Hanging ten on the fourth

My first July 4th on the west coast was a good one. Tracy and I went down to Manhattan Beach on Sunday, which was truly the embodiment of LA surf culture. Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo Beach are all adjacent and make up what is known as the South Bay. The beaches themselves look a lot like the Santa Monica/Venice stretch, complete with bike path and all, but it's the people ON the beach that make the difference. First of all, there are no, or at least very few, tourists. Secondly, the beach is comprised almost entirely of good looking people. I think the whole area is comprised mostly of good looking people. Practically the first person I met that day was an Old Navy twin. (Not sure where his other half was).

The boys/men all play volleyball and/or surf, while most of the girls/women are pretty thin and have great bodies, and a lot have fake boobs. Of course, as a trade off, everyone's faces look about 10 times as weathered as normal people, and you can tell they have spent their lives living on that beach. (In that neighborhood, why wouldn't you)? We got down to the beach around 1, and stayed on the sand until about 5. Then we walked about 20 blocks to go to this house party, which, when we got there was the closest I've been to a frat party since college - Jersey shore included - but by the time we left around 8, was more mellow and fun.

Everyone I met all day was so cool, in the sense that everyone was very friendly and fun and easy to talk to. When we started walking back, the sun was setting over the ocean, and it was nothing short of breathtaking. That was soon eclipsed by my excitement over passing the house in which Kelly, Donna, and David lived in on 90210, and so of course I took the obligatory tourist pictures. Six of us went to dinner in town, and then Tracy and I decided not to spend the night, even though there was a full itinerary planned for the next day. We both wanted our own beds, and were exhausted at the thought of spending another entire day in the sun.

I spent yesterday on the couch, relaxing. My body is thanking me today. Except for my back, which is so sunburned, it almost hurt to sleep. Hazard of the holiday, I suppose.