Long Beach, California- I had mixed views going into this trip. I heard that it can be ghetto, but awesome at the same time. My opinion- pretty awesome; Pretty awesome meaning I wouldn’t live there, but I would go again, and then decide again if I would live there. I know, that makes total sense.
The connecting flight from Phoenix to Long Beach was pure torcher. All I wanted to do was walk out of the airport, stay in Arizona, and figure out the rest later. The airport itself is dated. Think of old 80’s carpet. Now picture it covering 60% of all surfaces. The other 40% of space is occupied by windows that taunt you with the beauty of the Arizona desert. NOT FAIR- pink, red, and brown structures just begging you to come out and play.
I finally made it to Long Beach after a conversation with a computer programmer who, from the looks of his computer screen, was straight out of the Matrix. Many of you were right- first impression of LB- ghetto. I checked into the hotel before heading to work, to find that the Holiday Inn in Long Beach, California has the best staff ever. Want to feel like you are the only person that matters? Go there. Well minus the fact that every time I tried to get into my room, I had to get my key reactivated. Stupid hotel room doors. Why do you have to use a stupid plastic card with some shitty advertisement on it? What’s so wrong with legitimate keys?
I check in and we make our way to the 4 Your Health Show at The Long Beach Convention Center. It is in the “cool” area of town that actually has stuff happening around it. The booths consisted of many work out scams, legit doctors, companies, NBC, and even a rock climbing wall. I climbed it and feel off after my legs decided to shake me off.
To give you a visual:
The idea for this one- stand, press start and let it shake every muscle in your body by standing on a vibrating pad. Are you kidding me? It seems it would be really difficult to talk seriously about the product while you are testing it out by convulsing on the machine.
Saw some celebs….Biggest Loser contestants, and an Olympic medalist… of course the shaking machine is what sticks out to me the most.
That night we all went out for dinner and then out to shoot pool at a bar where the TV series, True Blood, was filmed. I went to the bar in my work clothes, and decided to complain in route to the bar about how I desired to be wearing something other than a work shirt. Once we arrived we were greeted by a group of girls out celebrating a 21st birthday. Due to my continuous complaining, my co-worker, Jose, decided to ask if they had any spare shirts. Yup- they did. Love this shirt, and it looks awesome with red lipstick-which I got made fun of for… AGAIN. (Betsy knows what I am talking about)
Awesome new shirt.
After work the following night I went to Jose’s house to enjoy a cook out with his family and other co-workers. His backyard backed up to a field, which was busy with soccer players, score… I enjoyed the afternoon watching soccer… the only downfall was I got a spur stuck in my flip-flop, but I had a bloody mary, so they canceled each other out. Later I beat a 5th grader in a footrace, but he beat me in pool.
Just when I thought I couldn’t enjoy myself more I had more time off and was able to run along the shoreline and through the old fashion pier. I topped it off with sushi on the shore while making fun of some hipster/skater kids posing pictures on the pier like this…
Things I loved about Long Beach- artwork through out a city can never get old. It is the type of town where you can run to mellow music and completely enjoy a work out. Girls roll around with a closet full of clothes, and their markets marinate some awesome chicken.
To top it all off, our flight attendant to Atlanta, curtsied to welcome each person onto the plane. She looked like a blonde version of the girl from Pulp Fiction.
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