“I’m California Dreaming...”
The Golden State. The 31st state of the U.S. may have been named due to its part in the Gold Rush, but there's gold of different sorts all over this beautiful land. Being from Florida, the only kind of land you know is flat. The beaches are flat with shelly sand and the inland is even flatter. It's great when you go for a run, but not always exciting to look at. On the other hand (and other side of the country), there is no such thing as flatland. The mountains meet the hills and the hills meet the rocks and the rocks meet the ocean. All Mother Nature blends into one spectacular form of land in the great state of California.
My dad had a work conference in Anaheim in late July, which meant his flight and hotel was 100% paid for. Therefore, going to California and making a vacation out of it became feasible and somewhat affordable, as we only had to pay for my mom and I's flight and extra nights in hotel rooms. So we set out for the Golden State full of stress and also excitement.
Anaheim is a smaller city on the outskirts of Los Angeles. It’s also home to Disney Land. Our hotel and the convention center by dad had to go to was conveniently located one block from the gates of Disney. Being from Orlando, the home of Mickey Mouse, Disney Land was a must-see on our trip.
My mom and I standing in the middle of Main Street USA (west coast style)
There were definitely some differences and similarities between the two parks. There was a castle, a lake for Tom Sawyer’s island, all the mountains (Splash, Space and Thunder), a Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a Main Street USA.
The little lake for Tom Sawyer's island. It was also home to the light show at night.
However, the castle was not Cinderella’s castle, it was Sleeping Beauty’s. It was also about an eighth of the size as Cinderella’s. Everything is a lot more compact and close together. They say the entire park of Disney Land can fit in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom (to give you an idea of how compact I mean). You can walk straight from one ride to the next. There’s also an Indiana Jones ride which is really awesome and I’m still holding out hope that they’ll build one in Orlando. The best part of the park was a roller coaster that resembles Everest of Animal Kingdom’s park. This ride was called the “Matterhorn” and it was so thrilling my dad almost had a second heart attack on it. On the other side of the Disney Land entrance is the California Adventures entrance. Although we didn’t go in this park, it looks like quite the adventure.
While staying in Anaheim, my mom and I became extreme tourists for a day and made reservations for an LA bus tour. We went to all the major stops around town, starting with downtown Los Angeles. This was cool to see, but still just your typical downtown city with skyscrapers and business men in suits. There also wasn’t a whole lot going on since it was the middle of the morning on a weekday.
Downtown L.A.
A picture of the opera house in downtown L.A.
We also saw the Olympic stadium where the games were played in 1932 and 1984. We didn’t get to go inside, but were able to marvel at the magnificence of the outside.
After downtown we made our way to a small town north of L.A. It was heavily influenced by Mexican culture and therefore had great food, music and dancing. I’m not sure what the name of the city was, but it was a great cultural experience for the suburbs. We were only at this stop for about an hour, so we didn't have a lot of time to look around.
The main place we visited was the oldest house in Los Angeles.
The courtyard of the house was filled with cacti... ouch!
Our next stop on the tour was the highly coveted Hollywood. Being an adolescent girl obsessed with movies, pop culture and Matt Damon, this was my favorite stop.
Hello future hubby.
We saw Hollywood Blvd, the Kodak Theatre and Walk of Fame. My mom and I got lunch at a cool 50’s dinner down the street and I prayed the whole time I would see someone famous. Sadly, my dreams did not come true.
Camera crews were outside the Chinese Theatre.
Paramount Pictures Studios.
Our final stop on the tour was another place I couldn’t wait to see, Rodeo Drive. One more thing I was obsessed with in high school was nice, expensive things that my parents or I could never afford. But window shopping through Tiffany’s, Chanel and all the other stores was just as magical as I had hoped. I also learned a lot on this tour. I saw the Beverly Hills Hotel where Pretty Woman was filmed (a movie I have yet to see) and also learned that at the time, Rodeo Drive was the only street in America where pedestrians could legally cross the street diagonally. I don't know if by now, this is legal in other cities, but I never realized before this that crossing diagonally is illegal. I’ll never forget seeing those white lines going every which way at the intersections of Rodeo Drive.
