I left my heart in San Francisco...

I kind of did. Paul is my oldest friend. We have known each other since we were toddlers. We were boyfriend/girlfriend when we were 3 years old. Oh yes. Such a love. But really - I love him dearly. It's rare to have a friend your entire lifetime like that. Paul doesn’t stay in one place very long, so as soon as he was old enough he was off popping around all over the place. But whenever he was near or in town he would come see my shows or attend the random party. We have always kept in touch. He met the lovely Genelle four or so years ago and I was instantly in love. They are meant for each other in every way. They contacted me a few months ago and asked if I would read something at their wedding. I of course was honored. Mom and I were invited, but mom not able to leave her parents right now left me in need of a date. Who other to bring along than my best friend. Lib and I have been friends for a very long time and she is and always will be my best friend in the whole world. This was her 1st trip away from her hubs and daughter so we both were excited to hit the road on a much needed few days away from it all. I had met with AAA and got a trip tix and tour books and Libby and I planned to just sort of wing it and stop at random places and enjoy our time up - there - and back. Thursday: Lib arrived at my house at 4:15 am. We wanted to hit it early and blast through LA before rush hour. Our intention was to hit up Solvang 1st. On our way up the 101 detoured us to a random outlet and we ended up on some random stretch of coast somewhere. We laughed and shot some photos and took a moment to take in the beautiful morning ocean air. It was quiet and lovely and a bit serene. We hit the road again, finding our way back on track and headed out to Solvang. We pulled off at one of the Vista Points and shot some gorgeous shots that of course don’t do the landscape justice. We take for granted the beautiful area that we really are surrounded by here in California I think. I wanted to take it all in and remember the lush greens. I'm thinking it's time to start getting back to nature....Anywhoo - we arrive in Solvang and realized our 1st mistake. Nothing opened until like 9:30-10am. It was about 7:30am. Crap. We found a place that was open for breakfast though and settled in. Libby ordered the abelskeevers and I had eggs benedict. Why not start off our vacation with a punch to the gut? I wanted to enjoy these few days before I start looking into a better diet so I stalked up on antacids’ and tums and was ready. We wandered around the town for a while, trying to stall until something opened up. We walked down into a neighborhood and I took a shot of the green mountains surrounding the town. I don’t know how to explain it but it was almost like it was out of a storybook. It looked so beautiful and green. We finally gave up on stalling and stocked up on pastries, fudge and peanut brittle. I also swung into a candle shop that had just opened and bought a few 70% off Solvang candles. We hit the road. As we drove along the 1 we continued commenting on the gorgeous drive. The weather was perfect, blue sky and the ocean got bluer as we got more north. We stopped in Cayucos and pulled into Hoppes Bistro per the recommendation of a friend of mine. The setting was darling, a little garden surrounded by flowers and charm. We sat in the sun and said hi to Bo the yorki that was wondering around looking for snacks. I ordered my 1st glass of wine and sat back and tried to soak into vacation mode. Luckily we were not in a hurry because the service was the slowest I have ever seen. It seemed a much slower pace around there anyway, but we hadn’t planned on being there that long and were starting to cook in the sunshine. The food was ok, not spectacular. I have to admit I was a little disappointed. We hit the road again, Lib slathering lotion on her now sunburnt arms. We drove a bit more along the gorgeous coast and pulled off the road at Harmony - another recommendation from the same friend to try this tiny winery in this tiny town with a population of 18. We pulled up and strolled in. The man was super friendly and very knowledgeable about wine. We purchased the tasting to get a glass (I love doing that!) and chatted about wine and the weather. He gave me a very thick booklet full of all the Paso Robles wineries and suggested we stop there on the way back. I loved a couple of my tastes and promptly bought a Cab and a Malbec. We left a nice tip and hit the road. I wanted to find the place I had stopped at years ago and seen seals - we found it alright. It's now a tourist attraction. I guess I'm not surprised. It's probably better because you can’t walk down on the beach anymore but they have a parking lot and a look out area where you can see all the seals bathing in the sun. I love seals. I don’t know why but I think they are the cutest damn things. The wind was insane and we didn’t stay too long. I wasn’t too impressed now that it’s all touristy. We did have a hilarious squirrel situation. There were about a dozen of the little guys - obviously being fed regularly by the tourists and they have no fear. In fact - they are a little scary. They shot right up to us and wanted food. I was trying to snap a photo or two but one of them started to try to climb up my pant leg. Um - sorry little guy but no. Libby was shrieking and running way because she made the mistake of handing one them a nut. