Travel Notes

TRAVEL NOTES

Southern California is known for a lot of things: beautiful beaches, predictably sunny skies and endless freeways. But, we are not known for our hospitality. Heck, it can be difficult to say hello, when we spend a lot of time focusing on just getting safely from one location to the other.

Many of us are familiar with the term ‘southern hospitality.’ Well, I am here to report that it is real. I spent two weeks in beautiful tree lined Atlanta, Georgia. It really is a city built in a forest. The contrast between the way people treat each other there compared to in Los Angeles was unbelievable. Although their minimum wage is significantly lower than ours, they really know how to provide incredible service. Everyone seemed so friendly that I thought I had landed in an alternate universe. Hey, I’m just giving props where they are due.

However, I loved returning to L.A. where the humidity is usually nonexistent and I can’t hear insects humming throughout the night. Also, all the streets with Peach Tree in their names can be confusing: Peach Tree Blvd., Peach Tree Drive, Peach Tree Lane, Peach Tree Court, Peach Tree Avenue, etc. You get the idea and I am not exaggerating. Both cities have their pros and cons. L.A. has a shortage of jobs and housing which creates a homeless nightmare for mostly African Americans. Take a wrong turn in downtown L.A. and you’ll know what I am talking about.

So, no city is perfect, but some are sure nice to visit.

************************************************************************

MORE TRAVEL NOTES

Palm Springs and Las Vegas were two of the exciting destinations that I spent time in during the last 30 days.  Both were unbelievably hot, as in 121 degrees in Palm Springs and 105 degrees in Las Vegas. I realized the value of excellent air conditioning systems.However, my husband and I did enjoy ourselves. In Palm Springs, we rode the  world’s largest rotating tramcar from the desert floor to the top of Mount San Jacinta. It was scary and thrilling at the same time. I had to suppress my fear of heights to make it to the top of the mountain.We managed to avoid the crowds of Vegas in the summer, by lounging by the resort pool and avoiding the casinos.  Of course we did see two awesome shows; one was a Motown Musical Review at Planet Hollywood and the other was a Michael Jackson tribute show at  the Stratosphere hotel.  Visiting the outlets before we returned home, was icing on the cake.

************************************************************************