Newport Beach & The Hollywood Bowl

Visiting: Jordan – my cousin
Olivia – a friend that I used to work with


Wednesday – I woke up in the middle of the night to a notification that my 6am flight out of Pittsburgh had been delayed a few hours. As it dawned on me that this would mean missing my connecting flight in Chicago, I starting freaking out a bit, thinking that I would NEVER make it to Newport Beach to see Jord. I found out, however, that in such situations, the United Airlines app allows you to easily switch flights at no cost, and I was able to book a seat on another 6:00 flight. Pittsburgh-->Houston-->LA. Phew, crisis averted! Mama and Molly drove me to the airport (because I was not about to pay to have my car sit in a lot for 2 weeks), and were quite surprised to see just how many other people were doing the same thing I was doing at 4:30 in the morning. The two of them even went through the security line with me – Molly making comments the whole time about how much trouble they were gonna be in, and ducking out at last minute before hitting TSA.

Got myself to the proper gate with about an hour to spare. Later landed in Houston to find that my 8:30 flight had been postponed to 9:30, due to craft maintenance. Ok, that I can handle. But then 9:30 changed to 11:00. And then 12:30. And I tell ya, nothing brings strangers in an airport together more than delayed flights! (Direct Facebook status quote.) One poor woman was supposed to be traveling to a same-day interview – pretty sure she missed that. The only thing that made the situation more bearable was the hot blonde sitting a few rows over. Eventually, I up and moved myself to sit across from him – I mean, next to the windows. You know, so I could get a better view. Of the plane. They finally started calling groups to board, and it seemed to take forever to get to group 5. Generally, I find that airport workers (no idea their official name) don’t actually pay that much attention to what group you’re in, allowing you to line up whenever you damn well please. This guy, however, was on the ball. He was like, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are only boarding groups 1 and 2 at the moment. ONLY GROUPS 1 AND 2”. Well yes, sir.

Though I couldn’t really tell from looking at it across the runway, our plane was huge – one of those crafts that has 2, 3, and 2 seating. And there were a LOT of people getting in line to board. Once groups 1-4 were called, there were literally like four of us left from group 5 still seated – Mr. Hottie included. I finally said out loud, “We are never getting on this plane.” He turned and answered my comment with a subtle “Never.” That exchange led to a bit more chatting – me saying that I had come too far to not make it onto the plane, only to find out that he come even farther, from Argentina. (A Latino!!!) His English was so clear that I never would have even guessed that he wasn’t a Gringo. He told me that his dad lives in LA -- and therefore, he’s traveled back and forth for a lot of years. Also told me that he studies engineering in Buenos Aires and was on a holiday break. I mentioned that I majored in Spanish in college – and had never been to Argentina, but had spent time living in Central America. We never exchanged names, which I still regret to this day. His seat was about ten rows ahead of mine, and when he went to sit down, I said “Have a good flight!” – totally intending to see him again afterwards. Sadly, that didn’t happen…but I’ll get there in a minute.

As I had only ever experienced once before, while flying to Europe, these gigantic planes have little TV sets in the back of every seat so that you can sit and enjoy a movie/show all to yourself. You even get blankets, pillows, and a headset! I couldn’t quite figure out why we had such a fancy carrier when we were only going 2 ½ hours to LA -- but hey, can’t complain. Spent the flight watching The Proposal (Alaska!), while occasionally sticking my head out into the aisleway to sneak a quick peak at my sexy Latino. Once we landed, it became clear to me that finding him again could be more of a difficult feat than I thought. Thanks to the large amount of people on board, it took forever to get everyone unloaded. Since he wasn’t carrying luggage of any sort – just a book bag – I figured I could at least find him at baggage claim. Nope. No sight of him. Guess it wasn’t meant to be (but I mean, c’mon God. He was LATINO.). I may or may not still have daydreams of exchanging numbers and meeting up with him later during my stay for dinner and drinks. Sigh.

Anyway, moving on. I managed to find my shuttle to Firefly Rentals, and was immediately directed to a counter out back. The guy was extremely nice – and thank goodness, because I had never rented a car before in my life. When we got to the topic of fuel, he informed me that my two options were to either, 1.) Return the car on empty, and they would charge me a flat rate of $4 per gallon, or 2.) If I found anything cheaper than their rate (“Good luck with that”), then I could fill up on my own and return the car with a full tank. Um, excuse me? I just left gas in Pittsburgh at $2.70! “Welcome to LA!” was all he said. My Lord – I should have known from the start that I could never afford living in that city.

Once I found my car, got my baggage into the trunk, and figured out the GPS (it’s been a long time since I’ve used something other than Google Maps on my phone), I set out for

Costa Mesa. Took me about 1 ½ hours to get there, I suppose. Traffic was slow, but not terrible. Jord has a really nice apartment, despite the fact that he, on multiple occasions, referred to it as “the ghetto”. Well, I mean…people in that area of town ARE super rich.

