California Here We Come!

Tracy & Cindy

Our second vacation was to California to visit my family and to introduce Tracy to them.  We planned to go on this trip in April of 2010.  Ultimately we would be flying to L.A.X. and then renting a car to travel north of Santa Barbara to Orcutt where my parents live.  However, we were going to be tourists first and see Hollywood and go to Santa Monica Pier.

We had been dating for 6 months, i had been introduced to her Mom, Grandma, Aunt, and kids and things were becoming very serious between us.  I was going to propose on this trip, but i was going to wait until we had some romantic alone time at the beach which wouldn't come until the end.  So, first, some touristy fun!

Wanting to stay in the Los Angeles area at the Travel Lodge Hotel L.A.X.. This wasn’t my first visit here, but it’s likely my last unless I travel alone again.  The hotel is older and outdated, but there is a pretty good level of security with the fenced in gate and onsite management with security guards.  The bed and bathroom are relatively clean.  I’ve stayed here over the years having to catch a flight the next day or come in late the night before.  It’s moderately priced around $75 - $100 (depending on the time of year) and I know where it is from most rental car locations.  Plus there is a Denny’s in the same parking lot so I can start my day or end my day (whichever the case) with a meal.   What I can say about this hotel in one word…”convenient”.  Tracy, on the other hand, has many more words to describe it...not so pleasant ones.

Hollywood Sign from the Highland & Hollywood Center

Grabbing our cameras we head out to Hollywood to do it up like a tourist!  If it's your first trip to Hollywood and you really want to see what's left of it, i recommend parking your car at Highland & Hollywood .  It's $2.00 and hour or the max is $13.00 for the whole day.  It was the best money i spend in Hollywood.  The car was safe and in the shade the whole day and it was easy to get in and out of and to find.  When you walk out of the parking garage you are right in the hub of tourist Hollywood, CA.

We walked around for a bit looking at the Walk of

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Stars, celebrity impersonators, and costumed entertainers.  Here's a tip, take some singles because if you want your photo taken with an entertainer or you want to just take a pic they will expect a "tip" ranging from $1 - $5 depending on what you're asking of them.  Tracy took a photo of Snoopy and he practically chased her down to get a tip.  Lesson learned.  There are plenty of souvenir shops so don't worry about grabbing them at the Highland shopping area...same touristy stuff down the streets for half the price.  I will say that there is some high end retail shopping there if you're into that. We're not.  One thing to definitely do is go up to the 2nd or 3rd floor and walk across the bridge.  From here you can get one of the few unobstructed views of the Hollywood sign.  It's a good photo op.  The famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a short walk from there.  Hand & foot prints and all.  Classic Hollywood so you really should have your camera out.

StarLine Hollywood Tours

We decided to do the StarLine City Sight Seeing bus tour.  It was April so the buses were running, but they weren't very full.  I'd been to Hollywood before when i lived in California, but i hadn't really done the tourist thing.  The great thing is you can pick up the StarLine in front of Highland & Hollywood.  This was very nice however there were too many vendors trying to sell the tickets.  You can check out the website to figure out which tour you WANT to do before you arrive.  I highly recommend this as you will get approached time and time again to go on it.  It's best to know what you want to see.  We decided we wanted to go from Hollywood to the Santa Monica Pier and back.  It's a hop on / hop off tour which means at any stop you can get off and hang out and then just pick up another StarLine bus later.  Since we went i've noticed there are more tours offered.  Our tour was O.K. but it lacked substance.  We didn't have a person with a mic giving us the tour like you'd see in the summer months, it was a recording and a lot of what we saw on the way to the beach was "this USED to be the home of...".  You do get to go through Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive so that was cool.  Prices vary depending on the tour.  Average about $40 per person.

Cindy is 4th from the left - H.D.S. days circa 1985

Santa Monica Pier and the beach was fun.  One of the things i got a kick out of was the Hot Dog on a Stick (H.D.S.).  This was one of the first Hot Dog on a Stick's and a landmark at the beach.  There was a constant line because the food and lemonade are that good.  $5 - $7 a person depending on what you get.  I always get a Jalapeno cheese on a stick.  Deep fried spicy melted goodness (dipped in mustard - YUM!). It's a wicked indulgence for sure.  Tracy prefers the regular american cheese on a stick which is also amazing!

Fun fact:  I worked at a Hot Dog on a Stick in the mall as my first job from 1985 - 1988. That's me above!

The pier has a carnival feel with rides, fun foods, arcade, shopping, and an overall jovial atmosphere. We shared a funnel cake while people watching and just enjoyed each others company.  There was parking at the pier which we noted for the next trip since the StarLine bus dropped us off there.  We walked down to the beach and took a walk while listening to the waves crash.  This is something we both like to listen to, so it made it extra special for us.  You can walk under the pier which offered us some really good pictures of the waves coming in. This orange kayak is obviously attached, but worth the trek under the pier to see.

