Somewhere in the Sun...
Los Angeles was fun, and I am completely and totally not ready to go home. There was still so much more to see, and so many places to go. At least that gives me an excuse to get out here again sometime soon. I loved it.What did we do yesterday? Well, first of all, we slept in. And after 42 hours without sleep, I was not upset about that at all. We drove into Ventura, which by the way is really called the City of San Buenaventura, or St. Bonaventure in English. The whole town was built up around this mission church built near the ocean by Fr. Junipero Serra. Now, every kid in Catholic grade school learned about Fr. Serra and the California missions he started, so I was so excited to go there. I loved my tour of the church and I spent way too much money in the gift shop. I bought some gifts for my brother Gary, who loves Our Lady of Guadalupe. Because St. Francis (or San Francisco as they call him in Cali) is Lance’s patron saint, I bought him some gifts too. I bought my prayer candle for the week and said my prayers in the courtyard, both to La Virgen Maria and St. Jude. I took pictures of the statue and as soon as I can download my pics, I will post them.
After our visit to the Mission (We saw not one, but TWO weddings while we were there!!!), we stopped by a little gift shop where I picked up some really cute souvenirs. I probably should’ve bought more, but I didn’t. I just never found other stuff that I liked as much during the day.
Now for the highlight of my day: We hit the beach. I took my shoes off, rolled my pant legs up and played in the ocean. I loved it when I got out of the car and smelled the salt in the air. I fell in love with the feeling of the sand between my toes. The water was freezing, but I felt so good that I didn’t care. The Pacific Ocean is a lot stronger than the Atlantic, and every time the water came in, it took the sand under your feet out with it. It looks very muddy. It had been a while since I’d been to the coast. I used to go to the Outer Banks every summer with my family, and since I’ve been able to go by myself, I’ve gone other places. I’ve seen the South, the Heartland of America and Europe, but high school was the last time I was in the ocean. So, it was nice to feel the sting of the salty water on my skin, to have the waves lap at my feet. Lately lots of folks have been talking about the healing power of the ocean, and I just suspected it was the rum and not really the sand and surf that was improving their outlook on life. I was so wrong about that. I just can’t think of a better place on earth to be than the ocean. And I wouldn’t trade the view of the sun setting over the pacific for anything on earth, I don’t think.
I had amazing meals while I was in California. I told you a little bit yesterday about the amazing tacos and margaritas at Acapulco on Alameda Blvd. in Burbank (across from the NBC studios). On Saturday we had lunch at Eric Ericcson’s seafood restaurant right on the pier. Something about fresh seafood, vegetables and fruit that I think Californians take for granted. Last night we ended our day eating ice cream by the beach. We went back to Gretchen’s and watched Kenny on CMT. He looked yummy, but I was very upset at the choices on the Top Ten videos. I’m thinking all the kiddos who have jumped on his bandwagon picked because while I liked some of the videos that made the cut, I couldn’t believe that “I Lost It” and “That’s Why I’m Here” weren’t on there. Especially since “That’s Why I’m Here” is on CMT’s list of all-time favorite videos. “Old Blue Chair” made it, and it’s just other footage recycled and made into a video, and “Who You’d Be Today” made it. I think it’s safe to say I wasn’t pleased with that choice. Did I tell you yesterday that Gretchen told Melvis we didn’t like that song? He told her he was telling Kenny on us.
Well, I’m in LAX waiting for my flight to leave, and I need to go take a potty break. I might check in when I get to Atlanta, but most likely I’ll be posting when I get home.
That’s all for now from the less sober half of the “Margaritas in the Morning” crew.
posted by Laura at
6:00 AM
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