Ah, Day 3 of the great California Coastal Adventure! What can I say except...I’d like a little "me" time. So, I guess I’ve got it because right now we’re having an impromptu nap time. It’s 1:30, and we did have our lunch at 11:30. Yeah, my folks are getting old.
Before I regale you with tales of Day 2, let me just tell you all about the glorious lunch we shared. This morning we went to Hearst Castle, which is pretty incredible. As we approached the castle entrance, panic hit. I turned into the entrance labeled "Hearst Castle", and my mom immediately started panicking (out loud), "No. You missed the turn. We have to turn left, not right!"
"But this is the entrance." I responded.
"No, we have to see a movie first, and that’s off the main road."
"But this is the main road. I just passed the entrance."
"No. The directions said you had to go to the other side of the street." She was very distraught and feeling suddenly bullied.
Stopping the car, "Well, you didn’t tell me that." The whole time this is going on, my dad was getting irritated, and it started off as a good morning for him. He got up early, drank some coffee, and wandered around. It was a huge improvement over yesterday’s crankypants behavior.
"Well, fine. Just go where you want. I guess we’ll skip the movie." And now the martyr made an appearance.
"Doesn’t it seem strange that the visitor’s center would be outside of the grounds?"
"I’m just telling you what the directions said. We have to go to the visitor’s center."
Just at this moment, we see a sign that reads "Visitor’s Center". "I think the visitor’s center is over here. How about we try this before turning around?"
Totally exasperated, my mom replied, "Well, I’m just telling you, the visitor’s center is supposed to be off the main road."
Uh-huh, right... "This is the main road. The other road was the highway." I said, knowing that trouble was brewing.
"Just do what you want. What do I know?" Ah, the martyr!
Just then, we happened upon the visitor’s center, and all was forgotten. We went inside. Mom thought she might want some tea. She never got the tea, and then proceeded to whimper about how she wanted tea. But, even though she had plenty of time and ability to get said tea, didn’t. However, it became an issue that I had to hear about...in much the same way that I had to deal with my dad not getting coffee, then refusing to get coffee at the coffee shop, then walking out saying he didn’t want coffee...so I had to go back to the coffee shop and buy him coffee while he wasn’t looking...and he graciously accepted it...and then was much less of a bear. Yeah...a couple of big babies, they are. And, yes, I know...I’m not that much better. Should I ever become old and married, this is what my husband will have to suffer through. I look forward to it.
Anyway...the tour was nice. The guide was far from peppy and quite sarcastic (in a cynical sort of way). The castle is impressive, the view is grand. We finished the tour, and it was time to eat. Oh, eating. My favorite part of traveling with my parents. What to do? Where to go? I took us to downtown Cambria where we dined last night. Having taken fastidious notes in my head, I was able to point out all of the restaurants on the street. We decided upon Mexican, and we ended up at a place that served burgers (which seemed like a genius option for my dad since he’s willing to eat both of those things).
We walked in at the crack of 11:30, and there was a couple sitting in the window, and a man ordering at the kitchen. We stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Immediately, I felt impending doom. We weren’t going to stay because my dad got irritated within the first 15 seconds of walking in the door. Actually, he seemed irritated before we walked in because it wasn’t exactly what he wanted (and, to be honest, I don’t think he even knows what he wants when it comes to dining).
"So, do we just sit anywhere?" he asked me.
"I don’t know. I’ve never been here. I suppose we could."
"Well, I don’t know either. The sign says seat yourself."
Annoyed, I replied, "Then I guess that’s what we do. Where do you want to sit? We’ve got the whole restaurant."
"I don’t know. Can we just sit?"
"Yeah, let’s sit here," I offered, pointing to a booth.
"I don’t want to sit in a booth. I wanna sit a table."
So we sat at a table. The man ordering at the kitchen was very chatty, and he sounded like Hulk Hogan. As we sat there, waiting for the menus, he continued to talk to the server/host/manager/only-non-cooking-worker-in-the-joint, which delayed him (the server) from coming over to us.
The server was being very polite to Hulk, but he wasn’t getting the message. At last, he sat down, announcing, "I’m just gonna sit over here in my regular seat." The server nodded over to him and gave us our menus and asked us for our drink orders. "Yeah, so you know [insert name here]? He just got out."
The server, smiling, said, "Yeah, I know."
"I haven’t seen him though. Have you?"
The server kept trying to avoid the conversation, but wasn’t able to. "No, not too much."
"Isn’t he your cousin?"
"Yeah," said the server. Looking down again to take our order.
"I haven’t seen him. I wonder where he is."
Laughing, the server responded, "He’s probably trying to stay good."
"Yeah, maybe. You know he used to live with me before he went in. He was my roommate."
"Oh," turning to us. "Do you know what you want?"
Hulk wouldn’t let the conversation end there. "So, do you still have two jobs?"
"No, just this one."
"That’s good. I’ve still got my job. Man, it’s tough, ya know?"
Why? Why? Why? I was so sure we were going to walk out because Hulk Hogan wouldn’t shut up about some guy that just got out of prison. This was not a good sign. Finally, he was quiet, and we placed our drink order. My dad then turned to me and said, "Not too many people in here," which was the beginning of his exit strategy.
"Uhh...it’s not even noon. We’re a little early."
"Oh."
We placed our order, and within minutes, the restaurant was full, and Hulk Hogan was eating quietly in the corner. I have no idea if my dad liked his meal, but he didn’t complain, so that’s a good sign.
And now, I’m told that nap time is over. We have to go somewhere--anywhere. And we better enjoy it!
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