Up the coast we traveled to spend some time with my family in Orcutt.  The point, after all, of this trip is to introduce my (hopefully) future wife to my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  There is nothing like coming home for a family B.B.Q. and a ping pong tournament   When i say B.B.Q. it means is Santa Maria style B.B.Q. which is indigenous to the area.  I grew up on it, so it's not a big deal to me, but for most it's pretty good eats.  Seasoned tri-tip sirloin grilled over an oak pit flame, Pinquitos beans, salad, and oak pit grill garlic bread.  This used to be available only in parking lots as fundraisers for different organizations.  Now, with the wine boom, it's added to a lot of the menus at restaurants in town where they've added red wines and strawberries for dessert.  We don't drink wine, but i can tell you that we have some of the best wineries in California.  Unfortunately, i can't speak to the wines.  I had Tracy sample it at the Original Roadhouse Grill and she was kinda disappointed.  It was dry and tough to chew, not the moist succulent piece of meat it's supposed to be.  I really should have driven her down Broadway to find the open pit on the side of the road.  This food really is best the original way it was served.

Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle

One of the things i love to do is take the drive further north to San Simeon, CA home of Hearst Castle and the sea lion rookery.  If you live in the mid-west, you're probably asking yourself what the heck?  Well, Hearst Castle is the architecturally amazing ranch house home of William Randolph Hearst.  I'm not going to go into a ton of detail because this is one of my favorite things to do, but i know that it can be boring for most.  All i'll say is that if you love art history, tales of celebrity visits, and architecture, this is a MUST stop.  I'm not really into any one of those things, but combined, i love what i see and hear.  Perhaps because the whole thing was designed by a woman, Julia Morgan, in a time where women weren't giving orders.  Follow the links if you want to learn more about this tourist spot.  I'll tantalize you with a pic we took of the outdoor pool.  I recommend the Grand Rooms Tour if it's your first visit.  It's kind of an overall tour and shows you both pools and the dinning room. Cost of the tours $25.00 for adults $12.00 for children 5-12.

Hearst Castle Dining Hall

Fun fact: The dining room at Hearst Castle is what inspired the idea for the main dinning hall at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies.

One Baby Sea Lion Sunbathing

The sea lion rookery is even more amazing.  First of all, it's FREE! Secondly, it's extraordinary! These sea lions have found this little beach (Peidras Blancas rookery) and return year after year with their young.  It's wildlife with no locks or cages, but you do stay away from these beasts.  You're able to view the magnificent animals from atop which makes it safer for the animals and the humans.  The males are the largest and can grow up to about 9 feet and almost 800lbs.  The female sea lions about half that weight.  There is actually a rough schedule of when you'll find females, adult males, babies, and teens at the rookery.  Each time i go i see something new.  If you have kids, this can be super cool to experience because there isn't just one or two of them...there are many across the beach.

To round out this northbound Central Coast trip there is Cambria, CA.  This is a quaint little shopping town. "Charming" would be the best word to describe it.  Even though Tracy and i aren't big shoppers, we did enjoy walking around and going into a few stores.  There are a couple of eateries worth mentioning.  The Cambria Pub and Steakhouse had an amazing fish & chips which we both enjoyed and Tracy didn't stop raving about.  I've wanted to get back there to try their Panko breaded artichoke hearts...sounds yummy.  I regret not ordering them when we were there.  Linn's of Cambia home of some of the best fruit pies, known for their Olallieberry pie (a cross of a blackberry and a raspberry).  I'm not much of a berry person so i stuck with the California Apricot pie.  It was worth the stop off.  We definitely had full bellies on the ride back to my parents house in Orcutt. 

Santa Barbara - View from our Car

A few days later and Tracy and i were to start the trip down south to L.A.X. so we could fly home to Milwaukee.  We were staying at my cousin's place, in Oxnard, right on the beach.  She was out of town so we got the place to ourselves.  This was my plan all along to be able to walk along the beach at sunset and propose.  However, before we got to Oxnard, we stopped off in Santa Barbara, CA.  I have passed Santa Barbara countless times on the freeway on the way to Grandma's house in Ventura, CA, but hadn't really ever stopped off.  Like i said, when we're on vacation, we're tourists!  

Tracy & Cindy

Did i mention that Tracy LOVES beaches and waterfronts?  We stopped and walked along the beach and once again enjoyed the day and each other's company.  This beach is beautiful to look at and there are plenty of places to rent bikes, skates, quads, kayaks, surfboards, and other means of getting around.  There is even a skate park which was kinda cool to watch.  There is street parking if you can find it, but also a lot of parking lots as well.  We found street parking this time, but the parking lot rates are $2.00 an hour or $12.00 all day rate. It's my understanding that on certain days there is also street fairs where you can see local artist works, farmer's market, and other types of vendor shopping.  We didn't get to experience this.  We did manage to take a beach "selfie" with the timer on my camera. Then we got back to the car and headed further south to Oxnard, CA.

Once we were alone i asked Tracy if she wanted to go for a walk on the beach. It was dark because we the sun was definitely set, but there was still a little light left.  I had the ring in my pockets and could feel myself getting nervous.  We chatted about our future together and how i wanted to be a part of the kids lives.  I thought i was being smooth, but i guess my perception was off because of the excitement of it all.  When i asked i basically shoved the ring up her nose.  We get a good laugh out of that story now.  She did say "yes" and i put the ring on her finger.  I had gotten myself a matching ring too so i pulled that out and put it on.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect week together.  The kids already knew i was going to do it and approved wholeheartedly.  After all, i wasn't just going to marry Tracy, i was going to marry her kids too!

Us!