Hollywood and Buffett
It's five o'clock somewhere It's fair to say that fall, maybe even winter is descending upon portland. The skies have turned gray and rain is falling. Don't get me wrong, i haven't started the search to see if i still own a pair of jeans and haven't begun thinking about owning a pair of shoes other than flip flips...but we are certainly aware of the change and the fedora has been replaced by the touque for a week now.
After the long hot and dry summer we had it was almost a welcome change for a few days... but a week in and the luster of newness is already wearing off. Lucky for us, friends suggested a weekend trip to hollywood to join them at a Jimmy Buffett concert. Perfect timing!
We hopped a flight to hollywood, found an AirBnB walking distance to the hollywood bowl and settled in for a few days of sunshine and cocktails by the pool. On saturday night we dressed in our most decorative island wear and set out on foot to the bowl with thousands of equally colorful and excited parrotheads.
Surprising even to us...this was our first Buffett show, but it certainly won't be our last. Easy to see why so many people fall in love with this event and make it at least an annual tradition. The Hollywood Bowl doesn't allow for quite the tailgating/pre-party experience we had expected, so we'll probably mix up venues next time around... but we had an absolute blast at the show and with our group.
The following day we moved on to santa monica to stay with friends. It's a tough life, living a block from the beach, a few minute walk (the long way) to volleyball or perfect sunsets. It can easily lure you in and intoxicate you. A few days here and you really get a sense of why so many flock to SoCal and why LA is so massive. But then you have to go somewhere...climb in a car; and the traffic reminds you immediately of why you don't live here.
I often forget how small and manageable portland is. Yes, we have our traffic problems (just made the top 20 list, obsurdly enough)... but in portland we can get everywhere/everything we need without driving. You can live here for years and never need to hit a freeway. Especially with our schedules, it's as though traffic doesn't even exist. In LA, covering 20 miles in an hour and a half just seems like normal event and waiting for a burger at In and Out apparently isn't much faster.
We caught a few more sunsets, enjoyed a day of volleyball and spikeball (seriously fun and a must try if you haven't played it) on the beach and then finally had to race back to portland to salvage our livers. A whirlwind of a trip, but a great chance to catch some rays, catch up with dear friends and experience Buffett as it should be done- with amazing friends and parrottheads in a warn and sunny setting.