Here's To You, California ♥

I love everything I have in Utah. The winters are rough, I want to be out and about in the sun but it's cold. With a fast-paced job & responsibilities, sometimes I just want to get away for a little while. Last year, I attended the 2018 NAMM show in Anaheim, California but due to my school schedule, I drove there and straight back. I hadn't seen the beach in two years. So, this year I finally decided I was going to take a vacation. Turns out, this was a very much needed vacation.

Sunday - I drove ten and a half hours to California. Once I got settled in the place I was staying, I drove straight to the first beach I could find. I was about 20 minutes from Long Beach. It was soothing to finally watch as the waves crashed on the shore. Cabrillo Beach was a cute, quiet, little beach in the area. There wasn't much there but that was perfect. It was really windy, and for California standards it was kind of cold. I watched the sunset and did some light meditation. To conclude my night, I went to the House of Blues in Anaheim for some good food.

Cabrillo Beach, CA

Monday - My first full day in California. It was still windy and cold, but back home my friends/family got hit with one of the worst snow storms of the year. There were over 100 car crashes that morning alone. I took full advantage of the sun and started my day at Long Beach. I had breakfast on the beach and enjoyed nature. The plan was to take the ferry to Catalina Island and spend the day there, but because the weather conditions the ferry company decided they were closed for the day. I saw the Queen Mary Hotel, which is a permanently docked ship. I then drove to Huntington Beach and spend part of the afternoon there. I checked out some local shops and even found a surfing museum, which to my disappointment, was closed on Mondays. I met some cool locals and before I knew it, it was time to go back home. I took my guitar on this trip, so I had something to play on. I'm getting so much better and playing guitar helps me keep calm.

Long Beach, CA

Queen Mary Hotel • California 

Huntington Beach, CA

Tuesday - Once I had decided I was going to be in California for a week, I knew that I had to check out the Museum of Making Music and the Taylor Guitar Factory. This was the only day I was on a schedule of any sort, because the Taylor Factory tour only happens at 1 PM daily, so if you miss it then you have to come another day. I started my day by driving to Carlsbad, CA where the Museum of Making Music is located. The museum itself is a self-guided tour experience, not only do you learn about musical instrument history but also about the history of music in America and how retail shops evolved with it. 

There was an interactive section where you could play instruments; it ranged from ukes, guitars, synths to even a theremin! I had so much fun at the museum, and I totally recommend it to all the music nerds out there. We have a very rich history of music, and to see how instruments evolved was breathtaking.

Playing a theremin • Museum of Making Music. Carlsbad, CA

After reading every detail and trying every instrument, I was on my way to El Cajon, CA to the Taylor Guitar Factory. At the Taylor Factory, we covered the different steps in the guitar making process and what makes Taylor different than other companies. It was really cool to see guitars at different points of the development process. We also covered the history of how Taylor Guitars came to be. 

Taylor Guitar Factory • El Cajon, CA

Wood

Taylor Guitar Factory

"This is a stump"

Pretty guitars

The different Taylor body shapes (accurate until 1/23/2019)

After taking the tour of the factory, I took the Pacific Coast Highway back to where I was staying. This drive is basically going from San Diego to Long Beach and it took 3+ hours. I got to watch the sunset from the highway, which was cool, but the long drive wasn't my favorite. Lesson learned, just take the freeway back. Although it was pretty neat to be driving along the coast for a while. In Utah, I'm surrounded by mountains so this change of scenery was well deserved. 

Wednesday - In preparation for this trip, I found a blogpost talking about the different places to see in the Los Angeles area. I spent my morning at Venice beach. There were a few street performers and there was a lot of cool art. I did a lot of walking that day, trying to find a doughnut shop the blog talked about but since I didn't save it I wasn't able to find it. The local shops were cute and colorful. I went on to look for the famous canals. The canals are still unique and in their own way, beautiful. 

Venice Beach, CA

Venice Canals, CA

Wednesday was the day my friends & colleagues got in to town for the 2019 NAMM show. We had previously talked about getting together and going to the beach. Due to traffic, we ended up going to Huntington Beach and experienced the sunset together. We had a lot of fun hanging at the beach and talking about the event they had attended earlier in the day(more about that in the next blog post about NAMM). As much as I loved my excursion for the last three days, it was nice to have people to talk to. 

Me, Kyle, Mia & Tyler • Huntington Beach, CA

We ended the day by having dinner at the Earl of Sandwich in [Downtown Disney] Anaheim. Going to the Earl is almost like tradition for me.

The following days were spent them at NAMM, which was the main reason for this trip. 

I love the sun and the beach. It was nice to have a couple days to myself and refuel. I think California is my home away from home. There's something about the beach that I find soothing, almost as soothing as going up to the mountains in the summer.