Day 4: LA, LB, SM, and LV

First off, may I just say that I never want to go on a week's vacation in December ever again? Combine the week away with reformatting the computer, piano gigs, Christmas tree-ing, and shopping (heck, even just planning what to buy), and this December has just flown by.

Before I continue my story, I should also mention that we wore shorts both days we were in California. That's probably the first time I've ever worn shorts in December! Once we returned to Vegas, it was a bit cooler -- in the 60s during the day, 40s at night.

I got my "My English Is Better Than Your English" fix early in the morning upon viewing this sign in the hotel parking garage:

Someone already took the liberty of editing, I see. Perhaps it was supposed to be an ad for Absolut Vodka?

One of the sights I wanted to see was the Santa Monica Pier, so we meandered our way up the Pacific Coast Highway. This took us through Long Beach:



We departed from the highway for a bit to check out the RMS Queen Mary, a retired ocean liner now serving as a museum and hotel. A Soviet sub also floats next to it.



The water afforded some cool reflections of the ship:


We got turned around attempting to get back to the Pacific Coast Highway, and ended up crossing the Vincent Thomas Bridge:

(My dad always takes pictures of bridges like this on vacation, so this one is really for him.)

We arrived at Santa Monica Pier in late afternoon. Sadly, Pacific Park had only the ferris wheel running, so I was not able to add one more to my coaster count. The Pier was pretty cool to walk around, especially on such a pleasant (albeit hazy) afternoon. I got to set foot in the Pacific Ocean for the first time -- unintentionally, since the water came in to shore faster than I could run backward.



It was hard to get a nice wide, panoramic shot of the ocean, so I took a brief video recording instead. (This is a 7.5 MB MPEG file, so it may take a little while to load.)

We had had a late and large breakfast at IHOP back in Anaheim, so we skipped lunch and opted for an early dinner. But before looking around for a place to eat, Stu's dad pointed out that the sun would be setting in about 15 minutes, so we hung out on the beach to wait for the light show; and am I ever glad we did! Trying to take pictures directly into the sun, even while setting, posed some issues with my camera's light meter and color correction, so I took most of them with my sunglasses in front of the lens. In addition, I did some work in Photoshop in an attempt to recreate what I remember seeing in real life. I had many, many photos to choose from, but have pared it down to six here; many were similar, and I chose these six based on small details like the position of waves and water, reflections on the shore, silhouettes, and overall mood. Enjoy:



About that seagull: I almost got a picture of a seagull flying right across my view of the sun, but my camera was too slow to focus and snap. I waited and waited for another bird to fly past, but that was the best I could get.

Speaking of the best I could get, we ate at The Lobster restaurant, which is right at the top of the hill, next to the entrance to the pier. When I say "best I could get," I'm referring specifically to myself; for seafood fans, this place is excellent. Everything was seasoned just right, and presented with subdued but tasteful flair.

Unfortunately, my seafood tastes are extremely limited. I'm crazy about shrimp and will even eat steamed clams, but that's about it. Often, seafood restaurants will still feature a few chicken or beef dishes, so that one person in a group of seafood-lovers doesn't have to spoil the party for the rest of 'em. And while The Lobster did have a few scant non-seafood entrees, they were all prepared with spices or accouterments I dislike; many were spicy or involved mustard or peppers or onions. In fact, I found many of the dishes to be very similar variations on the same theme, so if you don't like that theme, good luck.

I would have been very satisfied with a shrimp/seafood pasta, and was actually hungry for some good steamed clams, but this was not to be found on The Lobster's menu. I finally decided I would take my chances with a fish entree -- figuring the fish would be ultra-fresh and not taste like fish -- based solely on which spices and veggies sounded good together. I think I ended up having some sort of bass, and while it was quite tasty, I was still bothered by the texture. (Which is why it's a wonder I love clams.) A decently satisfying meal for me, but it sure was frustrating trying to find something I would like.

