Tall Ships Festival, Dana Point

Tall Ships
Originally uploaded by greenbeangirl74

I went to the Toshiba Tall Ships Festival in Dana Point. I don't know what I was expecting but this wasn't it. I think I was struck by my Southern California Festival curse.

There is very little parking in the Dana Point Harbor so you park in remote shuttle lots and are bused in. You're dropped off near the existing shops and restaurants in Dana Point so I wasn't sure where the festival started. Sure these shops had stuff on the sidewalk because of the festival, but it was just the usual wares.

So I kept walking and finally found some booths. There were about 30 ranging from information about marine life to paintings to face painters for kids. There were lots of kids and dogs.

It was nice to be down by the water but I was hoping to see the ships with sails up. I'll either have to time it better or just go back to San Diego.

Multi-Cultural LA Day

Finally after two months of busy schedules I got to spend the day with Erika. No big plans we decided to go with what sounded good.

We thought about the Getty or perhaps to the park in Culver City to see an outdoor play but in the end opted for the African Marketplace & Cultural Faire.

We'd heard it was the largest cultural fair in the US and in its 22nd year we had very high hopes for it. We expected a fair full of life, with non-stop music and entertainment, a wide variety of food, and a broad selection of vendors and art. It did not deliver.

It was more like a swapmeet combined with a school carnival. We arrived at 2 p.m. and it was deserted. There was one stage, with no chairs for seating. Didn't really matter since there was nothing scheduled for hours. Most of the vendors seemed to carry the same thing. The youth village, which was supposed to have a petting zoo, storytime and classes was one booth for face painting, a bounce house and a kid kareoke stage. When we walked through it was five kids singing along to a Beyonce song. Maybe we just went at the wrong time on the wrong weekend.

Reeling from our disappointing festival experience we decided to to Culver City to visit Grand Casino Cafe & Bakery, [3826 Main St Culver City, CA 90232 (310) 202-6969] a cute Argentinian cafe on Main Street for a desert snack. Erika says that their empanadas are tasty. They have lots of traditional treats to choose from and a wide selection of sandwiches as salads. I was just happy to find my favorite Argentine cookies, Alfajores. So good.

Culver City has really changed in the last five years. There are so many great restaurants in their redeveloped downtown. Erika said that Harrison Ford's son just opened a place there aptly named Ford's Filling Station. I may have to forego a few trips to Versailles and try out some of their culinary treats.

Besides you never know who you'll run into there. While we were stopped at a stop light a pedestrian almost ran into Erika's car while crossing the street. I looked up and it was none other than Tim Robbins. How funny is that.

I spent the rest of day learning how to make Mu Doi or steamed pork buns, one of my favorite Asian foods. So good. By far, my favorite part of the day was the impromptu dinner al fresco in the garden. So lovely. What a perfect way to cap the day.

OC Fair - Cowabunga

Today Tina, Genny and I went to the OC Fair to eat deep-fried twinkies, visit the animals, see a bull-riding show and peruse gadgets we never knew we could live without. It was fun, but ooh so hot. We had to make strategic visits to the air conditioned buildings just to survive.

We took a divide and conquer approach to the food. First on our list was some lunch so we shared a sausage with pepper and onions and some deep fried zucchini.

After visiting a buck-toothed llama, 900 lb cow and baby animals we decided it was time for deep-fried twinkies and threw in a couple of deep-fried oreos to round out the junk food fest. They really were quite tasty. The twinkies were like a filled-doughnut. The oreos were quite chocolatey and very sweet. Of the two I enjoyed the twinkies more. It was ooey-gooey, calorie-filled deliciousness.

In the Main Hall we decided to have our handwriting analyzed with a giant machine with lots of blinking lights. My fear was that it was scanning my signature and going to apply for credit cards but they assured me it didn't. What we received for our $3 was a generic sign reading. I didn't even agree with half of what they said. Tina's and Genny's was right on.

Then we met up with Lena and Derek for a bull-riding show. I've never seen a bull-riding event. It was entertaining for about 30 minutes, then the seats got really hard, it was hot and I was done. Each ride is less than 8 seconds and it takes about 10 minutes to prep the bull and rider for their turn. So what they fill with is a bunch of lame horse shows. I don't think its funny for some guy to pretend to run into a horses' butt.

So we had dinner with Lena and Derek. Tina and Genny opted for chow mein, I had a bbq beef sandwich. Not as festive as the deep-fried twinkie. After six hours at the fair it was time to go.

The Bard in the Gardens

On Saturday I got see Erika and spend time at one of my favorite places on the planet, The Huntington Gardens. We went to their annual Shakespeare Festival. It was the Bard, on his birthday weekend, in beautiful surroundings.

Actors from Shakespeare at Play were performing scenes in various locations around the gardens. They were amazing. For some reason it's much easier to understand Elizabethan English when its performed outside.

My favorite player was one named Derek. He was talented and hot, what a combo. We just wandered around from performance to performance with no agenda just enjoying the scenery.

Other Elizabethan activities included a May Pole, minstrels, and lectures. It felt like we stepped back in time. I highly recommend it next year.

But the real fun was just hanging out with Erika. We sat for a long time in the Japanese garden and just talked. That was the treat of the day.

Rose Parade

I have lived in Southern California for 14 years and decided it was about time see the Rose Parade.

