A kind gesture before our plane landed at LAX set me up for one of the biggest takeaways from my most recent family vacation late last month. Flight attendants handed us pens and small pieces of paper to write encouraging notes that they would pass along to firefighters and first responders. We thanked them for bravely fighting the fires that engulfed the region.
As I handed over my affirmation, I made a genuine connection despite being unable to communicate in the traditional sense. Those types of connections happened again and again on my trip that included three days in Los Angeles, a seven-day Carnival cruise and a quick layover in Las Vegas.
During the L.A. portion, we stayed at the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel. Just like the name suggests, the theme was vintage Hollywood and honored entertainment icons like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. After we settled in our rooms, we took a trip to Koreatown to visit Memory Look Café. On the way I noticed a truck that was transporting burned cars. Seeing the pile of smoldered metal made me think of my note from the plane.
When we arrived, I got started with one of my favorite activities while visiting Los Angeles – people watching. The city’s diverse population means that there is always something to see.
For our second day in LA, we headed to the Santa Monica Pier and walked around the carnival before heading to Westfield Century City Mall. Apparently, there have been several movies filmed there. This was by far the nicest mall I’ve ever visited. I noticed Los Angeles uses a lot of greenery in its landscape. Even though it is a big city, it still has nature everywhere. We ended our evening with dinner at Din Tai Fung. I had pork soup dumplings.
The last day in California we took a bus tour that explored all of LA – including Venice beach, the grove, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and more. Venice beach was my favorite stop of the tour because of the skateboarding culture as well as the roller skaters and the visual artists on the beach. There are so many creative people at Venice beach. Even the people just walking by look like characters out of a movie.
After making our rounds in Los Angeles, we boarded The Carnival Panorama. The cruise had three ports in Mexico: Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. Activities they had on board included stage shows, karaoke, sports tournaments, art auctions, scavenger hunts – and one of my favorite things, unlimited food and ice cream. We began our first day trying the buffet. They had foods from all over the world. The entrees included interesting kinds of sausage, beans on toast, Asian desserts and more.
My cabin had a cove balcony – which is on a lower level, so you are very close to the water. I could feel the mist from the ocean while the ship was moving. Being on the balcony started the second major takeaway from my trip – an even deeper appreciation for nature. As I sat there, I made a watercolor painting of the ocean and made other sketches.
While in Mazatlán I saw cliff divers and met a monkey in a dress named Linda. Her owner was kind enough to let me engage with his trusted companion. While ordering food on the beach, our waitress saw my camera. There was a language barrier, but she pointed to my camera and then began showing me sunset photos she had taken with her phone. I showed her a few of my photos as well. It was cool to bond with her even though we didn’t speak the same language. The same thing happened with our tour guide when we rode horses. Even though we had no idea what he was saying, the man had a great sense of humor. He told us he named his horse Peppa Pig. We passed a pack of stray cats, and he meowed at them as we rode our horses down a path and to the beach.
Cabo was the last port. It was also my favorite. We woke up at 5:30am and gathered in small groups to go whale watching. The boat bounced across the waves until we were far away from the shore. It slowed down and drifted in the deep water until a puff of water shot out of the ocean. The boat erupted in excited whispers – and everyone pointed at the puff of water coming from the blowhole of the whale. Whales come to the surface every five minutes to breathe. With each puff the whale’s body would soon appear before diving back under the surface. Sometimes their tails would show as they dove downwards. We also Saw Manta rays as they sprung completely out of the ocean and did backflips in the air before diving back into the water. Towards the end of the whale watching experience, we discovered a baby whale following its mother. The baby whale jumped out of the water and onto its side. The tour guide explained how baby whales and their mothers jump out of the water to play with each other.
Their bonding moment was one of my most treasured moments – it reminded me of the fun I had with my own family over the course of the vacation.
See Taylor Marrie’s full gallery here.
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