I'm in LA LA Land
No small talk, let's just get right to it...
**Insert today's theme music...."Caliiiiforniiiia looooove" (and then the beat drops)**
Hey peeps! My first trip to Cali was nothing short of amazing, in more ways than one. Let me just say, folks hipped me to the underlying racism EARLY! My travel partner and I accidentally took a shared Uber, but the extra passenger wasn't the problem. It was the driver that struggled with an identity crisis. We got in the Uber and this non-black driver, trying to be cool, says, "Hey. What's up guys? Do you mind if I play my playlist?" We were tired from the flight so of course we didn't care. He plays Biggie. Biggie wouldn't have been my first choice, but I'm cool with a good Biggie playlist. I listened to Biggie growing up but I've never heard any of the songs from his "favorite" playlist. That should have been red flag number 1. Red flag number 2 came when I realized that he didn't know ANY of the lyrics to his "favorite" playlist, neither did we. Gazing out the window and admiring the warm weather and crisp air, I ignored all the signs. He asked us where we're from, and for some reason, people don't know where Maryland is located. We had to tell him DC. Of course his response is, "I love DC!" Now this is where it gets good. He tells us, "I was just there a few years ago. It just happened to be inauguration weekend." **record stop** ABORT! ABORT! Ultimate red flag! Me being the person that I am cannot hide my facial expressions. I looked at him in total disgust. NO JIM! You don't just happen to be in DC for Inauguration weekend. Everyone knows it's inauguration weekend. He traveled all the way across the country on inauguration weekend, by accident? I think not! I live 30 minutes away and I wanted no parts of DC that weekend. After dropping his bomb, he informs us that we had to pick up another passenger. Well as Claire approached the car, Biggie gets turned off and the playlist switches to pop. I guess he wasn't dying to hear his Biggie playlist anymore. What a fraud!? And how could I not forget that we asked him to drop us off at any food spot close to our destination. We got dropped off at Pop's Chicken. I can't make this stuff up.
Aside from MAGA Jim, California was beautiful. I didn't run into any celebrities during All Star Weekend but then again I didn't really care to. I just wanted to enjoy the scenery and the experience. Nothing beats running down Rodeo Drive trying to find a bathroom or accidentally walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame to get food. LA/ LA LA Land wasn't what television portrayed it to be but it was an experience. Welcome to California!
Moral of the story is to GO! If for nothing else, go where ever you want just to experience life outside of your home and your comfort zone.