My tooth has gotten worse; hope I can make it thru till we get home. Miranda says my monopolizing the sink is driving her over the edge. Repacking things after the shopping yesterday is very difficult.
Sea World was lots more fun than I supposed. It cost $450 to get in (ouch). Tim lost his cell in the car and had a fit till we found it under the seat. Megan rented a go-cart to ride around in. 1st stop: lunch. I watched a pigeon build a nest and feed her chick in the rafters.* The lunch plates were humongous. Tim inhaled a ton; Megan's salad had breaded chicken (we gave her OPP - gluten-blocking pills); I had a bar and ate Tim's peas.
(*That is one remarkable pigeon - building a nest, laying and hatching an egg, and then feeding her chick - all during our lunch break.)
Megan's wheelchair broke down and we had to wait for a replacement. Miranda got told not to feed the birds, but everybody else did and no one told THEM.
We saw belugas, polar bears and walrus, penguins, turtles and shark exhibits. Megan had a hard time seeing some things. A specific gift shop for each animal; prices were high. Saw fresh-water aquarium: piranha's, many fish typical of pet stores with a few exotics.
Saw little birds basking in hot sand. Tim discovered we were at the wrong end of the park for the Sea Circus, so we boogied back. Tim says he wants to be a marine biologist. He discovered churros and kept spending his money on them.
Megan out-shouted the clown in the warm-up show. The clowns chose a guy of the audience (a plant?) and put him in a hamster wheel on the water. The show was acrobatics - LOTS of fun (strong man, gymnasts, dancers, etc.) Tim now wants to be a gymnast.
We got right in line for the sea lion show and it filled up fast. Very professional face paintings went by. The sea lion show was super! Megan and Miranda went on the skyway; the line was too long for Tim and me so we went to the Tidepool (he handled bat stars but missed the Manta petting tank as it was being re-done); and World of the Sea Aquarium (saw some really big fish); Dolphin tank, Toy shop. Saw bunnies eating grass.
Since we missed the Shamu show, Megan wanted to see one. We really lucked out to see the trainers playing with 3 of the 6 in a pool. They did all sorts of tricks. We saw an egret close up on a fence - not afraid of people.
We got off track leaving Sea World and had to stop at Barnes & Noble to find out where we were. Decided to stop at Denny's before starting the long haul. It was the best meal yet - I had chicken-fried steak, beans, broccoli, salad, fruit - lots of food but hopefully not too calorific. Stacy was a great waitress.
On our way back to L.A. we tried to keep Megan awake by singing songs (I sang "Time"). We ended up in Glendale/Pomona and realized we were lost. We stopped at a gas station to fill up and buy a better map. It was late (11:00) and not the best section of town. A man asked questions about the color of the car. The hackles were going up on my neck.
The Lord sent an angel as a business woman who helped us with her knowledge & GPS (the new map was useless). We got back on the freeway and ended up in downtown L.A. (Chinatown). Now the neighborhood was REALLY scary. The hotel was down a dark alley and in a narrow corridor. A car pulled in behind us and just sat that. Now everybody's hackles were up (except Tim, who was blithely gaming away).
Megan went into the corridor and 2 men followed. The alley was so narrow, I couldn't get out; had to crawl over Tim. Inside, everything seemed okay. We went down a winding driveway (the blimp would have scraped) & couldn't find a parking place in the garage (which was WORSE than Group Health). I went up to the office for help. The guy came down and told us to park in a no-spot and they would shuffle cars around in the morning. We did and took the bags up the elevator (you had to swipe the card multiple times to get it to work).
The car lights inside the car wouldn't go out. Megan and I went back down and couldn't solve it. The desk guy turned up and fixed things. Another car also moved out, so we could park in a real spot. Again the Lord was watching out for us. The room was awful (once we had a worse one). Tiny toilet room, tiny sink area, tiny beds (not even queen-size - just double). It's very discomfiting.
My comments:
Lest you freak at the price that Bill mentioned for tickets, let me add that those tickets were good for Sea World AND Universal Studios - unlimited access for 14 days. Pity we didn't have a chance to use them more often.
I loved the little motorized vehicle that I rented at Sea World. Sometimes it was hard for the others to keep up with me. Interestingly enough, whenever I left it to go to the bathroom, or get food, I would find somebody sitting on it when I got back. Usually Tim, but occasionally others would take advantage of my absence.
Bill mentioned that my salad had breaded chicken on it. I decided I should limit how much I ate of it, and told Tim that he could have some. He reminded me of a chicken pecking grain - the speed with which he picked and devoured my chicken was incredible. If I hadn't told him to stop, I think he would have eaten it all!
Miranda was very pleased when we reached the walk-through shark tank. It was the one thing she remembered from a previous trip. The tank actually arches over the top, like a tunnel, and you can see sharks swimming above you. Super cool.
Cirque de Mer was amazing. As Bill mentioned, there were clowns going through the audience and screaming at people, so they would scream back. I was a bit surprised at how loud a scream I produced when one of the clowns yelled at me. Personally I think the 'guy-from-the-audience' was a plant, even if they did give him a T-shirt afterwards. Either that, or he was one of the most remarkably good-natured men I've ever seen considering what they put him through.
The star of the sea lion show was not the sea lions, but the guy who pretended to be the Janitor. He was turning on tunes and then dancing to them while imitating certain people. His Elvis impression was hilarious. Good show, but not as great as the one I remember from last time.
This was the one day that I deeply regretted we hadn't brought Chester (our GPS) along with us. Somehow I went the wrong way on the freeway and we ended up heading east instead of north. I can't complain too much because the dinner at Denny's really was very good, and Stacy was the nicest waitress we had the whole trip. And then, of course, we got lost in Los Angeles as well.
What Bill didn't mention about the unbelievable parking situation at the hotel is that we actually had to pay $10 for the privilege to park there! And he was right, the white whale never would have made it. While the Best Western Dragon Gate Hotel might be the closest Best Western to Universal Studios, I would highly recommend you avoid it. Once again, we got to bed very late and I knew we would miss the "Continental Breakfast" in the morning by oversleeping.
1 comment:
Wait, I am confused about the pigeon, but I probably had to be there.
I haven't been to Sea World since my honeymoon, and I don't remember much from then. Something about being in love, maybe. But it all sounds super fun.
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