It had been a
crazy week at work. I would call John each day (my good
friend) and start ranting about the latest thing driving
me crazy - and he would remind me about
Friday. "Just think, you'll be on a plane heading
down to Santa Monica, and we'll have margaritas as we
watch the sun set." I couldn't wait, and the
thought of the weekend put a smile on my face. It would
be by own Red
Barchetta adventure.
Finally, Friday came and John picked me up at work at
about 1:00. We headed to San Jose, and we were hoping
to catch an earlier flight. We just did - thanks to
John's insistence that we try. We made it by a few
minutes, and we were off! I fell asleep, and when I
awoke my mouth was hanging open. I sheepishly asked my
neighbor if I was snoring, and she smiled and said no.
John cracked that he had amused himself during the
flight trying to make baskets in my mouth with random
objects.
We picked up our rental (a Jaguar
- we were splurging!) and headed to the hotel.
Soon we were dropping our bags in the room, and heading
for the bar
at the top for my promised margaritas and sunset. I
was still uptight, and John kept pestering me to relax.
We had dinner reservations at Nobu
Malibu later in the night with a couple of John's
friends, so we could take it easy for a bit. John had
been raving about Nobu for awhile, so I was eager to see
what the fuss was about. He was right - dinner turned out to be pretty
good - and the so was their exclusive sake (Hokusetsu
Jyunmai). Dean
Cain and Jane
Seymour were there as well.
The next day
we walked down to the Third
Street Promenade and had breakfast (and a bloody mary
to take off the edge from the night before). It was a gorgeous
day - blue and warm. Along the way, we found a toy store
with a really cool Lord of the Rings display. While taking
pictures, I heard kids excitedly pointing at the figurines
and calling off all the names - pretty amazing. After
breakfast, we then headed down to the Santa Monica Pier,
enjoyed the sights, and rode the Pacific Wheel - the same Ferris wheel that
rolls into the Pacific Ocean in the movie
"1941."