Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Painless journey to the airport was complemented by a concerned check-in supervisor who was anxious to seat myself and 'mer colleeg' and CSI Essex representative Aiden Brick (ret) together. It was obvious to this writers eyes that she had assumed we were 'fans of the theatre' and therefore felt compelled to say 'Can I just say that we're not gay'. We ended up in separate rows with the added bonus of an empty seat next to me. Excellent.
Several bottles of red wine and three films later we touched down at LAX, proceeded swiftly through US immigration and on to the car rental centre. Ade jumped into the drivers seat of our SUV and we were off to our first overnight stop, The Santa Monica Motel. Tripadvisor hates this place but we chose it for its cheapness and the fact that it didn't cost much to stay there. Having explained to the lady behind the reception that we were merely sharing a room for cost reasons and that 'we most definitely were not gay' we dumped our luggage in the basic but clean room and headed down to the waterfront.
We were greeted with lots of tanned bodies and fitness freaks utilising the beach based hoops and bars to best effect. We would fit in well here. A saunter to the end of the world famous pier, where Route 66 officially finishes, allowed us to have our first beer on US soil, or rather wooden structure, and plans were made on how Day one of our automotive odessy would play out. We also espyed Steve Perry, ex lead singer of the rock band Journey and the voice to Don't Stop Believin' recently made famous by Glee, and he was happy to help us out by taking a picture of us together. We then had to point out that we were not fans of home furnishings or colour coordination.
After another beer we decided to head for an eatery that Aiden knew of, but not before he decided to buy a unique fridge magnet that had 'Route 66' emblazoned across it. Funny how our colonial cousins pronounce the word route as rowt which causes consistent merriment when mentioned to the natives. Very soon we realised that the eatery that 'mer colleeg' was looking for had moved without informing him so we headed into a typical corporate burger joint where we served some excellent burgers and beer. However, not before I felt obliged to tell the waitress that 'we were not gay by the way'. The diet was surely going to be a success.
We retired early as the time difference was starting to win, both heading towards slumber land dreaming of diners, shakes and roadhouse to the soundtrack of rock 'n' roll.
- comments