A street intersecting with Rodeo Drive. It resembles the cobblestone side streets of Germany
Beverly Hills
On our way back to Anaheim, we passed a lot of iconic places in the area, like the Viper Room and other clubs and music venues where famous bands got their start.
After spending a few days in Anaheim and laying by one of the nicest pools I’ve ever been to, my dad’s conference was over and it was time to head south to San Diego.
I spent a lot of time down there working on getting tan. It actually isn't the nicest pool I've ever been to, but the hotel as a whole was definitely up there... our room was a suite!
We made our way to the rental car place (and got quite lost pulling out) but eventually navigated to the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped off in some famous places like Laguna Beach, Newport and Huntington. I don't know about everyone else, but I was and still am, in love with the show The OC. Therefore seeing Newport Beach was everything I wanted and more.
Huntington Beach
Laguna Beach... or was this Newport? I can't remember, I get my famous West Coast beaches mixed up.
After a long drive we made it Dana Point, a place I had never heard of before, but soon fell in love with. Just look at the beauty…
While in Dana Point, we went whale and dolphin watching. Now I’ve been on boats, cruise ships, and even been whale watching on the East Coast before. But for some reason, this trip made me very sick. I missed a lot of great things while out at sea, but after laying down and sleeping for a little bit, I was able to get up and see some dolphins and seals.
After seeing the ocean’s finest specimens, we kept driving south and made it to San Diego. And what did we do in San Diego? We did what everyone does while in San Diego… we went to the San Diego Zoo! This zoo was absolutely amazing and truly like no other. It felt bigger than Disney World and was filled with creatures of every shape and size.
Leaving the zoo with the elephant hedge by my side.
Just a typical polar bear playing with a trash can. No big deal.
Giraffes are just about my favorite wild animal, so there's about 1,000 more pictures of this same giraffe on my camera.
Pandas! The San Diego Zoo is one of very few in the world that have Pandas and I got to see these cuties up close.
Our day in San Diego had to come to an end and the next morning we were off on the road again heading north. We drove up the Pacific Coast Highway past all those famous beaches, past Santa Monica and Los Angeles and were headed as far north as we could get. Our goal was to hit San Francisco, but our flight was leaving from L.A. and we just couldn’t make it in time. However, the time was not wasted one bit. We drove through Malibu, which was very different than I expected. There were less mansions on hillsides and just a lot of beach. We stopped off on a pier and walked down it where they were of course filming something for an upcoming movie.
Malibu pier.
At the time I knew what movie they were filming for, but now I have forgotten... rats!
At some points we got off the Pacific Coast Highway and headed inland, through the mountains, rocks and desert. California has such a vast terrain that every time you look out the window you see something completely different.
Sitting on the edge of the Earth in Malibu.
On our way north to Carmel.
Inland from the beaches making our way north.
Various small beach towns and stop offs were made as we finally made it Carmel. This was as far north as we made it, but a good place to stop as Carmel is the small town that Clint Eastwood was mayor of. It’s also near the top of a mountain and the town resembles the small towns in Germany that I’ve seen with the wooden outsides and flowers on the window sills. We even ate breakfast at a little German restaurant that had THE best pancakes I've ever had in my life.
As we left Carmel, we passed through the famous Pebble Beach. Another place I had never heard of before, my mom quickly educated me on its importance to all golfers.
Pebble Beach really does have a beach. And a gigantic golf course.
A few days later and we were back in Los Angeles. The entire trip dOriving down the coastal highway in the back seat was something I’ll never forget. I remember looking out to the right and seeing the Pacific ocean with the beautiful sun setting in the distance on top of the water. I remember passing oil rigs off shore and aching for them to be gone.
Oil rigs offshore. I'd never seen anything like it before and it made me sad.
And then I looked to my left and saw rock soaring higher than I could see. These are truly things that can only be found in California. As soon as we left I told myself I would be back to stay. It hasn’t happened yet, but someday I hope to call California home.
After all the sight seeing, driving and picture taking, my parents and I had a great time in California. But nothing can replace the absence of my brother and the pain we felt doing these things without him. Whether you make it to the West Coast someday or just dream about it, remember to always call your loved ones and tell them how much they mean to you. Every day can be our last, so drink up the sun and spread the love and beauty of life.