I wasn't however prepared to sleep on the street overnight. I am beyond the age where that is fun, and I'm not a camper. So Ty, Steve and I decided to get tickets to in November. The best seats were taken so we got seats for 1880 E. Colorado, which is about 2/3 of the way through the parade route.

We got there really early and were shocked to see all of the RVs, campers and trash. People had air mattresses, fire pits, tables and tables full of food and were very bundled up.

I was happy to have my ticket to the grandstands. We got to our seats at 6:30 a.m. The parade started at 8 a.m. and would not be by our area of the route until 9 a.m. It was freezing. We were shoe horned into our seats, bonded with the total strangers that were forced to invade our personal space bubble and had a fantastic time.

It is amazing, nothing like watching it on tv at all. The energy of the crowd. Seeing those beautiful floats up close is unreal. They are so much more colorful and beautiful in person.
One thing I did miss were the commentators, there were so many people on the floats and we had no clue who they were. I'm sure they were important but their presence went unnoticed.

To fill in the gap our very hilarious neighbor Dave read from the program and gave us the history on each float. Then we added our own color commentary making it very fun. However, we had no trouble recognizing George Lucas. The crowd went crazy when he went by.

Unfortunately, our seats were located right after the band performing area so we got them on the down beat. It was funny most of the people around us had been band geeks, including me, we were looking for solid marching skills since there weren't playing. Some bands were amazing but many others were out of step. As a member of the peanut gallery we were giving them scores. But we were at about mile 3 of 5.5 I'm sure they were very tired.

I had such a good time with Ty and Steve. We laughed a lot. Clapped a lot. Yelled a lot. If you decide to go I recommend that you buy your tickets early and get a seat close to the beginning or near the television cameras so you can see more of the performances.

Garden Grove's Strawberry Festival

Rebekah and I decided to go on a little adventure today so we headed to Laguna and had a late breakfast at The Cottage on PCH. It has a great view of the ocean and a diverse menu. It was perfect.

She was meeting another friend at 4 so we decided to venture North to Garden Grove and check out the annual Strawberry festival. I've heard about it for years but never made it until now.

I think I watch too much Food Network tv. When I think festival I think everything and anything related to the food, vegetable or fruit being celebrated. In this instance I thought there would be lots of strawberry foods, pageants, clothes, flavors, a mascot or two etc. Ummm.. not so much. Not even a contest to see who can grow the largest strawberry.

We had to hunt to find the strawberries at all. There were lots of rides, swap meet type booths and a deep fried burrito but not much strawberry type stuff. I couldn't even find strawberry ice cream. How sad is that? There was vanilla ice cream with strawberries, but no strawberry ice cream.

I guess its better than the Lemon festival we went to last year in Upland where the only booth sporting lemon anything was Albertson's grocery store with a lemon pie.

I'm beginning to think that towns in Southern California don't know how to throw a festival. Perhaps they don't know what festival means. They just need to call it a strawberry-flavored fair or something, but a festival it was not.

Pick Your Favorite Procedure

On the radio this morning I heard an ad for the Cosmetic Enhancement Expo, November 5-7 in Los Angeles. An entire trade show dedicated to plastic surgery and why you need it. Executives from Extreme Makeover and The Swan will be there for casting.

This is the most insane thing. A smorgasboard of surgery. An entire convention center dedicated to making you feel bad about yourself and how surgically altering your body will make you better and worth while.

A benefit of attending the show is the opportunity to win free botox. Seminar topics include: Surgery on Friday, Back to work on Monday, Wake Up in Beverly Hills with a Brand New Smile, What's Hot in Lunchtime Makeover Procedures: Minimally Invasive Rejuvenation and Total Body Work. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. These are actual seminar topics.

Not in LA, not to worry, this traveling vanity show will be in a city near you in 2005.

L.A. Fair

Laticia and I braved the heat today to visit the L.A. County Fair. It was at least 300 degrees out there. We were literally melting. But it was so much fun.

I have such great memories of the fair. In Ohio we got days off school to attend. I had friends in 4-H and it was a big deal when someone got a ribbon. It was a little odd to see award-winning cakes in Los Angeles. The two things just don't seem to go together. In LA you're judged by your car, breast size and title not the quality of your jam, pig or ability to quilt. County fairs seem so middle America. It also reminds me of the 1950s when a woman's worth was determined by her baking, sewing and growing abilities.

However, I have to say my favorite thing were the rides. My mom never let us ride carnival rides. She said they were assembled and disassembled too much to be safe. But today I broke all the rules. Laticia and I went old school and rode the scrambler, gravitron and ferris wheel. It was great. You know you love the scrambler.

To beat the heat we wandered around the air-conditioned buildings that have all the great demonstrations, fudge and gadgets. Where else can you see ginsu knives, get your tennis shoes clean with a miracle cleaner that also gets rid of rust spots on your tub, AND register to vote. I'm telling you its a cornucopia of delights, a treat around every corner. We got sucked into everything. I was tempted to buy the miracle mop, but I refrained.

I haven't even gotten to the food yet. Fair food rocks. I love fries with vinegar and BBQ pork. Those are my favorites. There is so much to choose from - pretzels, cotton candy, hot dogs, burritos ... tasty. It was too hot to eat though. So instead we paid a ton for water. That is at least very LA.

My love affair with the fair continues. I might have to go back again.