Day 6
When I woke up that morning, it was about 9:30. Everything in the house was still quiet. I got up and got showered and then I read for a bit. Around 10:00, I took my iPad and went into the living room. I got caught up online. Ken turned up shortly afterwards and Sue was not too far behind either. We spent a short while chatting and then headed out. The first stop was for some coffee for Sue and me. There is a Starbucks just around the corner from their house. I was quite excited about this as Jenny’s daughter was working at this store and I was looking forward to saying “hi”. Unfortunately she was not in that day and it turned out that she was due to transfer to a store in Long Beach a couple of days later. Still, all was not lost and I discovered a new favourite coffee, the Toasted Graham Latte.
Once we had our coffees, we drove the short distance to Denny’s where we had a rather nice breakfast. I had the Meat Lovers Omelette, which consisted of three egg omelette with grilled prime rib, crumbled chorizo sausage, bacon, fire-roasted bell peppers and onions and Cheddar cheese covered with Pepper Jack Queso. It also came with hash browns and sourdough toast, which was nice for me as I am pretty restricted as to what bread I can eat due to being yeast intolerant. As lovely as the omelette was, I think the toast was the high point for me. I washed this little lot down with some orange juice. It was nice getting to have a leisurely breakfast with friends and generally catching up with each other. Sue and Ken had recently been on a Med cruise on Celebrity and I was keen to hear all about this. It sounded amazing.
After breakfast, we went into the town centre. Sue and I wanted to get our nails done and Ken made use of the time while he was waiting for us to get his hair cut. It has kind of become a tradition that Sue and I get our nails done whenever I am in Seal Beach. Sue went for both a manicure and pedicure, but I just had a pedicure before the holiday and this was still in pretty good condition. So I just had a manicure. I went with just a silvery glitter polish and this actually turned into a diamond effect when it had three coats, which was very fitting considering why I was in California.
Once we were both done and had paid, we went in search of Ken. He was not too far away. There is one of the original red trolleys that used to operate in the area on display on a green in Seal Beach and this had been turned into a little museum. Ken was there and we had a look around as well. Next to this was one of the original beach huts that used to be common in Seal Beach. This particular beach hut was causing some issues though. The council had put this on the green next to the red trolley and now wanted the trolley gone. I think this is a crying shame as they are both an important part of the heritage of this region and I actually think they would complement each other quite well once the beach hut has been restored.
We had a quick look at some of the quirky little shops in Seal Beach and then we went back to Sue’s and Ken’s House to drop of Ken as he had some work to do. Sue and I headed off to do some shopping and to visit an orchid show. Our first stop was Costco. I had never been to a Costco before. I could get a membership card through work, but as we don’t own a car and our local one is off the beaten track a little, I had never explored this option. So I was not quite sure what to expect. The main reason why we were here is to get some EOS lip balms. Sue had introduced me to them the previous year and they are the only lip balm I get on with. I also introduced some of my colleagues to them and they are just as taken by them as I am. Unfortunately though they are available in the UK, they are rather expensive. Sue mentioned that they come in multipacks at Costco and are quite cheap. So I got a few and this was part of my Christmas shopping sorted out. I also got another suitcase. Graham’s suitcase had seen better days and was not going to return to the UK. I also had acquired quite a few things and having an extra suitcase for the flight to Florida would make things easier. Sue also got a few odds and ends and then we headed to the orchid show.
I was not sure at first what to make of this. When we got there, all I could see at first were pots, fertilisers, compost and some orchid plants. However, once we went inside the building there were huge displays with beautiful orchids. We spent quite a while looking at them and I took plenty of photos. What impressed me the most though was the beautiful smell in the room. I had never associated orchids with being particularly fragrant. I definitely learned something new that day. On the way out, Sue bought an orchid and then we headed back to the car.
Our next stop was South Coast Plaza, one of the big shopping centres in the area. I thought that I had been there before, but I must have confused this with somewhere else. The shopping centre that I remembered was all open air and this one was all indoors. There were however two shops that I wanted to have a look at. One of them was a Dooney and Bourke shop where I yet again came to the conclusion that their standard bags just don’t do a great deal for me. I love their Disney bags, but their standard range I can take or leave. I also wanted to check out Bath and Body Works as I wanted to get some of their PocketBac hand sanitizers that also would become a Christmas presents for some colleagues. I walked straight past them at first. They have changed the shape of the bottles that they come in and I did not recognise them at first. I actually like the new bottles better.
With my shopping done, Sue introduced me to two things that were a bit of a revelation to me. The first was See’s Candies. I had seen their shops before, but have never gone in. I was positively surprised. I had not appreciated that this was essentially a chocolate shop. We were given a free sample, which was delicious. I could not believe my eyes when I discovered that they had half a dozen different kinds of peanut butter chocolates. Of course a selection of those had to follow me home.
The second revelation is going to have a bit of a lasting effect. Sue introduced me to Nespresso. Since we last had visited, she had got a Nespresso machine and wanted to get some more coffee for this. One of the department stores at South Coast Plaza has a Nespresso Boutique and you can try their coffees there as well. I am not much of a coffee drinker, but I do like a nice espresso and I was all up for trying some. I was really impressed. The espresso even came with a proper Crema. It was absolutely delicious. In the meantime, Santa has brought us a Nespresso machine and a bunch of coffee. We will see how this pans out.
There were still a couple of things to take care of. There is only one brand of shampoo I can use that does not make my scalp itch. This is H2O+, which is also the brand that Disney uses for their resorts and on the
Disney Cruise Line. Up to about a year ago, Marks and Spencer sold the products here in the UK, but they have stopped now. I looked on the H2O+ website for stockists and they listed branches of Ulta and Kohl’s in the area. We tried a few, but although all of them had H2O+ products, none of them had any shampoos. I did however do better with the second thing were looking for. When we were at Aulani, we found some great ear cleaners at Walgreens. They did not have the same brand that we had bought there, but we managed to find some CVS own brand ones that are just as good.
Once we finished our shopping, we are headed back to Sue's house and relaxed for a bit. I tried to speak to Graham on FaceTime, but did not succeed. Three hours time difference can make things surprisingly difficult. A little while later, we set off for dinner. We decided to go back to Lucille's Smokehouse where we had dinner together when we were in Southern California in November 2014. I think this was the first time it really hit me just how much I was missing Graham. I still had a good time though. When we got there, it was very busy. We were told that the waiting time for a table was about an hour, but we were also offered the opportunity to sit at one of the high table in the bar area as there would be less of a wait. We opted for this and where seated straightaway. Dinner was lovely again and the company was great. I had BBQ Tri Tip with macaroni cheese and BBQ beans, which was delicious
After dinner, we headed back to Ken and Sue’s house for some more relaxing. We had some Limoncello that they had brought back from their cruise. We just spent some quality time together chatting. At some stage, my eyes started to fall shut. I said goodnight and headed for bed.