When Mother Comes to Visit

My mom is visiting. It's becoming a tradition that when she visits I plan a short trip somewhere fun and frivolous. Last year it was Universal in Orlando. This year we are in Los Angeles, a city that was the first city in this country that I visited. I was sick at the time and bewildered by the enormity and how to navigate my way around. But I remember the trip to Universal and Disneyland as being marvelous, if only because of how far removed they were from anything real. Between that memory and S's gushing praise for the city from a recent visit, the plan was solidified.

Getting her from Chicago was not a nightmare even though our original flight was delayed enough for us to have missed our connecting flight and so Southwest rebooked us onto a direct flight with no fuss. Our suitcase didn't arrive with us and honestly it was remarkable how easily they found it and delivered it to our hotel. I was both grateful and also unperturbed by this -- losing a suitcase is not fun but it is also not the worst thing that could happen. As long as all lives and limbs are intact, it could always have been worse.

Yesterday was spent taking a bus tour of..well not just LA but also surrounding cities. Griffith Observatory has to be my favorite and if I ever come back, I plan to hike the trails there. Everything else, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Rodeo Drive, while entertaining was so far removed from what I think of as reality that it didn't really interest me much. Learning about the likes of Petra Ecclestone is hardly a way to feel good about yourself and I am working hard to avoid comparisons these days, I find that I am leaning too easily into the dissatisfaction that comes with them. Hollywood boulevard was lively and had stores we could enter knowing that of something catches our eye, we could buy it (Marshall's, Forever 21). It was also good for souvenirs (I'm a sucker for a whimsical magnet).

I type this from a 30 minute long queue for a Matterhorn ride that better be something special because this is an interminable line, further disenchanting me from this fairytale world.

My favorite part so far is the fact that my mom and I both enjoy the downtime at the end of a day full of touristy activities. Being able to buy my own wine (as opposed to the exorbitant hotel prices) also makes my holiday better.