Memory Lane: SoCal 2007 (Part 1)

I've been reminiscing about my ten-day trip to Southern California in 2007, which is one of the best trips I've ever taken. Since this blog didn't exist back then, and I'm too busy to come up with insightful content right now, I thought it would be fun to share some memories!

I initially traveled to California for a five-day work conference, which will probably hold a permanent place as the swankiest one I've ever attended. My co-workers and I flew into LA and then drove to Palm Springs, where the conference was held. Of course we had meetings and things, but there was a lot of time to enjoy the area too.

On the last night of the conference, we went to a dinner held in a huge, beautiful tent on a polo field. And after dinner, James Taylor performed. !!!

The next morning, we drove back to LA. I had never been there before, other than arriving there several days earlier. My co-workers headed back to Memphis, but my mom flew in and met me at the airport, and we embarked on our own adventure!

This is still one of my all-time favorite pictures. I have about a million under-the-pier photos -
the light, and the lines of the pilings, fascinated me.

Our first major stop was the Santa Monica Pier, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We explored for a while and then waited to watch the sun set over the Pacific, an event neither of us had seen before. Unfortunately, it was FREEZING cold, and we basically huddled behind some sort of wind break, taking turns to pop out and see if the sun was setting yet. After it set, we ate at Bubba Gump's right there on the pier because we were too cold, tired, and hungry to look elsewhere. :)

The next day, we took a bus tour of Hollywood and Bel-Air. It was an awesome experience that converted me to the whole bus-tour concept - you see and learn things you wouldn't on your own, without any of the trouble of driving and navigating. We stopped at the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre, Rodeo Drive, the La Brea Tar Pits, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Olvera Street. We lunched at the Farmer’s Market, finishing off with a jelly-roll-type Black Forest cake that I still think about and want to duplicate to this day. It was that good.

Onstage at the Hollywood Bowl!!!

Now this is a story all about how my life got twist-turned upside down.

Of course, we had to conclude the day with In-N-Out Burger.

Hope you enjoyed this! I had too many pictures for one post, so Part 2 will be coming soon. :)