I have returned to California quite possibly more frequently than to any other state where I have not actually lived. Where shall we go for a vacation this year ? California, of course. I love the City by the Bay, but I also love San Diego and LA and Monterrey and Mendocino and, heck, I even have found reasons to enjoy Bakersfield.
After spending 17 years and 11 months never venturing further than the Jersey Shore, the world suddenly opened when I graduated high school. My cousin Jim moved out West in the late fifties to work in the aerospace industry. He and his wife decided to invite me to California as a high school graduation present. In mid- June, 1966, the invitation arrived. All we had to do on the Pittsburgh end was figure out how to get me out there. Back in 1966 TWA had a direct flight from Pittsburgh to LAX. I was determined to be on it. I had a enough money saved for what was called a “stand-by” ticket which meant you went to the airport and hoped that when it came time to take off there would be a vacant seat on the airplane. After two disappointing abortive trips to the airport, my grandmother said “enough” and she paid for a full price ticket. Off I went into the wild blue yonder. My life was never the same.
My cousins lived in Moorpark, at that time a semi-rural area outside LA near Thousand Oaks. In Moorpark I saw my first eucalyptus tree and my first Impeach Earl Warren sign. That summer I traveled from Santa Barbara to Tijuana, Mexico, and I went swimming many afternoons at Malibu Beach. I even got a jar of Pacific Ocean water which I kept for years. I visited all the tourists spots, like Knotts Berry Farm California’s Best Theme Park & Amusement Park | Knott’s Berry Farm (knotts.com) and San Diego harbor. When it came time to leave, the airlines were on strike. My Nanny bought me a train ticket home and I rode across America, two days and two nights, to reach Pittsburgh. That California adventure awoke in me a love for travel that I have never outgrown.
Why did I make so many trips back to California through the years? Some of them were work related, but from 1986 forward most of them were connected somehow to Joanne or Jerry. Joanne is my cousin who lived in Bakersfield and then moved to Monterrey. Her sister Tommie and her family lived in San Bernadino, so I had family in California. Joanne was divorced and her daughter Chris, about 15 years younger than me, had moved to Boston in the early 1980’s. When her mother came to visit, a trip to Maine was usually in the cards. Joanne was about 12 years older than I, so I was sandwiched neatly between mother and daughter. Joanne picked interesting places to live, from the oil fields of Bakersfield to the old Methodist summer retreat of Pacific Grove outside of Monterrey. A Brief History of Pacific Grove, CA (discoverpacificgrove.com) I have to say those Methodists picked the nicest spots for their summer resort communities. After Joanne moved to the Monterrey area, every trip to San Francisco included a trip south to the Monterrey peninsula, even if it also included a trip north to Mendocino or Napa. My most recent visit was in 2019. I found that we had all gotten older and only a teeny bit wiser.
I have left my heart in San Francisco many times. I can’t pick my favorite memory of northern California, but two experiences remain vivid in my memory, the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, HOME | JTGSF (japaneseteagardensf.com) and a place called Nepenthe on Highway 101 in Big Sur Nepenthe Menu — Nepenthe . I have good memories of pleasant days spent at each.
Southern California is a whole different story. I mentioned Jerry when I spoke of Ohio. Actually I met him when he and I both lived in Rhode Island and then in 1973 I lost touch with him. Circa 1993 he reappeared in my life via email. He now lived in West Hollywood. My husband and I were planning a trip to San Diego and we arranged to drive north and visit Jerry. A friendship sprang up between Harold and Jerry and Jerry and I renewed our old friendship. Our first excursion with Jerry came a few years later. Jerry, Harold, our daughter Megan, and I went to Twenty-nine Palms. I rented a casita at a wonderful 1950’s sort of place near Joshua Tree National Park where we hiked and admired the cacti. Book your Stay – 29 Palms Inn Another good memory for me is the trip out to LA when our daughter was moving to Taiwan in 2013. That time Megan and I visited the Huntington gardens Gardens | The Huntington while Harold and Jerry worked crossword puzzles in a nearby ice cream shop. Christmas 2014 brought us all to a condo in San Clemente where Megan joined us from Taiwan and Jerry arrived on the train. As usual he was a charming guest and kept us entertained. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of Jerry in his native habitat of West Hollywood, but I did find one from another locale. Perhaps this quote from John Gunther’s Inside USA explains Jerry far better than I can.
“The Pacific Coast is the end of the line in the westward trek across the continent. The hills around Ventura, let us say, are the last stop; California is stuck with so many crackpots if only because they can’t go any further.”
I am over my 1000 word self-imposed limit so I must wrap up California without mention of other trips. Two recommendations before I finish. Read Wallace Stegner’s novels that are set in California. Stegner understands California. He famously said, ” California is like the rest of America, only more so,” according to Miriam Pawel in a NYT Op Ed, June 14, 2020. My second recommendation, courtesy of Kate McGarrigle, is the song Talk to Me of Mendocino, which is one of my favorites. Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Talk to Me of Mendocino (Caffe Lena, 1990) – YouTube
Memories - A Second Chance at Happiness 