Los Angeles

Hello. And welcome back to mikus.com, home of the “Getting There. Doing That.” travel blog. (We haven’t been there, but we’re getting’ there…)

Today’s adventure took us to the state of California’s great city of Los Angeles. (a.k.a. LA.) 

Los Angeles translate from Spanish to “The Angels”, which explains their nickname “The City of Angels”, which by the way is also a good movie!

According to some fun facts available from the Travel Notes and Beyond Web site, Los Angeles was originally named “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Porciúncula .” (“The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Porciuncula River”) but was changed in 1850.

I recall that when I was in my early 20s, and made my first visit to LA as an adult, my buddy (Mike) took me about town. I remember wondering how long it would take me to get to know every part of town well. After all, growing up in ABQ, I pretty much knew every part of that town inside and out. 400,000 people. 4 million people. What’s the difference? A city is just a city, right? (

Afterwards, this has always been the first thought that sneak into my mind every time I come back. Of course, as I’ve grown older, I kind of privately chuckle at my naivety as a youth. So, my favorite new knowledge of the city is that LA is made up of 88 separate cities, each with their own mayor, etc. Well, now I don’t feel so inept!

The plan for this stopover was based as much on practicality as fun. (Although not so much exploring.) Karen and I opted to take advantage of one of our last opportunities to get some shopping in, and more importantly, to enjoy the day with my fabulous cousin Will and his wonderful wife Lauren!

This being our first stop back in the USA, US Customs required that everyone depart the ship and undergo an inspection. This turned out to be quick and easy. 

Our next stop was to meet our friends from Luggage Forward, who we had arranged to drop off several suitcases (with our Antartica clothes, etc.). These were the same folks that we used to ship much of our luggage to the ship several months ago, and here we are two months later shipping some things back… As promised, they were waiting for us as soon as we walked out of the cruise terminal. How convenient!

We had purchased an excursion that provided a bus service that looped between the cruise port, Walmart, Target, and the fabulous Del Amo Fashion Center mall. 

This outdoor mall is huge. In addition to being the filming location for the DeLorean scene in Back to the Future, the mall is strategically located halfway between Will & Lauren’s house and the cruise terminal. Super convenient for everyone. 

First stop, Walmart! Now, I have to admit, all of the planning in the world does not help when you are thousands of miles from home, and not a hot sauce or a Milk Dud in sight. (It’s funny the things that one misses.) I heard tales that the other travelers completely wiped out the Walmart chip aisle within the first few hours…

So, after a quick stop at Walmart, Will and Lauren picked us up in their awesome Jeep Wagoneer. This is the first time I had been in this new model. I have to say, this machine gives his previous Cadillac Escalade a run for its money. (And I’m not just saying that because I’m a “Jeep guy”…) Nice wheels!

We had asked them if we could “eat where the locals eat”. They took us across the street to a great little place in the mall. Now, if you have not had Sunday brunch at a Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar, you need to try it out. Very good food, great service, and excellent company. 

I really want to give a shout out to my cousin and his wife. They are the salt of the earth. I have never visited with them when we did not have a great time. And to squeeze us in on Super Bowl Sunday was going above and beyond. Thank you cuz!

So, as we left to drive back across the street to Walmart to get dropped off, I was kicking myself for not paying attention to where to bus stop was at the mall. Since the mall takes up a whole city block, we had decided it would be easier just to return to Walmart across the street.  However, as we walked out of the restaurant, I’ll be darned if all of our shipmates weren’t standing right in front of the restaurant waiting for the bus. How convenient is that! Several minutes later, we were on our way back home. I love it when a plan come together.

Ms. Karen has asked me to begin including a couple sentence about a little-known traveling, sailing, or other related tidbit in future posts. So today is our first “did you know” section. 

Did you know that one of the scariest jobs on a ship is to be “between the devil and the deep blue sea”? You see, “the devil” is the long seam that runs the entire length of the outside of a wooden ship. This seam requires frequent caulking, sometimes even when the ship is out to sea. This seam is referred to as the “devil”. When a sailor is lowered over the side of the ship to caulk the seam while at sea, he is said to be “between the devil and the deep blue sea”. Yikes!

Back onboard, we decided to call it an early night. We had found this really good mini-series on Netflix called Griselda. It is based on a true story of a vicious female Columbian drug lord in Miami in the 1980s. I’m predicting this now. Sofía Vergara is going to win an Emmy for this must-see series.  

Thank you all for checking in. We are off to spend 5-days at sea, so expect something a little different in our next post. But, that’s a different story…

– Mike

“Don’t let your dreams be dreams.” – Jack Johnson, Dreams be Dreams