wové said...

The hair shirts are complimentary; the flagellating sessions are $10.00 per 15 minutes.

Unknown said...

Eco-Smugism.

Omaha1 said...

ironically, when we visited San Diego a few years ago, we found that the only place where you were allowed to smoke and drink at the same time was on the whale-watching cruise, out on the deck of the boat.

No sackcloth and ashes for us! Well maybe ashes but no sackcloth.

Unknown said...

Total exaggeration. The Long Beach area is a working port. Yes, the surfing is gone. Boo hoo. And hey, maybe we shouldn't protect the sacred cormorants and they wouldn't cover the port with poop! Just a thought.

The Gang Tours are really taking off, though.

Gang Tours

Big Mike said...

Whale watching sounds like more fun.

Big Mike said...

@PatCA, I followed your link and here's what they say:

"Our goal with LA GANG TOURS is to use the profits from the tours to create jobs and provide opportunities" ...

Without a real high school education what sort of jobs would those be? Just askin'

mariner said...

What a bunch of dumbasses.

Here is Island White. What a blight on the harbor!

Here is Island Grissom at night. It looks even better from the shore, or further away from a ship.

There may be an odd piece of trash here and there, but "trash-strewn"? I haven't seen it when I've been there.

Unknown said...

Big Mike,
They just say that so it doesn't look like they're capitalizing on violence. Even tho they are.

bagoh20 said...

Within 5 miles and adjacent to this area are beautiful parks and some of the most scenic and wonderfully life filled coastline in the world. This is like judging the character of a home by use of a toilet cam.