My Summer Vacation

It was time to push back away from the computers. Though we get a little obsessive with our careers around here, you do realize that it is summer, the Pacific Ocean is all over the place, and you really should go sit by it. This morning, I received The Global Rich List
from Megan and when I went to the sight and plugged in my number, I saw that I was one of the richest people on earth, so no worries! Orange County here we come.

I suggested we drive down to San Onofre. There’s a nude beach. It’s a little over an hour away. How Hawaiian. Let’s do it! We would stop at San Clemente for lunch, get to the beach by 2:30. Okay. We got as far as San Juan Capistrano. There were warning signs. “Big accident ahead, 57 miles.” Would we get to San Clemente before 57 miles? Yes, we would. The accident was further south, along the middle of Camp Pendelton. Problem is, the traffic started to severely back up in San Juan Capistrano, swallows or not. So, we aborted our plan, since sitting in a very long, thin parking lot for an hour or more did not sound like much fun.

We U-turned it and went Laguna. Always a good choice. Completely beautiful. The way it always is. Strong pounding surf. Read a New Yorker. Watched some volleyball. Took a walk.

On the way back north, we stopped to take a look at The Crystal Cove Cottages. Eh. Kind of cramped. The ones at top are in serious earshot of the very noisy Route 1-PCH. Many of the cottages down below are close to the restaurant. If you ever stay there, I suggest staying in one of the cottages as far south as possible. They are below a noise blocking bluff and far away from the restaurant. However, I think those cottages might be two family upper-downers.

We then drove to Newport Beach. What hilarity. White mall people living in the Matrix. We ate at Muldoon’s Pub at Fashion Island (a big circular mall). Imitation Irish pub. Quite pretty, actually. Food was fine. But you could feel the puppet master shoving the Erin Go Bullshit down your gullet. Orange County is a strange beast of a place.

But what better location to see Mamma Mia? Oh, my friends, if you like Abba, as did most of the two-ton Tessies over fifty in the audience, apparently, and you feel like having a hen night at the mall, go check it out. Frankly, I thought it was a big ol’ mess. But the actors are all so game (even the ones who aren’t the strongest singers), and the Aphrodite vibe is fabulous, everyone getting into their sensuality and love for each other. Beautiful colors, sea, people. Best number was Dancing Queen, followed by Meryl’s full blown The Winner Takes it All. Fun having a real “Greek chorus”. Ending the evening on a beautiful Greek island was a good idea.