Hello again!, I just arrived back from an incredible, life changing journey to California. It was only a short trip, but the days were chalk full of excitement new experience that I thought I would share with you all.
This was my first time traveling without an adult handy. Which was a pretty big milestone to cross. However, I wasn't all alone. I went on this big grand adventure with my best friend,Brittney. What sounds better than that?
This all happened so spontaneously. One night Brittney and I were lamenting at home about a concert we both wanted to go to. Sadly, the venues were only set in California. I posted something about it on Facebook and suddenly my cousin commented on the post offering a place to stay if we were to come over there. Suddenly the opportunity arose and instead of crushing it with plane cost realities, etc. We had both made it up in our minds that we were going on a grand adventure.
Get ready for a long rundown folks! Here we go!
June
The first day we arrived in California we woke up super early! The time difference between Maine and California is three hours so if we wake up at 6 AM its already 9AM back home. Meaning we became natural early birds in sunny California. We ate a good breakfast and hopped into our swim gear. We were headed to the beach to get our sea legs!
As I said before, we stayed with my two cousins. Who live in San Diego in the magical area called Sunset Cliffs. It was so beautiful there we both starting scheming plans to move there immediately. On that first day we walked along the cliffs and glanced out. We kept looking at each other in disbelief at 1,the beauty and 2, the fact that we had actually made it here.
The water was warm instantly after the initial dip. We walked the long pier and watched the surfers glide along frothy tops of the waves. When we were satisfied with our beach time we walked the four miles back to the house and sat down for lunch.
Later on that afternoon we decided to take on a place called Lestats, a quirky cafe in Normal Heights. For this excursion I drove.
( Which is crazy! Something I never would have done before!)
The highways are a little intimidating but lets just say thank god for smart phones and their built in GPS systems. Once we had arrived and I enjoyed a mint mocha and a vegan chocolate cupcake. Well deserved I think.
Day 2
Day two was a big day. We hopped on a train early on towards Anaheim.
What was in Anaheim of notable interest to us?
... Why Disneyland of course!
This, happened at Downtown Disney.#noregrets
We entered the magical park of Disneyland and we were fully immersed in the Disney spirit; the mouse ears, screaming children, long lines and lots of sun and blisters. That being said it was worth it. The Haunted Mansion still to this day since visiting Disney as a child is my favorite ride. We left the park rather late at night causing a very long and somewhat uncomfortable journey back home to San Diego.
Day Three
The next day was mostly spent resting, until the evening when we celebrated Brittney's birthday at a restaurant called "Stacked" which used I-pads as a interactive menu. If you chose to make a burger or a shake, sundae you had many options of toppings to customize yourself. It was super cool. We walked out with food coma's by the end.
Day Four
The next day was Warped Tour day! The event that inspired the entire trip. Brittney and I were headed off to see a long time favorite musical favorite artist, Emilie Autumn. The best way to explain her genre of music is darkly theatrical rock opera. We have been fans for a very long time so this was very exciting for us both.
'
Emilie Autumn's whole aesthetic is based upon a fantasy Victorian Asylum that she wrote a book about called: The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. The performance was an totally immersive experience called appropriately : The Asylum Experience.
It was an amazing experience albeit very, very hot outside. We danced with Emilie Autumn's cohorts: Captain Maggots and Veronica Varlow which was truly a dream come true, I love them both so much. It was like meeting your favorite celebrities.
And we also had the pleasure of meeting Marc Senter! who is the character, Scorpion in the somewhat underground and great film called The Devils Carnival and also really close with miss Autumn herself. He was so incredibly sweet and that also was a dream come true to meet him.
( Brittney, posing with Marc <3 font="" nbsp="">
We met new friends during the concert and had loads of fun. We waited around after to see if we would get the chance to meet Emilie, Maggots and Veronica but since it was such a long performance and so hot Emilie was too tired to meet anyone. Feeling dehydrated ourselves we left the venue and waited to be picked up my my other cousin who we would be staying with while visiting L.A.
Day Five
This was our fantastic day in L.A with my cousin, Zoe who is the other artistic type in my family. I hadn't seen her in years so I was incredibly grateful I got to spend time with her and my aunt again.
We visited a chic cafe in Melrose called Romancing the Bean which was an aesthetically stunning cafe. I was in love with the interior and also the food and coffee. Then we stopped at a variety of curiosity antique oddity shops in the LA area. Collecting bones/oddities is a hobby that both my cousin Zoe and I share in common. We traveled to see the Hollywood sign and lastly Brittney and I explored Little Tokyo and partook in Ramen for dinner and a sweet wrapped crepe for dessert.
Day 6
This was our last full day in California. The first half was spent traveling back to San Diego from L.A. When we arrived back at the house we started to pack up all of our stuff.
As a reward later that night my cousin drove us out to his secret location for Sea world's nightly fireworks display. It felt like the perfect ending to a wonderful trip. I felt like my eyes were opened to a whole new positive perspective on life.
