California Here We...Were!

With two teenage sons, Pat and I are cognizant of their interests when planning family trips.  Happy teens equal a happy mom; well you know the saying!  What could please two boys (and daddy) more than a week centered around college football games - in Southern California?  Well, I'm sure lots of things but that's for another day.

Right after landing at LAX we had to satisfy an URGE... for In-n-Out Burgers.  Anyone who has been to In-n-Out understands.  If only this chain would come to Georgia!













We started with a fab stay at an incredible Del Mar beach house and saw old friends to boot.  We came to watch the Arizona Wildcats play the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Holiday Bowl (Nebraska vs. Arizona) as special guests of a dear friend who is on the Bowl Committee. 

If you are ever looking to attend a football bowl game, this one is it!  It is a top bowl destination with terrific events, fabulous treatment of the visiting teams and well - it's in San Diego!  Of course, my sons claimed their highlight was having their photos taken with the lovely ESPN reporter Erin Andrews.  I think they are joking... Truly, a highlight was attending the U.S. Bank Kickoff luncheon when we dined and chatted with several very polite Arizona players.

I recommend staying in Del Mar, preferably at a friend's incredible beach house, like we did.  But if your buddies don't have access to said house, the L'Auberge Del Mar, a sophisticated, destination hotel, is a close second.  The Hilton San Diego Del Mar is very nice and is right across the street from the famous Del Mar racetrack.  We held with tradition and threw a party with friends and gorged on takeout from a favorite Del Mar Mexican restaurant, Fidel's.  Oh yeah.

It was hard to tear ourselves away from the ocean views but were motivated to attend the Battle of the Bands. The poor Nebraska band got snowed in and missed the game!  But the Lincoln Southeast High School Band stood in for the Husker musicians and saved the day.  This high school band must have been good luck charm because Nebraska routed Arizona 33-0!

We, reluctantly but excitedly, left Del Mar for our old hometown of Pasadena to visit friends and attend the Tournament of Roses Parade and The Rose Bowl.  We hadn't seen the parade since we lived in Pasadena and carried our boys to watch it in backpacks.  This year's parade was worth the wait!  On New Year's Eve night, we went to a couple of parties at friends' houses and stopped by the parade route along Orange Grove Blvd. to check out some floats close up.  Exhausted, we went back to our nicely appointed rooms at the very pretty Hilton San Gabriel and stayed up till Midnight celebrating - maybe we didn't quite make it to twelve!

My favorite float was sponsored by Rain Bird - absolutely stunning. It is hard to believe every visible inch of the floats has to be made from flower, plant or vegetable matter. 

A crowd favorite was Natural Balance Pet Foods featuring the famous skateboarding bulldog Tillman (and friends) snowboarding down a ramp.  Tiny dog houses carried the talented canines to the top of their slope to "catch some powder" over and over again.

Post parade, we tailgated (sans a tailgate) outside the Rose Bowl stadium.  We picniced while listening to a live performance of the band Cheap Trick.  The strains of "I Want You to Want Me" got us revved up for the clash between The Oregon Ducks (my grandma's alma mater) and the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Duckie, the Oregon mascot, snuck up and tried to "steal" our cooler but decided he wasn't thirsty and made a quick getaway.

Except for a traffic jam at the ticket lines, we had a blast at the game and rejoiced in a gorgeous sunset over the San Gabriel Mountains. 

One regret was that our favorite Mexican Restaurant IN THE WORLD - El Taquito Mexicano (467 N. Fair Oaks Ave.), was closed for the New Year's holiday.

We crave their Al Pastor, Carnitas and Carne Asada tacos and their salsa roja is the best we've ever had.  We usually buy it in quantity, freeze it and carry it back to Georgia with us. Oh well, I guess we'll have to make a return trip!

If you are interested in visiting some of these spots, events or other sites in So. Cal, the staff at Uniglobe McIntosh Travel can find you the absolute lowest hotel and airfare rates (they have access to all published and unpublished rates -including internet)  They also have other fantastic suggestions to make your visit just as memorable as ours.