We went into Newport Beach for dinner, and found this cute little restaurant by the name of Woody’s Wharf. They valet parked our car for $7 and let us sit right next to big windows overlooking the water. Not full-on ocean view, but docks that housed some family boats, a thin strip of water, and multi-million-dollar yachts parked across the way. Definitely played the “guess how much THAT one costs” game. Thanks for the help, Google! Since happy hour was still going on, we ordered drinks & food from that menu – a margarita and chicken tacos for me, chips & salsa with a rum&coke for him. As one point, a nerdy yet adorable magician came over to our table, hoping to entertain us before our food arrived. His tricks were pretty good – and he TOTALLY had Jord with the damn disappearing-egg trick. He pretty much threw an “imaginary egg” up into the air, and caught a real one (hard-boiled, obviously) in his hands. No idea how that works, but there’s gotta be some kind of science behind it. God knows I love Harry Potter, but…still.

Our tacos and chips were delicious, and the rest of the evening’s entertainment involved watching people (and, in one case, a dog) go by our window on paddle boards. Had another round of drinks and cashed out. Since we were paying for valet, we decided to walk a few blocks down to the beach and watch the sun set over the ocean. Our first beach sunset! Living on the east coast, we have, of course, seen many sunrises over the water, but never a set. Needless to say, it was gorgeous. Took some selfies, as usual, then walked back to the restaurant, found our car, and headed back into Costa Mesa. Stopped along the way at a gas station for some Dos Equis to take back to the apartment with us. Put on our bathing suits, grabbed the beer, and headed down to the pool. We sat in the hot tub with our beer – which was an absolutely beautiful idea. After a bit, a few other pairs joined the party (one asking how long Jord and I had been together – haaaaa), and we chatted about where we were from and how we liked LA. I did jump into the pool at one point to cool off, though I was the only one from our party that did. Jord and I then headed back in to the apartment and found Zach, his roommate. He joined us in watching “Rat Race” before going to bed. Slept on mom-mom’s old sofa – she should be proud.

Thursday – Zach was out the door early for work, so Jord and I had the later morning to ourselves. He made delicious French toast for breakfast, and we talked about spending the day at the ocean. Stopped by Target to get some chairs, and drove

back out to Newport Beach. Street parked. Walked past some beautiful, multi-million dollar homes that I would never in my life be able to afford. Found a spot to plop our chairs down in and spent the afternoon soaking up the sun. The water in Cali is chillier than you would think. I mean, Mortons are certainly no strangers to cold waters – but this is California, for goodness sake. I expected Charleston bathwater, and instead got Jersey chills. Oh well. At least it felt refreshing on our feet after the hot sand.

We called mom-mom at one point, only to have Amy answer. Oh hey, cuz! Didn’t know you guys were out there. I actually did all the talking; Jord just sat next to me and laughed at my expense. I also had to call the hotel to tell them whether or not I wanted to accept their job offer – which I basically did on a whim. We headed back to Costa Mesa, stopping at Panera on the way to grab a take-out lunch. Met Zach back at the apartment, and the three of us spent the afternoon at the pool with our food and some Millers. I kept checking Google Maps to see what kind of traffic I would get stuck in driving back into the city, and decided last minute that I wanted to leave earlier than I had originally planned. Headed back to the apartment, took a quick shower, gathered up my things, said my goodbyes, and was on the road by 5:10.

Now, Costa Mesa is less than 50 miles from LA. I was scheduled to catch a shuttle out of Sherman Oaks to the Hollywood Bowl at 7. Yeah, definitely missed that. Traffic in LA SUCKS. It’s all highway, too – which means it really shouldn’t take so effing long to get around. But, it does. I was okay for the first hour or so – convincing myself that I still had plenty of time. Around 6:30, though, I began to realize that I was still just a bit too far from my destination – the Sherman Oaks Park & Ride – to get there in time. I literally missed the shuttle by about seven minutes. Crying my eyes out, I called Olivia to see if there was any way she would drive me to the concert (because I really didn’t want have to pay for parking), but got no answer. Alright then, guess I’m driving myself to Hollywood. Got stuck in a lot more traffic – especially right by the Bowl – and totally cussed out at a traffic cop (in my car – not to her face) who stopped me LITERALLY as I was going THROUGH the traffic light. That puta cost me another ten minutes right there! I finally managed to find a lot space for my car ($20--woof), sprinted six blocks to the concert venue, and was in my seat approximately five minutes to 8:00.

In the end, though, all that stress was totally worth it. The symphony was beautiful – and after they played Equus, the conductor TOTALLY BROUGHT ERIC OUT ON STAGE. OHEMGEE. Yeah, definitely jumped outta my seat and squealed like a teenage girl. The ladies behind me giggled and said “What a cutie!” Um, you got that right. Considering that I didn’t particularly want to get stuck in traffic again leaving the concert, I ended up ducking out a bit early to get back to Olivia’s at a reasonable time. She has a cute place right on Coldwater Canyon Ave, and I got my real first taste of street parking in LA. Everywhere you go, you have park on the street! I can parallel park just fine, but finding a spot can be difficult. I’m used to Cranberry, where everyone has a parking lot! Anyways…after a few laps around the block, I managed to grab myself a spot on a side street. Olivia came out to meet me and help with my luggage (not that I had a lot of it), and we spent a few minutes chatting about my different trips and boys before she had to get back to doing work on her computer. Early to bed for both of us that night.