A view of Santa Barbara while we lay in the grass and take a break from the bikes
I was so, so wrong and it’s time for me to come clean. Many that know me well will likely be surprised to even hear me say this but I cannot go on anymore with my inaccuracies of the past. SoCal is actually really awesome. I can’t and won’t deny it anymore; I really like Southern California and am really glad I’ve gotten to experience her enough to actually recognize all the amazing attributes of this part of the state that I have spoken so poorly of in the past.
For many years, I would talk about how great San Francisco, northern CA, and the Sierra Nevada mountains were but how LA and SoCal were not for me. Traffic was always horrible as we somehow always hit traffic going through, even at odd hours when there shouldn’t be traffic. It is really big and much more spread out than many other cities I’ve spent time and as a result, it didn’t seem like it had much character or a central place to go visit. Also, I didn’t like the glitz and the glam of LA; the image of luxury and fanciness were not something I felt much of a connection with. So as a result, I never really got to know SoCal and ignorantly talked bad about her.
We’re now within 100 miles of the Mexican border and I can say that my ignorance has clearly lead me to a mistake of judgment. Southern California is amazing. It’s beautiful with so much gorgeous coastline and beaches. The homes and buildings are amazing and are places I would love to live in. The people we’ve been around have been great too and very welcoming. Almost each place we’ve been through down here has led me to think, “hmm…I could totally live here”. From Santa Barbara to Santa Monica, Malibu and Long Beach, along with all the amazing beachy names of Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Huntington Beach and on. It’s all been so amazing and I’ve learned that it’s probably not good to speak bad about people, places, or things because it’s so easy to be wrong, especially if I haven’t taken the time to really try and understand it first.
I think you’re great SoCal and I apologize for not recognizing all your splendor and beauty sooner. I don’t think it’s too late and maybe someday, we can make a home here and really get to know each other even better.