Family of One Takes a Vacation Stateside

A seminal event of my life occurred in Beverly Hills, CA when I was ten years old. Mother and Dad had taken me on an extensive trip through the West—the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yosemite, and Yellowstone Park, to name a few of the highlights. They explained that the apotheosis (although they did not use that exact word) of the trip for me would be Disneyland. The rest of the trip would be for the grown-ups. You will not be surprised to learn that with the exception of throwing back Shirley Temples with an extremely cute Asian tour guide at the Top of the Mark in San Francisco (more on that another time), the most wonderful part of the trip was the tour of the movie stars’ homes in a limousine which came about because the tour bus left us standing forlornly while it blithely passed us by. A phone call to the tour company and we were being shown Loretta Young and Dean Martin’s houses in luxury, a feeling that I was determined to capture for the rest of my life or as soon as I could get out of High Point.

When I returned to Los Angeles in the 90s, I absolutely loved everything about it. The way the ocean meets the mountains, the lively and fun restaurant scene, the never-ending array of movies, the casualness—in fact, I would have moved to Santa Monica rather than Miami, but I didn’t think I should be so far from the aforementioned Mother and Dad.

So, when I made the decision to stay stateside this year, I decided that Santa Monica was the place to be. I had connected with some wonderful folks on facebook and needed to see one of my dearest friends from way back in Ventura. I did not feel the need to see grand temples or art museums. I did not feel the need to eat incredible meals. I did feel the need to laugh and talk about shared history and make witty remarks and listen to charming conversation. So, what better place than LA? Aside—while I did take a limousine to LAX for old times’ sake, my taxi to the Oceana Hotel was driven by a most flirtation gentlemen who said something like “I tell my daughter not to waste her time having sex, it only lasts two seconds and then it’s over”. Me (after a slight pause)-“ I don’t think I will want to go out with you after all”. Much laughter. Then he assured me that he was only speaking in metaphors. And invited me out for a drink.

You may have heard of the Dodges, a publishing dynasty based in the greater Santa Monica/Venice area, comprised of A. Dodge, her brother J. Dodge, and his wife D. Dodge. They are very successful at what they do, but what I like even more is that they are so interesting and so fun that you want them to be on a mini-series. Not a reality show, for Christ’s sake, but some sort of show about living the delightful life in SoCal.

Now, I knew J. Dodge from having been his colleague three years ago and D. Dodge from a brief encounter at a sales conference in January. I had never met A. Dodge. I had gotten to know them through facebook where we exchange pithy comments about all of the things we love like food and movies.

On my first night, I was having some dinner at a local trattoria in Santa Monica and posting my status update on fb when I get a call from A. Dodge who informs me that she is at yoga several blocks away and will be joining me for a glass of wine. A blind date!! We are immediately laughing and screaming. After our dinner, she walks her bike back down Montana so that we can stroll along together and I tell her that I feel we have had a successful blind date and I would like to see her again. Actually, we had already made plans to go out for one of the most authentic Italian dinners outside of Rome that I have had in the US—Capo was a fantastic treat with the most exquisite black sea bass and pillowy ravioli and luscious wine and bubbly rose. Eating with A Dodge requires intense concentration because she will tell you things that are very important about herself, yourself, and the world around you. I loved every second.

Later in the week, I met J.Dodge at the Huckleberry Café which is a place that, once you go there, you will always think about because you will wish that you had one next to your house. Over green eggs and ham (fabulous ham over soft scrambled eggs with arugula and a crunchy sort of English muffin-y kind of thing), we sat for two hours while I savored every second of his sense of the absurd and his practical, yet slightly cynical, view of the world. On my final day, I had the pleasure of dining with D. Dodge at the 3 Square café and over bratwurst and fried eggs, we laughed and slightly cried about the interesting twists and turns of our lives. She had come without their daughter S and so we were able to just sit back and talk about everything while letting loose a few F bombs. I loved getting to know her better and experiencing her wonderful heart and passion for everything from movies to food to friends.

Who else did I see? The closest thing to a godchild that I have had is my friend H whom I had not seen since she was 13 and visited me in NYC where the last thing I remember about her is taking her to see Eloise at the Plaza Hotel. She is now 28 and lives in LA. We, too, had connected on facebook, so I invited her to dinner. I was somewhat nervous about this. What would we talk about? I knew that she was doing some acting and writing and singing, so I figured that getting caught up on her parents (who live in Chapel Hill, NC and whom I adore) and talking about her work would get us through a dinner at Lucques, a place I had been longing to go. H turned out to be beautiful with an unusual husky voice and so engaging and fun that we ended up closing the restaurants. In fact, we didn’t order for about an hour and I can barely remember what I ate—although it was wonderful (some kind of duck dish for the entrée). We spoke of movies, movie stars, her growing up, TV, books (turns out she is a writer as well), our love lives, she spotted John Lithgow across the restaurant. . . .it was a lovely evening.

Now, at this point, you might be thinking—how could all of these people that she is meeting be so enchanting—from Philadelphia to Los Angeles? But, it’s true! I was having the time of my life reconnecting/connecting with all of these wonderful people. And, not to mention over such delectable meals!

I was very happy to see one of the dearest people in the world to me, the wonderful Ma whom I met when we were new editors at HM in 1990. Ma was the kind of editor who kept a bowl of fancy tulips on her desk and spun the most engaging stories about her interesting life. We bonded over the fact that we were both Southerners trying to adjust to life in Boston, but our bond now goes much deeper. I had not seen her since 2003. I looked forward to seeing her spouse, CD, as well, whom I adored on sight for her practicality and wisdom about the vagaries of life. Our time together was splendid. We ate fried green olives and drank lemon drops at lovely restaurant, saw a mediocre movie (Due Date), I visited their church. We ate what are possibly the world’s best pancakes and ham steak at Pete’s. I shopped at the outlets while she worked. We ate fabulous crab fried rice at a new Thai restaurant that featured the freshest, most tasty crab. We curled up on their mammoth furniture and watched Moonstruck while we ate delicious tri-tip and their dogs used my body as furniture. I had been wearing the engagement ring from G, so I had been looking for a replacement and she helped me find one at a jewelry store that had designed their wedding rings—coral in a very unusual setting. I felt loved and appreciated. Ma is now a psychologist and I, of course, asked many questions designed to improve my mental health. One thing I asked her was why I had such an easy time enjoying friendships all over the US, but had none of any real heft in the place where I lived. She said that having been in relationships that were oppressive and unpleasant, I probably needed this time in Miami for myself where I could live life on my terms and be rejuvenated and that when the time was right, I would have this plethora of friends in Miami. In the meantime, I was free to explore the world and enjoy all of my wonderful friends and have them visit the triplex. On our last morning, Ma scheduled a lunch with a colleague, in the exact place where we had enjoyed strawberry pancakes and ham steak for about two hours. I thought that was very wise because I knew that I felt like getting in the back seat of the Mustang and sobbing. Ma is the epitome of a BFF. We laughed, we cried, we ate. It was fabulous.

I had a wonderful time on the rest of my vacation. I shopped at Sephora (where I had never been) and spent $450 on things that I TRULY use every day! I visited an Apple store and picked out the kind of computer I wanted to buy. I saw another mediocre movie, Morning Glory, but at 1:00 in the afternoon. I walked along the wonderful park that fronts the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. I read my Walt Disney biography. It was all so divine.

I can’t wait to go back.

Although I think Venice is calling my name for a vacation in late 2011.