Long Beach Vacation

Last week I took a little mini vacation and visited my good buddy Marianne in Long Beach. Marianne and I were co-workers many moons ago and we've stayed good friends.

Please join me for a little recap of my fabulous time with Marianne:

On Wednesday night, I flew down there on Jet Blue, which was a new experience for me. I was expecting Southwest with blue details instead of red ones. What I got was this.


















My very own TV screen right in front of me. AND 40 DirecTV channels to choose from. I watched a little House marathon and arrived too soon. I never think plane rides are short, but I could have stayed on there a while longer. Bonus: Hugh looks just as great on a little screen as he does on my TV at home.

On Thursday, Marianne and I took the Metro to Universal Studios. We saw lots of interesting people on the ride, but I couldn't get a picture of them because they could all have beaten me up. I know my limits.














We arrived at US and immediately took the Studio Backlot Tour. I love seeing the sets and locations for movies and shows, so this was right up my alley. One of the highlights for me?















It's Wisteria Lane!!! I was really hoping to see Carlos, but he wasn't around. It's probably for the best because I would have launched myself right out of that tram and into his arms. It would have caused a whole scene. People would have been uncomfortable by our PDA. They'd yell at us to get a room. Marianne would have to spend the rest of the day by herself while Carlos and I got to know each other better. See? It worked out better this way.

After the Studio Tour we wandered over to a big, colorful building, thinking it might be a bathroom.















It wasn't a bathroom! Curiously Apu wasn't behind the register. I was a little disappointed.

Would you believe they had Duff beer in there? It was horribly expensive so I couldn't get it for my brother. I'm sure he's devastated.

Then we saw a portrait studio set up. And of course we had to jump in.












Maggie was MIA, but that was OK. Check out how chummy Homer was getting with me.

Next up was the Simpson's Ride. I didn't do so well on that one. Here are Marianne and I in line for this ride.














Believe it or not, that's me with lots of color on my face. I was completely white when we got out of that ride. I don't do crazy jerky motions. Yes it was a motion simulator ride. Yes I am a wimp. Shut up.

After a long day, we rode the Metro back to Long Beach and tried to avoid the undesirables pressing up against us.

The next day we were off to Disneyland!! It was the first day of the Christmas decorations and it was beautiful!

Here's Sleeping Beauty's Castle all decorated and lit up.












Did you know that it snows at Disneyland in the winter? It was so pretty!

Of course Marianne and I get there and we immediately head to our favorite ride:















Pirates was amazing, as always. It's funny how that ride can take you back in time and make you feel like a kid again. I think it's the smell of the water.

We then went on to The Haunted Mansion. It's never been my favorite ride, mostly because the line is so long and the ride seems so blah. But this time it was amazing. It was all decorated as The Nightmare Before Christmas.














It was a definite improvement over the normal house. Unfortunately I hadn't seen the movie, so now I would be forced to buy it. Along with some other Nightmare merchandise. I'm such a sucker for shopping.

We wandered around the park and went on more rides and finally ended up over at It's A Small World. We had heard that it was decorated for Christmas so we were excited to see what they did. We were standing in line at 5:00 when we heard over the loudspeaker, "countdown with us... 3... 2... 1." And WOW!!! All the lights came on and it was spectacular!















The outside was amazing and the inside was great too. I even took a video of the entire ride so my Dad could watch it. He absolutely HATES this ride. I think when I was around 8 I made him go on it with me 5 times in a row and he couldn't get the song out of his head for days. I'm sure he'll be delighted to watch the 12 minute video of the ride with me.

We went back to Disneyland the next day and had another awesome time. Lots of laughs, shopping, rides, it was perfect. I only wish it hadn't gone by so fast. I'll definitely have to visit again soon.

Thanks for the amazing time Marianne!!