H. H. West's daughter, Frances, stands on the beach with her back to the camera. She wears ribbons in her hair. A man and woman walk by the ocean. The man wears a bathing suit and the woman wears a sweater. There is seaweed scattered on the sand.
The battleships that the people were waiting for were part of President Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet, which passed through Santa Monica Bay on April 25, 1908.
Lola Bidwell pushes Elizabeth West in a stroller. She holds an umbrella at an angle. She wears a large hat and a white dress. Elizabeth is sitting up and wears a bonnet. There are utility poles throughout with wires overhead. There is sand at the left.
Mary West sits on a wooden bench eating lunch with her daughter, Elizabeth West, and her in-laws, George and Wilhelmina West. Both women wear large hats. Elizabeth is sitting on the long pile of wood next to the picnic baskets. George and Wilhelmina sit on wooden stumps. There are other wood planks at the right. In the background, there are buildings with scaffolding in front of them and wagons parked in front. There are utility poles and wires throughout.
E. C. "Dick" Taylor holds a gun over his shoulder with ducks hanging from it. He wears a hat and a vest with objects in the pockets. He stands in front of the West's beach cottage. There are shovels leaning up against the cottage and a bench at the left. Taylor stands on a wooden walkway.
People sit on the beach watching the passing fleet of battleships. Steam streams from the ships, which are visible in the distance. The people sit in the sand, on a chair, and on a bench. There is a sign in the sand at the left.