California Update

We spent today at DisneyLand, and I have to say that the Indiana Jones attraction rocks. It's the most surprising fun I've had on a ride in a long while. I'm reminded how much I prefer DL to DW, and yes, it feels a little embarassing to have such an opinion. The Priates attraction here beats DW's as well. I like how the boats go up and splash down without the least little drenching. It adds a fun, exciting element that is delicious. I also enjoy the indoor/outdoor aspect of the Alice in Wonderland ride. The Tea Cups & lanterns look lovely from that vantage point in the eveing. DL is very Walt and intimate, and I like that.

Yesterday we took the girls to LA. We did the Tar Pits & the Page Museum. We all enjoyed it quite a bit. It's truly an amazing place. I love the low key aspect of it...you don't feel in the middle of busy LA. We stopped for a bite to eat at The Grove (Farmer's Market) which has the most delightful atmosphere. It's got great energy, and the food and little kiosks are interesting and different. There was a woman selling Americauna eggs, which are the sweetest shades of pale blue/green. I chatted with her about them, and she told me about the cheese she makes from goat milk. It's so nice talking chickens wherever I happen to be. There was also the guy from Tutti Frutti Organic Farms selling wonderful fennel and more. It was hard not to shop that produce, but I can't see bringing lettuce etc back on the plane in my carry on. I bought a tomato, however.


Towards late afternoon, in fabulous LA traffic, we headed over to Grauman's Chinese Theater to check out the celebrity hand and foot prints. Will Smith has *huge* feet and huge hands, as does Clark Gable. Interestingly, my daughters didn't know who the heck Matt Damon was, but they did know Debbie Reynolds (Singing in The Rain), and Donald O'Conner ('The vestle with the pestle holds the brew that is true'). I forced them to take a pic with an actor dressed as Jack Sparrow. Maybe they will forgive me. I'm not sure. If you go, bring one$ because this is a way some actors supplement their incomes between jobs.
We then headed to Studio City and had dinner with Allie Raye, M's sister, who is an actor/writer/producer. We met her at Jerry's World Famous Deli, and I thank her for that. My Reuben on toasted sour dough was fabulous, and the Russian dressing pretty much the best I've had. Allie is funny and warm and we had a really *really* nice evening. I cannot figure out how to download my camera phone pic of us onto this blog. So for now, I offer this pic of Allie with Tom Cruise (from Google Image). She was Hamburger Mom in Minority Report.


We showed C & A our old neighborhood in Ocean Beach in San Diego, and my favorite food store in the whole wide world--- and not just because of the memories. The OB People's Food store, and even with a modern remodel, it's still the absolute epitome of a CA hippie health food store. They sell wheat grass by the crate. It's wonderful seeing a whole little pallet of green shoots in shopping carts. The very OB cottage we lived in, and where Doni & I shared a wonderful garden, where the swisss chard grew the size of elephant ears, is now gone, and in it's place is a small apartment building (in foreclosure). I didn't realize how much I missed OB until I stood on my old street, inhaling the scent and sounds of the surf. Later, we headed over to Mission Bay, and had dinner on the beach at a very happening cantina, and watched the sun set over the Pacific. It was lovely.


Thursday we did the afternoon in Old Town where the girls had the fried ice cream they had been craving. All of us shared some wonderful Mexican food with generous sprinklings of cilantro. Old Town also has a 19th century hacienda museum, so we've even been doing 'educational' things. lol Friday was spent at Sea World. As the dolphin show began, the sun came out strong from behind the clouds; it's touch on my sun- deprived New England skin felt like a great gift. It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful.


Tomorrow we hope that it is warm enough to hang by the pool in the morning, before we head out to the San Diego Zoo for the afternoon. Tuesday, I hope to take the children to visit the cove in La Jolla, and one more trip to OB. H has a meeting in San Francisco on Tues, but we'll stay here in SD.