The view from our table, on the other hand, was outstanding (and my scrappy little point-n-shoot hardly does it justice):


Upon exiting the restaurant, I stole a view of the famous Santa Monica Pier sign:


This photo credit goes to Stu, who was smart enough to snap a pic earlier, as the sun was still setting:

Rawk. I also bought a coffee mug from one of the pier vendors that has a very similar picture on it.

Afterward, we set the GPS for Hollywood and Vine and were on our way. My camera's memory card was getting full, and the battery dying, so I wasn't able to bracket my photos as much. I ended up with very few pics, but here is what I have:


On another day, I would have liked to walk around more and get some better shots; there was certainly plenty to see. It had been a relaxing yet long day, and with a good five-hour drive still ahead of us, we just briefly drove around the downtown area. I did manage to get (again, poor) photos of Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Bill Cosby's star on the Walk of Fame:


Oh, and just for fun, I took a picture of this poster that said "Birdman" on it:


Stu drove the entire way from Vegas to LA on Sunday, and the entire way back on Tuesday. Even when we offered to switch, he insisted he was fine. Kudos to him for taking the helm and letting the rest of us relax! (And did I mention GPS and Sirius radio are our friends?)

Coming up next, assuming I have time to write again in-between the mad wrapping of presents: The Las Vegas Strip!

Day 3: Is this Knoebels? No, it's Knott's

(That post title, by the way, is simply a play on words and is not to imply that Knott's is anything like Knoebels in Pennsylvania. It's knott.)

The morning began with a phone call from work. A-yes that's right. 7:50 a.m. Pacific. My boss required my assistance on sending a file to our digital platemaker. Fortunately, I had already been up for half an hour, so I was cognizant. I stepped him through it briefly, but then he had to go do something else and said he would call again 10 minutes later. After 20 minutes, still no call, so I went ahead and showered and began my day.

Several of us thought it wise to eat breakfast at the hotel, for time's and convenience's sake. The buffet was a pretty good deal, in the same way that a paper cut is a pretty good deal when there aren't any lemons around. I exaggerate, of course; we knew Anaheim prices would be inflated, but it was still a bit much even though the food was good. The coffee was "drinkable at best," but I did like their mugs. By the way, coffee mugs were a recurring theme throughout this trip, as you'll see.

It's funny, even the dinky little Super 8 I stayed at in East Buttcrack, PA offered free wireless internet and a continental breakfast. Not so at the Hilton Anaheim. Ah well. What should one expect, being a stone's throw from Disneyland?

The trek to Knott's Berry Farm:

(The tall beige building in the background of the left picture is the Tower of Terror at Disneyland.)

Knott's Berry Farm is an amusement park in Buena Park, and is home to the original Peanuts-themed Camp Snoopy. Cedar Fair bought Knott's in 1997, which allowed the Peanuts branding to extend to other CF parks such as Cedar Point. It also means Stu, Laurie, and I got free admission with our CF Maxx Passes. The boysenberry farms are long since gone, and in their place are 160 acres of funventuretainment.




Those who think Cedar Point is running out of room should take a look at Knott's. The park features eight roller coasters (nine next year), most of which are intertwined and jumbled together in close proximity. From one spot, I could see five coasters at once:

No, it's not the most attractive sight, but it's doable.
[nerd] Truly geeky typographers who also happen to be Cedar Fair enthusiasts should make a note of what font I used in that image. [/nerd]

I added seven of the eight rides to my coaster count (we forgot about Timberline Twister, which I'm jjjust short enough to ride). By far my favorite was Silver Bullet, which has bumped Cedar Point's Raptor from the #3 spot on my top ten. The two are very similar, but Silver Bullet is incredibly smooth.



The carousel was a veritable menagerie of "horses," including rabbits, jungle cats, and ostriches. Being a Bird, I chose the ostrich:

And now, a Family Guy quote:
We now return to Disney's Too Many Ostriches, starring Don Knotts.
Don: There's way too many ostriches. *Why* are there so many ostriches? The brochure said there'd be a *few* ostriches. This is a *terrible* vacation.
Yeah, it wasn't that funny in context either. I think that was the point.

As I mentioned earlier, coffee mugs were a recurring theme: I bought one with the Knott's logo and a cartoon montage of various park rides, and one that must have been on the shelf at least 5 years, as it had the old Camp Snoopy logo on it and no price tag. Logos, by the way, are the #1 criterion in my decision whether or not to buy a mug. Kings Island and Geauga Lake missed out on a sale because they didn't have any mugs with their official logo on it. Did I mention I like logos?

Knott's at night:


We had dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. We all ordered, appropriately, the signature fried chicken dinner. Continuing my trend of trying new soft drinks, I had a very good boysenberry soda. I also enjoyed some boysenberry sherbet (not sherbert) for dessert. There was way too much food to be had, and we took no less than six containers of food with us; thankfully, we had a mini-fridge back at the hotel room for Chloe's formula, so we stuffed all the boxes in there.

Oh, speaking of chickens, birds, and Bird (this is really more of an inside joke with my college friends):

"B'GAWK!!"

Tomorrow: LA and the return to LV.

Day 2: Deserts, Diners, and Disney

Now we get to the photo part of the journal. Click on images for larger versions, which will open in a new window.

At left is the Sunday morning view from in front of the house. We slept in and had a very leisurely morning, complete with homemade blueberry pancakes and sausage. Afterward, the six of us (baby + parents + grandparents + me) piled into the minivan and set the GPS for Anaheim. Sirius radio is a wonderful thing to have for a long drive, so I'm glad I brought it.

A few views from the drive to Anaheim:


The Nevada Landing Hotel and Casino was closed by MGM Mirage earlier this year, to be replaced with a master-planned community. This will swell the population of Jean, Nevada from its current size of... two (yes, two).

We drove past the World's Tallest Thermometer in Baker, California. Unfortunately, the picture I snapped isn't the greatest.

Mrs. Landes's delicious breakfast kept us satisfied pretty well into the afternoon, at which point we stopped at Peggy Sue's 50s Diner, off of I-15 in Yermo, California, right across from a Marine Corps installation. Peggy Sue's is not retro -- it's the real deal! The first thing that struck me when we walked in was the waitress uniforms, which were the same style and colors as the ones Rhetta and Prudie wore in the recent production of Pump Boys and Dinettes I was in (in fact, one set of costumes we considered had the pink and green reversed, and looked almost exactly like the Peggy Sue's uniforms).

Compare:




The food was tasty, the fries crispy, and the Coke chocolatey (yes, they had chocolate Coke on the menu; it was pretty good actually). However, I forgot the cardinal rule of chicken/turkey sandwiches: Every chicken or turkey sandwich in America is required by law to have mayonnaise on it, even if it's not listed in the menu description. Normally I ask, but I guess I was so caught up in the cool 50s decor that I forgot. Thankfully, there wasn't much mayo anyway, so I was able to scrape most of it off.

We got to the Hilton Anaheim just before check-in time, but one of our rooms was ready, so we hauled our stuff in. Chloe did an Edith Ann impersonation in one of the hotel chairs, as you can see to the right. (Awwwwwwwww!)

We had some time to kill before we were ready for dinner, so we thought we'd take a dip in the alleged pool. As the short winter sun began to set, it was in the 60s and rather chilly for an outdoor pool, but we were told there was an indoor pool on another floor, in the fitness center. We got there and found it not only had a separate fee, but children under 8 weren't allowed. Laurie and child went back to the room, while Stu and I decided to just relax for a bit in the outdoor hot tub. That was a nice way to unwind after such a long drive.

Our hotel was very close to Disneyland, so we decided to walk around Downtown Disney and look for a place to eat dinner there.

I don't know how much it costs to have a Cinderella wedding at Disneyland, but I'm sure it ain't cheap. I didn't want to disrupt their ceremony with a camera flash, so this picture doesn't really do it justice, but everything was very silvery and sparkley.

More from Downtown Disney:


The LEGO®™© store featured a life-size Darth Vader made out of LEGO®™© brand plastic interconnecting blocks, along with a few other large Star Wars displays, a giant giraffe, and the Eiffel Tower.

The Department 56 store had several displays of their various "village" collections:

Halloween

In the third picture there, notice the green projection on the left wall. That shines through the turning water wheel on one of the village pieces. I also like the ferris wheel (lit up in the first picture).

Christmas in the City


50s Village


Chloe wasn't quite agreeable to our schedule, however, so we had to make a brief stop to let her eat, during/after which we discovered all the restaurants had 45+ minute waits. It was already going on 8:30, so we drove back to the hotel. Stu's parents ate at the restaurant there, while Stu and I went to In-N-Out Burger, which he had been raving about.

In-N-Out fanatics would probably kill me for making this comparison, but it reminded me a lot of Steak & Shake. Here's the thing though: I love Steak & Shake! The seared burger patties, the butter-fried buns, the gooey cheese, the thin crispy fries all tasted like good ol' S&S to me. And a quick google seems to show I'm not the only one who thinks this. So while I enjoyed it, it didn't really seem like anything new to me either. I guess that's the danger in having high expectations. Had I been hungrier, I would have liked to compare their milkshakes as well.

After that, we were pretty much done for the night. With the baby on board, I was wise to have brought ear plugs, since I'm an incredibly light sleeper. (Actually I was more worried about certain adults' snoring more than the baby's noises, but we can pretend it was the baby for argument's sake.)

Tomorrow: Knott's Berry Farm!

Day 1: Plaaaanes(plaaanes)PLAAANES

I've decided to write my vacation recap in smaller chunks as I get the photos ready. Most of the linked text will point to Wikipedia articles for those interested.

Day 1, which was also December 1, was fairly uneventful. It began like any other Saturday, at Jim's Coffeehouse, but I didn't dally long since I still had a few important vacation purchases to make (namely, Twizzlers, Triscuits, and pretzels).

My plane reservation said I would get a "snack," despite it being a 6:20 flight, so the three of us had a small meal at the airport.

Since I just said "the three of us," I should probably explain for those who aren't aware: Last week I spent a week in Las Vegas with my friends Stu and Laurie, and their 20-month-old, Chloe. We all cashed in credit card reward points for the flights, and spent most of the week lodged at Stu's parents' house in North Las Vegas. Now then, back to the story:

It was a direct flight, and took about four and a half hours. As it turned out, there was a small meal served, featuring one of those plastic-wrapped imitation cheeseburgers. At least, that's what us poor slobs in economy got; the Landeses cashed in additional points for first class (good idea with the baby), and not only got real silverware -- mind you, that means their food actually required silverware -- but ice cream sundaes as well.

After we arrived at McCarran International Airport and picked up our luggage, Stu's dad and I took a few suitcases home while the rest of them got the rental minivan. I had my first glimpse of the Las Vegas Strip as we drove up I-15 to their house.

I just sort of puttered around and got used to it being three hours earlier, then we were all pretty tired and went to bed. There was no point in unpacking, since the next morning we would be loading up the truck and moving to Beverlyyyy.

And by that I mean, loading up the minivan and driving to Anaheim.

the home stretch

Well, the week away went quickly, but it was a lot of fun with much variety. I'm still in Vegas at the moment, but will be heading home in a few hours. The related blog post will probably take a few days to write, especially since I haven't yet had time to reinstall Photoshop after the hard drive crash, and all these images will need a little work done to them.

It's a bitter cold 46 at the moment, but will be a balmy 29 upon returning to Cleveland later tonight. Hmmm.