Californication

I’ve been on vacation in California for eight days.

We started out in L.A., which isn’t really as amazing as everyone seems to think. “Hollywood” is pretty much a bust, in my opinion. I guess I might have still been lagging from over seven hours of air travel, but the shops on Rodeo Drive (Heaven help you if you pronounce it Ro-dee-oh) are, from what I saw, designer jewelers and such. I’m not really a Gucci girl. Give me my kitschy mall shops any day.

Graulmann’s (the big, Oriental-looking theater on the walk of fame) is stuck smack in the middle of a bunch of bland, low-brow shops. (No, thank you, I need no new attachments for my phone, especially if they’ll send the memory to hell in a hand basket)

The people there are definitely interesting if you like people-watching, and some of the homes are beautiful. Plus, my father and I went out drive-by sightseeing with Patricia, who works for my parents. She’s absolutely adorable, really. She kept leaning out the window and asking people for directions, trying to get pictures of every Spanish street name, etc.

She even sang Phantom of the Opera with my father. o.O

Summarizing a little here, I don’t recommend Santa Monica Pier unless you’re going with a bunch of friends or have little kids. It’s pretty tacky, so unless you’re going for the amusement park value, it’s not such a good idea.

I would, however, recommend Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, which is amazingly fun. There’s ice cream, candy shops, seafood, cute tourist shops, and a lot of fun for everybody.

…Except whale watching.

My parents forced me on a whale watching tour (which lasted three hours) on the Princess Monterey. The boat rocked like nobody’s business, and the crew wasn’t exactly comforting in their instructions on sea sickness. There were loads of pushy Asian tourists (one of whom almost knocked me down.)

We finally got out there, and we saw whale tails, blows, etc. But after a while, running back and forth to the two sides of the ship to ‘1 o’clock! 2 o’clock! OOH! Now there’s a beauty at 10 o’clock!!!’ gets really old.

We stayed out chasing the whales for over an hour.

And I got sunburn sitting in the shade. The freezing cold California sea-boat shade.

-.-

My scalp burns.

It’s a good thing I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

I also got nauseous. Thankfully, I didn’t ‘Lose it’, but I did get the pleasure of seeing quite a few other people do so.

There’s nothing like seeing Marty the Pirate-Voiced Crewman chase a defenseless Asian woman to the back of the boat so her lunch doesn’t say hello to the rest of the passengers a la ocean spray.

Poor thing.

Anyway, today we hunted down a Borders for me on our way out of Sacramento, so I’m good for now.

…Strange, aren’t I?