Honeymoon Part 2

SCARY MOVIE STORY
The movie, which we enjoyed, had a rather unpleasant experience attached which will be difficult to communicate on paper. Toward the end of the movie, the man seated in front of us began to snore or snort rather loudly, drawing the attention of everyone within an 8-seat radius. This was right at the climax of the movie. Afterwards when the lights came up, Bree and I and the two girls sitting in front of him lagged behind to wake him up. I say him – at the time we were unsure if it was a man or a woman. After talking loudly for a few minutes, we bgan to nudge him. The first time I put my hands on his wrist, I knew it was cold. One of the girls, though flipping out, went to call 911 and get some more help. We pulled the man into the aisle. Another passerby did CPR until the paramedics arrived. They shocked him back and had a slight pulse when they carried him from the scene. We were there for about 30 minutes – me holding the flashlight and IV bag, much to Bree’s dismay, as she was ready to get out of there. She had helped the other girl call the last number on the man’s phone, which turned out to be his brother. This will always be the strangest story of our honeymoon. The moral for us is that neither one of us will ever go see a movie alone. Nor will we let anyone around us sleep at the movies. Our heart rates eventually returned to normal.

DOWN TO BUSINESS
On Wednesday, we completed the business portion of our trip. We went to the British Consulate to obtain our visas. This was relatively uneventful, though we were disgruntled at having to wait as people who had showed up late for their appointments were allowed to cut in line. Now we have a magical page in our passports that allows us to travel freely back and forth to the UK for 5 years. We ate at Fish Tacos, which was surprisingly good. This time was the closest we came to arguing on the honeymoon as Matt wanted to walk the lengthy blocks to the beach and Bree wanted to just sit and relax in her dress shoes.

SURPRISE!
That evening, Matt had continuously hinted at wanting to eat an early dinner. Bree understood why when a limo showed up instead of a taxi. We dressed up and went to the Pacific Dining Car downtown, an old railway car that has been serving steak since the early 1900’s. We had a corner of the restaurant to ourselves to enjoy steak, lobster tail, and salmon. Also if you ever go, be sure to get the potatoes. The appetizer was also superb – jumbo shrimp with mango. The waitress asked if we were going to the Lakers game, as the restaurant shuttled many of its patrons to Staples Center. Matt vehemently shook his head yes, but through his expression made it known that this was a secret. “No? Okay, we just like to know,” the lady said. Bree, though she won’t admit it, was slightly disappointed. She’d heard at one point that a Lakers game was a possibility. She didn’t realize that we really were going until the limo pulled up to Staples Center.

Her joy was indescribable as we walked to 6th row seats at the top of the key. An Aggie alumnus from LA had provided the tickets just because we were a young Aggie couple. It was a fantastic game, despite not getting to see Kobe play. The Lakers came from behind to win 93-90. We enjoyed the limo ride home. Neither of us had ever taken a limo on a date before, so that was a first. We rode to the tunes of a CD that Sharon had created for us.

HOLLYWOOD
Thursday, like everyday, we slept in. Our first meal of the day was In and Out Burger, a delightful treat. We loved it so much that we ate lunch there again on Friday. We walked down Hollywood Boulevard and saw all of the attractions there, but didn’t really go inside anywhere. We came to the realization that for all of the glitz, Hollywood is not glamorous. Lots of poor but hopefully individuals live a very difficult life in the shadows of the stars. We stopped by the Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, looking for one of Bree’s former roommates. Karen took us to the Hollywood Urban Project where she works with youth in that area. It was neat to see her place of ministry, which is desperately needed.

MORE BASKETBALL
We raced off quickly, as we had learned that the Bruins were in town against Stanford at the Pauley Pavilion. Unfortunately, we wasted a lot of time with a cab driver who didn’t know where it was. We eventually got out of the car, deciding we would find it more easily on foot without his help. I bought tickets from a scalper, perhaps for the first time ever, and we sat on the 2nd row behind the basket (thanks Keith!). We were right next to the band and the atmosphere was incredible. Reed Arena still has some room for improvement. It was a good game for the most part. Bree recognized Maria Shriver leaving with a couple minutes left; Matt did not until he received some help. We then had a great walk on UCLA’s campus, resisting the urge to drop in on a frat party.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY: THE PLANE RIDE
The next morning, Friday, we had every intention of going to the Getty Center, but with sleeping in and packing, it just never happened.

Like I said, we returned to In and Out Burger and headed to the airport. And that was our honeymoon, or at least the part I feel like telling you about. We had a great time and enjoyed LA more than we’d expected.

If you’re honeymooning anytime soon, definitely go somewhere that you’re not going to be compelled to do everything touristy. We pretty much did one sightseeing excursion per day and really enjoyed ourselves. We enjoyed not having the stress of rushing around or trying to decide who got to go where they wanted to go.