Tuesday April 14: Cali-freakin-fornia!!!

I really, really, really like it here. =)

We got a slight taste of things last evening as we drove in to the hotel, but it was nothing compared to today's experience. Today we did some serious californing.

We awoke just in time to miss the continental breakfast (ends at 9am), but neither of us were feeling particularly hungry. I brewed up some coffee, we checked our emails, enjoyed the view from our hotel room (pictured here), and scoured over the brochures we'd picked up from the California Welcome Center we visited when we entered the state. Honestly though, there was only one thing we were actually interested in. The famous OC beaches! "Don't call it that!" (And no, that Arrested Development joke never got old). The sky was overcast, and it wasn't really a "beach day" but we weren't going to let that stop us.

So! Into the car we went, and headed out to Highway 1, the legendary Pacific Coastal Highway. Our first stop was Seal Beach, a quaint little beach town with a gorgeous view of LA's skyline. It reminded me a little of Port Dover but with palm trees. Both of us were wearing our most satisfied grins as we strolled along the water line in bare feet, marveling at the feel of the Pacific Ocean around our ankles. It was just about as perfect as perfect can be.

Eventually, our stomachs reminded us of missed meals and we went back to the main strip in search of a patio. Surprisingly, California doesn't seem like a patio friendly state. At least, we only found one out of about a dozen restaurants that actually featured one. (As the day progressed, we continued to keep eyes peeled for potential patios but they seem to be far and few between. Chris supposes that the weather gets pretty hot here, and that locals are either inside or on the beach.) The restaurant we ended up at was called Athen's West, a little Greek diner where we both enjoyed their signature platter which included a steak skewer, a chicken skewer, liberal doses of Gyro meat, rice and greek salad. Delicious! And the patio was fantastic, especially considering the overcast *chilly* weather.

Alas, the parking we'd paid for was almost up, and there were plenty of beaches still to check out, so we loaded our overfed selves back into the Civic and hit the road. I find Orange County to be a really strange place. Lovely. But strange. There are just so many weird juxtapositions. As we drove, we had the beach on one side, an oil field on the other, and multi-million beach condos thrown into the mix. (We know the prices of housing; we checked. 3.5 mil to buy a small one, 3000/month for an apartment). And Chris' beautiful car looks like a peasant at an 1800's ball. They were all Beamers, Mercedes, Porches and Audis. We even saw a Maserati. Seriously, it was like being at a car show.

The next beach we stopped at was Huntington Beach. The waves were huge and we ended up just sitting on the sand watching the surfers ply their trade, and in such a manner passed a glorious hour. I think we were both a little sad to make our way back to the car, but we'd only paid for an hour parking. I suspect that Huntington hasn't seen the last of us.

We drove through Newport but decided to drive on farther south down the coast. Laguana Beach (where the TV show of the same name is filmed) was not tourist friendly, in my opinion. There was no parking, as far as I can tell, and we were through the town before we knew it. The architecture of these coastal towns is really really interesting, however. Either all the buildings look exactly the same, or they are on the opposite side of the spectrum, each uniquely designed. From a classical "castle" type, to your ultra-modern "architect making a statement" type, but all interesting in their own way.

The beach at Dana Point looked interesting, but there's a railway that runs between the highway and the beach with only one crossing, which we missed. As we were about to turn around we spotted a coffee shop and we both said, "Mmmmmm". While sipping our drinks, we looked through a free paper which featured information about the big music festival that's going to be happening here next weekend. It looks like a lot of fun, and if tickets were within our price range I would surely want to go. A number of my favorite bands are playing. The paper itself was very interesting in terms of LA culture. In the classifieds, there were two full pages of ads selling "medical" marijuana.

It was getting on in the afternoon, and we decided to forgo more beaches for the time being. Really, we didn't have any plans for the evening, but I think we're both still recuperating from the trip up here. We don't have a lot of money to spend on activities, which we didn't think was a problem as there are many things to do in LA for free. Namely, beaches. But we didn't consider what to do when the sun went down, and both of us were stumped. We're welcome to suggestions.

Back at the hotel, we decided to just find a pub with a patio to chill out in until bedtime. This proved more difficult than we anticipated (there don't seem to be any such establishments near us), so we ended up at a Tony Roma's Steakhouse. We ordered a pitcher of Heineken, and a burger each for supper. The burger section on the menu proudly said, "Substitute your hamburger patty for our tasty buffalo burger for only 1.99." Well, hot dog! We both are very fond of buffalo burgers, so when we ordered our meal we pointed at the menu and told the server, "We want this!" "Ahh," said the server, "You'd like to add a buffalo patty to your burger. Very nice". We should have clued in, but when the food arrived our hamburgers sported both a beef patty and a buffalo patty. Needless to say, it was a big hamburger, and we were both feeling stuffed beyond belief by the time we finished.

Now, Chris has turned in and I'm happily documenting our days events. I really like this blog, for more reasons than just the opportunity for my family and friends to share the trip with me. It really gives clarity to my experiences. As things are happening, I'm really drinking it all in with the thought at the back of my head that I'll need to blog this all soon. It's really cool.

Tomorrow is a big day. Both Dream and Kage are meeting us at the hotel at 10am, and then, we shall Hollywood! (I can use Hollywood as a verb, right?)

By the way, Home is where you set your Hearth. I know where mine is. =) Too bad it's not an Inn.