Romaine And Stanley's Wedding, Part 1: First Stop, L.A.

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​Romaine And Stanley's Wedding, Part 1: First Stop, L.A.

      On Wednesday, November 20, Tom and I were once again on our way to the West Coast, this time to celebrate the wedding of my sister Romaine and her fiancé Stanley.

        The wedding took place on Saturday, November 30, in Temecula, California, a  town 50 miles north of San Diego in the hills of southern California wine country.

        However, we'd decided to stop along the way for another visit to Los Angeles to spend some time and Thanksgiving with our folks there.
      Upon our arrival we were enthusiastically greeted as usual by our host pup, Pinky.

...and, as it was requested that I bake a batch of pizza while I was  there, I gladly did so the following day.

​     The day after our arrival we also went for lunch to one of our favorite L.A. eateries, Mandy's, the old-fashioned interior of which has apparently been used a few times for movie settings.

​    Tom had his Mandy's favorite, eggs, bacon and potatoes,

​...while I had my Mandy's favorite, the Veggie Scrambler,

     On Friday we decided to walk 2 1/2 miles to Manhattan Village, the local indoor-outdoor shopping mall, enjoying the scenery along the way,

     A pomegranate tree

​...not to mention the hilly terrain,

​...and stopping for a brief rest half way at Marine park.

      When we arrived at the mall we walked around for a bit, ​

​...picked up a newspaper (alas, Tom couldn't find a copy of his news provider of choice, the New York Times and so he was constrained to read the Wall Street Journal), then we stopped for lunch at a cute Polynesian-themed burger place called Islands.

​     Tom had the Moa Kai, a delicious albacore tuna sandwich with all the fixings and the crispiest fries,

​...while I had the yummy Islands Burger Bowl.

     The following Wednesday afternoon - the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, busiest travel day of the year - Tom, with me as his co-pilot, ventured out to the Los Angeles airport to pick up our daughter Theresa, who was our first pick up of the family members who were arriving for the wedding.

​       The place was indeed jammed with drivers picking up crowds of holiday travelers,

​...but Tom negotiated the airport traffic like a pro and got us to the baggage claim,

...where we found Theresa.
​       The following day, Thanksgiving, Tom and I once again headed out to the airport, this time to pick up our son Tommy. Fortunately on this day the traffic wasn't quite so intense.

      After we collected Tommy, he, Theresa, Tom, