2018 California Senior Trip| Part 1

This is either going to be a super long post, or I am going to have to make multiple parts. Or both.😜 I think my entire family unanimously agreed that this was our favorite vacation of all. We all loved California! The weather was just amazing- that was probably my favorite thing about Cali. We never got too hot or too cold, so we were never uncomfortable walking around Disneyland or Manhattan beach. Florida is hot and muggy no matter when you go, so that was a huge plus to going to Disneyland instead of Disney World. I seriously can’t say enough about the weather, though. I wore sandals in November. That is reason enough to go to California.😆  

These Sanuk sandals were AMAZING for all the walking we did!

Our trip was set up in two different parts; the first was Manhattan beach, the second was Disneyland. I honestly can’t decide which part I liked more. And that is something I never thought I’d say, because I am such a huge Disney fan. I just loved Manhattan beach SO much! The vibe was so fun and relaxed. We ate at some really cool restaurants on the beach, and I tried a lot of food I’d never had before. Manhattan beach was simply gorgeous, and the local shops lining the beach were so quaint and adorable. I would love to go back and spend a whole week in that area.

Then there’s the beach itself. West Coast beaches are better than East Coast, by far! I have never liked the beach. The sand and salt in the water of the East Coast beaches I have been to have annoyed the fire out of me. Everything is so gritty and clings to your skin and clothes for what seems like forever. I have distinct memories of leaving the beach and, for hours afterward, having to deal with gross sand all over the place. Manhattan beach was not that way! The sand was never an issue, because there wasn’t very much in the water. I dried off super quick and didn’t have to deal with sand falling off my clothes as they dried. Eating outside is also something I have never liked to do. In California, I wanted to eat outside. There wasn’t any wind to blow everything away, no heat to make you sweat while eating, no chill to make you shiver your way through the meal, etc. I loved it. We ate outside for the majority of our meals, because we enjoyed it so much. That will be something I really miss about Cali! The diversity, geographically speaking, was amazing. There were mountains on the beach, and the combination was stunning! If we had wanted to, we could have driven less than two hours and spent time in the mountains. We didn’t though, because we didn’t have the room to pack both winter and summer clothes. California had skyscrapers, beaches, and mountains on its horizon- it was beautiful! We got to try the famous In ‘N’ Out while we were in Cali. In my opinion, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I’d say it was on the same level as a Wendy’s.🤷🏼‍♀️ While I wasn’t impressed, the rest of my family enjoyed it, so it must be just a matter opinion. While we were there, we had a funny(?) experience. I took Kate outside to save tables for my family while they ordered the food. We had only sat there a couple of minutes when a rough looking man awkwardly came to stand by us. He stayed silent, but I tensed up and moved closer to Kate, hoping he would just walk away. Nope- he just moved closer. So, I am seriously debating whether or not I should go back inside when he says, “I, uh I, I am a police officer. My name’s Joe. I am just looking to buy a cheeseburger. Would you give me some money?” He is obviously homeless and his teeth are rotting out, and I think his brain is too by the way he is haltingly saying his words. I curtly but kindly say no and cut off eye-contact. He moves closer and begins again, “I am a police officer. My name’s Joe. Do you have a dollar, or maybe some coins?” I say no once more as my sister, Kennzie, walks up. He then turns to her and repeats his lines. She says no, and we move away and try to ignore him. He then, the persistent guy he was, starts repeating over and over that he is a police officer, and “Any coins?”. Finally, as we start gathering our thing to move inside, he quits and asks if we are with our parents. We say yes, and he acts really bummed, which freaked me out. So, we rushed back inside. The rest of the trip we joked about calling “Officer Joe” if we needed any help.😂 The palm trees were also much prettier than any I’d ever seen. They were very tall and healthy looking. That kind of sounds weird, but Florida’s look like trash compared to Cali’s. California’s were so pretty! Another bonus was that they had evergreens mixed in with their palms, and I loved the contrast.

I really liked their Targets, as well!😂 We went to at least two while we were there, and I loved both of them. They had a lot of stuff that our Target doesn’t have, including a Disney section! We had to really restrain ourselves, though, because we didn’t have room in our luggage. So, to all of you out there who like trying out all the Targets, LA has good ones!😉

One other thing I didn’t expect about California is that they have a ton of Asians in at least the LA area. There is both a Korea Town and a China Town in LA that I wasn’t aware of before we went. Although we didn’t, I think it would have been a neat experience to walk down the streets of either “towns”. I’ll just have to put that on my LA #2 bucket list.😉 All-in-all, I loved California. I can’t wait to go back! I guess I am going to have to do more than one post, so stay tuned for “part 2”!😃

Advertisement