Day Seven
Traveling back home! Whole day was spent either on a plane or playing " airport hustle" in order to make our connecting flight.
Now I am back in good ol Maine. Looking at life a little bit sweeter. It's strawberry season. I am a happy girl. I hope you enjoyed my California trip pics. I am hopeful that this trip will inspire other adventures around the world. I am discovering more and more how much I cherish travel. Its amazing.
Well, I hope you all are doing well!
If you would like please give me a follow under any of my social media by hitting any of those buttons in the sidebar. Thank you so much. I love seeing this blog grow and your support makes it grow all the sweeter I can't thank enough.
See you all next time!
The water was warm instantly after the initial dip. We walked the long pier and watched the surfers glide along frothy tops of the waves. When we were satisfied with our beach time we walked the four miles back to the house and sat down for lunch.
Later on that afternoon we decided to take on a place called Lestats, a quirky cafe in Normal Heights. For this excursion I drove.
( Which is crazy! Something I never would have done before!)
The highways are a little intimidating but lets just say thank god for smart phones and their built in GPS systems. Once we had arrived and I enjoyed a mint mocha and a vegan chocolate cupcake. Well deserved I think.
Day 2
Day two was a big day. We hopped on a train early on towards Anaheim.
What was in Anaheim of notable interest to us?
... Why Disneyland of course!
This, happened at Downtown Disney.#noregrets
We entered the magical park of Disneyland and we were fully immersed in the Disney spirit; the mouse ears, screaming children, long lines and lots of sun and blisters. That being said it was worth it. The Haunted Mansion still to this day since visiting Disney as a child is my favorite ride. We left the park rather late at night causing a very long and somewhat uncomfortable journey back home to San Diego.
Day Three
The next day was mostly spent resting, until the evening when we celebrated Brittney's birthday at a restaurant called "Stacked" which used I-pads as a interactive menu. If you chose to make a burger or a shake, sundae you had many options of toppings to customize yourself. It was super cool. We walked out with food coma's by the end.
Day Four
The next day was Warped Tour day! The event that inspired the entire trip. Brittney and I were headed off to see a long time favorite musical favorite artist, Emilie Autumn. The best way to explain her genre of music is darkly theatrical rock opera. We have been fans for a very long time so this was very exciting for us both.
'
Emilie Autumn's whole aesthetic is based upon a fantasy Victorian Asylum that she wrote a book about called: The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. The performance was an totally immersive experience called appropriately : The Asylum Experience.
It was an amazing experience albeit very, very hot outside. We danced with Emilie Autumn's cohorts: Captain Maggots and Veronica Varlow which was truly a dream come true, I love them both so much. It was like meeting your favorite celebrities.
And we also had the pleasure of meeting Marc Senter! who is the character, Scorpion in the somewhat underground and great film called The Devils Carnival and also really close with miss Autumn herself. He was so incredibly sweet and that also was a dream come true to meet him.
( Brittney, posing with Marc <3 font="" nbsp="">
We met new friends during the concert and had loads of fun. We waited around after to see if we would get the chance to meet Emilie, Maggots and Veronica but since it was such a long performance and so hot Emilie was too tired to meet anyone. Feeling dehydrated ourselves we left the venue and waited to be picked up my my other cousin who we would be staying with while visiting L.A.
Day Five
This was our fantastic day in L.A with my cousin, Zoe who is the other artistic type in my family. I hadn't seen her in years so I was incredibly grateful I got to spend time with her and my aunt again.
We visited a chic cafe in Melrose called Romancing the Bean which was an aesthetically stunning cafe. I was in love with the interior and also the food and coffee. Then we stopped at a variety of curiosity antique oddity shops in the LA area. Collecting bones/oddities is a hobby that both my cousin Zoe and I share in common. We traveled to see the Hollywood sign and lastly Brittney and I explored Little Tokyo and partook in Ramen for dinner and a sweet wrapped crepe for dessert.
Day 6
This was our last full day in California. The first half was spent traveling back to San Diego from L.A. When we arrived back at the house we started to pack up all of our stuff.
As a reward later that night my cousin drove us out to his secret location for Sea world's nightly fireworks display. It felt like the perfect ending to a wonderful trip. I felt like my eyes were opened to a whole new positive perspective on life.
Day Seven
Traveling back home! Whole day was spent either on a plane or playing " airport hustle" in order to make our connecting flight.
Now I am back in good ol Maine. Looking at life a little bit sweeter. It's strawberry season. I am a happy girl. I hope you enjoyed my California trip pics. I am hopeful that this trip will inspire other adventures around the world. I am discovering more and more how much I cherish travel. Its amazing.
Well, I hope you all are doing well!
If you would like please give me a follow under any of my social media by hitting any of those buttons in the sidebar. Thank you so much. I love seeing this blog grow and your support makes it grow all the sweeter I can't thank enough.
See you all next time!
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