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Off we went again. We jokingly decided that we commented on how gorgeous and beautiful the coast was at least 382 times. We played the "Name the actor" game and Libby swore that River Phoenix's name was Phillip Rivers. Yes had to be there, but again - laughter so hard it hurt. We drove along the stretch through the mountain from Morro Bay to Monterey. Lib attempted to eat her cream puff from Solvang that promptly turned into a huge mess and again mass laughter. Although I was never able to see out of the passenger side mirror again since it was covered in whip cream. We took much longer on this road that we had anticipated. We seemed to always get behind the not so courteous drivers that drove at a snail’s pace and didn’t pull over. We also got stopped at one point for road work (I still don’t think they were actually doing anything) for about half an hour but at least it was a beautiful drive. Since we were running behind now we skipped Big Sur and Monterey which really disappointed me. We hit the road hard again and shot up to San Fran arriving sometime around 8pm. Traffic was gnarly from Monterey up it seemed so it was quite hairy getting into Burlingame where we were staying. We checked in and unloaded our many many bags and shoes and name it we had it. Paul and Genelle were at the hotel and stopped in to greet us with hugs and presents and excitement. We chatted a bit and off they were again with pre-wedding plans. Lib and I decided to just have a late dinner at the hotel since we were road tired and passed out pretty soon after. Friday: We got a bit of a late start - sleeping in was so nice. We also learned that we were going to have a battle of the snoring for the next few nights. The altitude and change in weather seemed to affect both our sinuses. At least we have a sense of humor about it. I inhaled one of my Solvang pastries for breakfast - so good! Off to Pier 39 we went. Libby had never been to San Fran and I wanted to make sure we hit Pier 39/Ghirardelli and she wanted to hit Haight/Ashbury. Today was the 1st. We hit mass traffic coming in. (I guess I have forgotten how shitty the traffic is) and paid a very shady looking person to park our car. Yes - it was weird. It was a structure...but odd...but we didn’t know...but it was right there and other people seemed fine. Honestly I think they may have just charged us more, but our car was fine. We hit the pier and Lib turned into a shopaholic. I loved the idea of bath salts outside on the pier so I purchased a few bottles that you got to fill up yourself then shot some pictures while Lib was in and out of kitschy shops. We watched the seals for a while laughing at a fairly large one that kept shoving the other seals out of his way. I don’t know why they didn’t lay on other platforms...anyway. We had a lovely lunch at Boudin. We went upstairs to the fancier restaurant and I ordered oysters, wine and clam chowder in a bread bowl. This was probably my favorite meal of the whole trip. So so good!!!!! We also ran into a friend who I knew was up on vacation but never thought we'd actually see! Too funny! We then walked along the wharf and hit up Ghirardelli Square. Libby bought a cupcake that was seriously the best cupcake we had ever tasted. Seriously. Amazing. I almost tempted her to stay an extra day if I bought her a dozen. We bought way too much chocolate and some drinks and popped a squat in Hyde Park. I could have sat there all day. The weather was perfect. I didn’t want to leave. But - we were here for a reason and I had rehearsal at 6pm - so we headed back. Traffic was crappy, but we managed back in time. We freshened up and headed down for the rehearsal. It was quick and painless then off to the rehearsal dinner we went. I had Paul's mom, boyfriend and niece in the car with Lib and I and unfortunately we got lost and were a little late to the dinner. The dinner was at a Mexican Restaurant called Hola! and wasn’t bad. The room we were in was a little small for our big group and the night went on a little longer than I would have preferred but being chauffer I had to stay. Paul and Genelle seemed happy and that's what mattered. I enjoyed chatting with her sister in law and family at our table for sure. Such a lovely group of people. Back to the room - crash. Saturday: We ordered room service just for the sheer fun of doing so and paid way too much for not so good food. Dammit. We then tried to get out the door