It's impossible to sum up Southern California in just a few paragraphs. To begin with, I've only seen a little of it.
Here are some of my personal thoughts and observations on what I have seen and experienced.
Without people, a place is just a place and I have to say that we have met some of the kindest, friendliest and hospitable people in SoCal: everywhere we've been we've been made to feel so welcome and been offered assistance at every turn. Even the local looneys seem harmless and provide a comical diversion, for example the lady waiting for a train in Long Beach, having a blazing row with her self at the top of her voice, took the time to stop mid rant and say good morning as we walked shyly past. But, it is the everyday people we came across who have left the biggest impression. We have been invited to peoples homes, been given the use of their cars, taken sight seeing, the list just goes on. Nothing is too much trouble, it seems. I would like to think that if the situation were reversed, they would find us Aussies just as friendly. Even in shops, the ubiquitous "have a great day" is said to you, not at you as it is in Australia. I think it greatly affects customer service when you find out they call their shop assistants "sales associates", every single time we were greeted at the entry no matter how small the shop, and asked if we had found everything we were looking for at checkout. Beats the heck out of your average sullen pimpled youth at SupaValu, throwing your change at you and slurring through chewing gum "enjoy the rest of your day" without once making eye contact.
My ideas of what Long Beach would be like were so wrong. I expected industrial dockland, nothing much to do or see. Instead we found a thriving arts district, museums and galleries and attractions like Hollywood all within an easy bus or train ride.
The one downside for us was the absolutely putrid water at the marina we stayed in. I kid you not, it was the filthiest water I have ever seen, full of rubbish, dead cats and condoms. There's the irony, you see. SoCal is supposedly one of the greenest places in the Northern Hemisphere and pride themselves on their recycling and lack of emmisions (I truly believe 75% of all Prius' manufactured end up in SoCal - every other car you see is one) but they are quite happy to pollute the oceans around them. There is no water saving in practice that we saw either - one flush of a loo to wash away one little pee takes three and a half gallons of water!!
Although we spent Christmas in Canada, the weeks leading up to the Holidays were great - Americans do Christmas so well, and for the first time in years we felt really Christmassy.
Our trip to San Francisco was amazing. Stopped off at Big Sur, simply because years ago in another life I had read a book called "A Confederate General from Big Sur" by Richard Brautigan, it had a really profound effect on me at the time and I'd always wanted to go there. I wasn't disappointed, it was so beautiful and I could have stayed there for a long, long time. Then onto the city, with all the famous places like Fishermans Wharf, Lombard Street, etc: highlights for me were Haight Ashbury where I felt just like a stoned teenager again (mainly due to the wafting smell of pot, which is legal for "medicinal" reasons (check out the free magazines for clinic ads: they can get you legal for $65)) and the Golden Gate Bridge which is so stunningly gorgeous I cried as we drove across it. To top it all off, just off Highway i101 is Buelton, which advertises itself on billboards 10 feet high as the "Home of Split Pea Soup". I love America.
San Diego is a very, very pretty place. Bang in the middle of the city is Balboa Park, for the exposision of 1915, a series of buildings were erected and they now house museums and galleries. It's a fabulous day out, and a place San Diegans are rightly proud of. Another [place that we enjoyed very much was Coronado, which has the most amazing hotel I have ever seen, I could have stayed there a while too. It seems, on the face of it to be a very prosperous city, with a very large military presence, however, look a little closer and you will see signs of decay and cracks on the walls of that prosperity, along with cavernous holes in the roads. And that's not metaphorically speaking either - the place is littered with potholes which the city can't afford to repair. The glory days of the Americas Cup are sadly over, speaking of which, we happened to see Dennis Connor himself a few times, he has opened a museum just near where we were slipped. Not one local we spoke to had one kind word to say about him. Guess Australians are not the only ones to cut down their tall poppies.
San Diego is a noisy place: day and night, there are things in the sky, be they planes, helicopters or war planes, and the main channel almost always has a warship or a submarine in it keeping you on your toes. It was also the only place we visited where away from the marina district, there were beggars at each corner on the intersections.
So to sum up, there is much to love and much to detest in this part of USA, what makes one forgive the shortcomings are the wonderful people. Am I sad to leave? No, not really. I miss the sun, and I had forgotten how cold a northern hemisphere winter is. Would I come back? Hell yeah!
Here are some of my personal thoughts and observations on what I have seen and experienced.
