A New Yorker Visits The Golden State

Pretty much, Chelsea Sue is the coolest person ever.  I've been lucky to have known her 3 of my 4 years at BYU, and we are still close enough that she flew all the way across the country to see me and Luke (well, to use us for an excuse for sunshine, Disneyland and fish tacos, but we will use her when we go to New York).  She's now gone, and Luke's in Indiana for the week and it's pretty lonely all alone in the sun, so I've been reminiscing on one of the funnest weeks.

Santa Monica

We did not waste a single day when Chelsea was here.  Seriously, I'm exhausted! On day one we packed in Huntington, Santa Monica and Venice Beach. I've been to Huntington countless times now, but had never been to Santa Monica or Venice Beach.  Santa Monica Pier was neat to see the end of Route 66 which is now I-10. The pier is cool with its little rides, but considering it was the middle of a Tuesday in February, it was pretty dead.

Venice Beach and the BEST Fish Tacos Ever (Seriously)

Next was Venice Beach.  It was nothing like I expected.  At first I didn't live how dirty it was with graffiti everywhere, but then I realized that's what Venice Beach is all about.  It's full of young people (a lot like young people in Downtown Portland) where they all lift weights or play basketball at Muscle Beach or skateboard at the skate park.  The most important thing that needs to been known though about Venice Beach is that it is home to THE BEST FISH TACOS IN THE WORLD. I kid you not.  I am salivating right now as I right about them.  Just at a little stand right there on the beach, for $2 you get the best fish taco EVER. It's all in the sauce.  Literally every day that Chelsea was here we tried to get fish tacos that were better, but nothing compared.

The Happiest Place on Earth

The next day was DISNEYLAND!!! Seriously, I'm so not sick of Disneyland yet.  How can anyone get sick of it? Luke and I are still averaging one night a week there. This was Chelsea's first time at Disneyland.  She went to Disney World in January, and she was excited to compare.  Her conclusion: Disneyland won, hands down.  She loved how it felt so local, and it wasn't overwhelmingly big, unlike Disney World. We had a great day enjoying the short lines of a weekday visit. Luke joined us later that day when got done with work for the day.

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

And then for the highlight of the week: Jimmy Kimmel Live!! This was a big deal for me because I had never been to a live taping of a show. I was so excited! Since our car broke down and our "new" car won't be here until the end of March, and we were feeling adventurous.  However, the train went through Compton on the way, and we definitely underestimated our adventure levels. Luckily, we made it home alive.  All I could do the whole time was laugh to cope with my nervousness.  Multiple times I whispered, I can't believe we did this as we chuckled quietly to ourselves. Jimmy Kimmel was awesome to be at! The studio was a lot smaller than I expected.  Chelsea and I had perfect seats towards the front and center. At the end, when I yelled Jimmy's name, he came up and said hi to me (melt). And Chelsea's trip to Hollywood couldn't be complete without a trip to her Goddess Celine Dion's star. I've never seen her so happy as the moment she saw the star (but then I guess I wasn't with her when she saw her in concert.

San Diego

One of our days the three of us went to San Diego. It's a gorgeous two hour drive from our house.  On the way down we did a session at the San Diego Temple.  I am extremely bias to the Portland Temple, but SD comes to a very close 2nd.  Everything about it was breathtaking, and it truly felt like being in a princess castle! After the temple we headed to La Jolla Cove for some incredible views of the ocean with the cliffs in the background and after that to downtown SD to enjoy good food and shopping along the water at Seaport Village before we headed back up north.

Los Angeles

On Chelsea's last day, we squeezed in a couple of more things since she was taking a red-eye back home.  Luke left that same day for a business trip to Indiana, so after we dropped him off, we continued up to LA.  We ate at the well-known "Farmer's Market" to enjoy some good food in the sun.  Seriously every ethnic food you can imagine in one place, and it was authentic!  Then a few blocks down we went to the Los Angeles County Art Museum.  Even though Chelsea has access to all the amazing art museums in New York, she was quite impressed with this one.  We saw Picassos, Degas, Renoirs, and saw a whole exhibit on 1920's German Film that we both would have had no idea about if it weren't for our beloved Dr. McFarland from BYU.

The day in LA was topped off with a trip to the LA Temple and Visitor Center.  Such a beautiful and majestic building nestled in the high-rises of LA.  On our way to LAX we couldn't resist and drove all the way to Venice Beach to get those fish tacos one last time.  Sadly, for whatever stupid reason, they were closed by 6pm.  But we didn't let that put a damper on our week.

If anyone wants to travel and explore, Chelsea Sue is the perfect buddy. COME BACK CHELSEA.