a bit sooner and we almost did. We rolled into San Fran again searching for Haight Street. We unfortunately read the map wrong and parked waaaay farther than we should have and ended up hiking up some very large hills to find the Haight District. We did come across a little park that looked like it would have been great to explore, but we were on a time limit. We strolled through Haight and my camera didn’t stop clicking. I loved all the wall art and random things and colors. It was a spectacular sight. We snacked and shopped and Lib got her hippie fix. We needed to trek back in plenty of time for the wedding. We got back to the hotel a little early so we took advantage of that time and lay out by the pool for a while. So nice. I still can’t believe I was laying out by a pool in San Fran. It's ALWAYS cold! We showered and got ourselves all dolled up for the big night. We arrived on time and I was sat in the front row. Genelle looked stunning. Everyone looked fantastic and the wedding was so sweet. The colors worked, there was so much love, a friend of theirs married them and he teared up, I got through my reading brilliantly but fell apart as soon as they did their vows. Paul caught my teary face and lost it as well. So happy. So amazing. Loved seeing all the love in that room. Cocktail hour followed then came the reception. They had a slide show and our table was full of some of Paul's family who were so much fun. I'm in love with his Aunt Sharon now. We ate and laughed and drank. The toasts were all so heart felt and sweet. Paul's mom even mentioned me in hers which made me cry again. The DJ was great and everyone seemed to have a great time. When the dancing got to full blown, Libby and I slipped out. We were both exhausted and not used to wearing heels. We headed up to the room and crashed. Sunday: Up and out. We checked out and decided to snack on the road for breakfast. We had a few stops we wanted to do coming home. Santa Cruz was 1st. This is such a ridiculously beautiful city. I would like to return and go somewhere other than the Boardwalk - but that's what we hit and did have fun. We wandered around played a game, got some ice cream and funnel cake and Lib made a mental note to bring her daughter back up here. Such a great place for kids. We found a great little walk way/train track that we wandered around and just took in the beauty of the area. Off we went again. Our next plan was Paso Robles. I wanted to hit up a few wineries. Unfortunately bad planning and timing got in the way. We mistakenly ended up in downtown and had lunch at a not so good bar. The food grumbled around in our bellies and we were told we went the wrong 46 route. Who knew there were 2 exits? We headed out, found the right one and stopped at our 1st winery. Hunt Cellars. Won’t go back. The woman was a total bitch and I don’t think she smiled once. As we walked out annoyed, I realized they closed at 5. I grabbed the brochure and realized they all closed at 5. I started to cry. This was my thing. The one thing I really wanted to do and we didn’t plan it well. I pulled it together and saw one was open until 5:30. We shot over to Castro Cellars and had a great experience. The guy was really nice and friendly and I ended up buying 3 bottles from them. Libby even bought 2 bottles and she's not a wine fan. We headed out, met a cat and hit the road. We were determined to have a nice dinner to end our vacation and this landed us in Santa Barbara about 8pm. We had a very comical moment of her and me trying to change into nicer clothes in her car and we arrived at Emilio’s. Great little Italian place on the strip along the ocean. I'm sure it's a gorgeous few in the day time but we were there at night. Our food was outstanding and we got a mousse for dessert that was divine. We got home about 11:30 tired and happy. I realized some things on this trip. #1 Fuck Spontaneity. I know, I know. But seriously I am sticking to being a planner. I will find out when things open and close and where the hell they are before I head out. #2 I need to vacation more. I don’t vacation much due to finances and time. I also don’t vacation because it's so hard for me to fly. Well - we have a zillion things to do right here within driving distance. I want to go back and stay at Big Sur and Paso Robles and Santa Cruz. I want to take more mini vacations and just hit certain hide a ways. #3 I need more time. Yes - Libby and I had a great time, but I wish we had more time. There was so much more I wanted to do. I would like to take another trip to San Fran and just hit all the parks. Do a bike ride over Golden Gate Bridge. It's really not that far away. #4 Have a sense of humor always. Libby and I do and we did and that is what made this trip so fantastic. We laughed so much and relaxed and enjoyed everything. All in all it was a great trip. We had so much fun and I'm so happy for Paul and Genelle. California is a beautiful place and I plan to explore it even more.