Without people, a place is just a place and I have to say that we have met some of the kindest, friendliest and hospitable people in SoCal: everywhere we've been we've been made to feel so welcome and been offered assistance at every turn. Even the local looneys seem harmless and provide a comical diversion, for example the lady waiting for a train in Long Beach, having a blazing row with her self at the top of her voice, took the time to stop mid rant and say good morning as we walked shyly past. But, it is the everyday people we came across who have left the biggest impression. We have been invited to peoples homes, been given the use of their cars, taken sight seeing, the list just goes on. Nothing is too much trouble, it seems. I would like to think that if the situation were reversed, they would find us Aussies just as friendly. Even in shops, the ubiquitous "have a great day" is said to you, not at you as it is in Australia. I think it greatly affects customer service when you find out they call their shop assistants "sales associates", every single time we were greeted at the entry no matter how small the shop, and asked if we had found everything we were looking for at checkout. Beats the heck out of your average sullen pimpled youth at SupaValu, throwing your change at you and slurring through chewing gum "enjoy the rest of your day" without once making eye contact.
My ideas of what Long Beach would be like were so wrong. I expected industrial dockland, nothing much to do or see. Instead we found a thriving arts district, museums and galleries and attractions like Hollywood all within an easy bus or train ride.
The one downside for us was the absolutely putrid water at the marina we stayed in. I kid you not, it was the filthiest water I have ever seen, full of rubbish, dead cats and condoms. There's the irony, you see. SoCal is supposedly one of the greenest places in the Northern Hemisphere and pride themselves on their recycling and lack of emmisions (I truly believe 75% of all Prius' manufactured end up in SoCal - every other car you see is one) but they are quite happy to pollute the oceans around them. There is no water saving in practice that we saw either - one flush of a loo to wash away one little pee takes three and a half gallons of water!!
Although we spent Christmas in Canada, the weeks leading up to the Holidays were great - Americans do Christmas so well, and for the first time in years we felt really Christmassy.
Our trip to San Francisco was amazing. Stopped off at Big Sur, simply because years ago in another life I had read a book called "A Confederate General from Big Sur" by Richard Brautigan, it had a really profound effect on me at the time and I'd always wanted to go there. I wasn't disappointed, it was so beautiful and I could have stayed there for a long, long time. Then onto the city, with all the famous places like Fishermans Wharf, Lombard Street, etc: highlights for me were Haight Ashbury where I felt just like a stoned teenager again (mainly due to the wafting smell of pot, which is legal for "medicinal" reasons (check out the free magazines for clinic ads: they can get you legal for $65)) and the Golden Gate Bridge which is so stunningly gorgeous I cried as we drove across it. To top it all off, just off Highway i101 is Buelton, which advertises itself on billboards 10 feet high as the "Home of Split Pea Soup". I love America.
San Diego is a very, very pretty place. Bang in the middle of the city is Balboa Park, for the exposision of 1915, a series of buildings were erected and they now house museums and galleries. It's a fabulous day out, and a place San Diegans are rightly proud of. Another [place that we enjoyed very much was Coronado, which has the most amazing hotel I have ever seen, I could have stayed there a while too. It seems, on the face of it to be a very prosperous city, with a very large military presence, however, look a little closer and you will see signs of decay and cracks on the walls of that prosperity, along with cavernous holes in the roads. And that's not metaphorically speaking either - the place is littered with potholes which the city can't afford to repair. The glory days of the Americas Cup are sadly over, speaking of which, we happened to see Dennis Connor himself a few times, he has opened a museum just near where we were slipped. Not one local we spoke to had one kind word to say about him. Guess Australians are not the only ones to cut down their tall poppies.
San Diego is a noisy place: day and night, there are things in the sky, be they planes, helicopters or war planes, and the main channel almost always has a warship or a submarine in it keeping you on your toes. It was also the only place we visited where away from the marina district, there were beggars at each corner on the intersections.
So to sum up, there is much to love and much to detest in this part of USA, what makes one forgive the shortcomings are the wonderful people. Am I sad to leave? No, not really. I miss the sun, and I had forgotten how cold a northern hemisphere winter is. Would I come back? Hell yeah!
Mike and Jan are one of the most honest sweet and fun couples I have ever been Involved with. I will miss them and watch their cruise with great interest. Blessings for a smooth Journey
ReplyDeletewonderful update Jan & Mike.
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