I (Heart) LA (?)

I just came back from a week-long vacation in Hermosa Beach, CA.  This is the third time I've been there, because there's something about the ocean that quite literally draws me in.  I love the sound of the ocean and the sand in my toes and the fact that beach vacations are a beautiful break from the mundane reality of Nebraska life.

I love my friends in LA.  I love that the AVP volleyball tournament was going on, and I could watch hot people being more athletic than I care to be.  (They're pretty to look at, if nothing else.)  I love the great food, the cool houses, the sun (even though it burnt me crispy this time).  I love being in a place with someone I love and wandering around.  I love that I walked into a Gibson guitar store and watched an impromptu mini-concert put on by the owner and his friend, which was watched by me, my friend, and two other strangers who were rolling on molly and string a coherent sentence together (them, not us).  I love the smell of the air.  I love that our balcony was literally on the beach and the wind blew that salt-air smell directly into my suite.

But ...

California has changed.  You might be under the mistaken impression that pot is recreationally legal.  You'd be wrong, even though the state says it is.

As it turns out, pretty much everything is illegal:  smoking, drinking anywhere which isn't caged in, skateboarding on the piers, having a plastic bag ...

California has changed from the Golden State to the Uptight Tourist state.

I'm sure it's not like that everywhere in CA, but the beach cities have gotten so white-bread and expensive that it's not "cool" anymore.  Eating out - literally ANYWHERE on the beach - is going to cost $100 for two people.  The cigarette/sin tax is like 40%.  Rental properties are outrageously expensive.  New laws prohibit short term renting (just in case someone who "doesn't belong" tries to hang out there).  Cops?  Everywhere.  Venice?  The bastion of free love and free spirit?  Commercialized.
Yes, Venice still has a great, eclectic mix of weirdos, but it's not the same. Even Venice is on lock-down.

I'm not saying places should always stay the same, or that they shouldn't improve infrastructure, or that they shouldn't make beaches safer, BUT ... calm the fuck down California Chamber of Commerces.  Don't take one of the greatest of the 50 states and turn the beach cities into uptight, suburban neighborhoods.

Don't get me wrong, I love California.  I will be back.  I will stay on the beach EVERY time, because even the THOUGHT of driving in Los Angeles traffic makes me nauseous.  So many people, so much smog, so much douchbaggery on the highways.  BUT ... when I walked out the airport in Omaha and hit 97 degrees with like 80% humidity, I wanted to throw myself in front of a shuttle bus.  Nebraska heat sucks ass.  All my flowers/grass/plants were basically dead after just one week of Nebraska's scorching heat.

So I'll take Hermosa instead any day, because there I don't have to hide inside an air conditioned room, simply because it hurts to breathe in 100 degree weather.  Especially when no beach is right around the corner to make me forget about all the bullshit.

But, yeah.  Beach House Hermosa.  Go there. Stay there.  Get the ocean view room.  And tell them some girl from Nebraska sent you.  They might remember the couple who stayed there and refused to follow all the rules :)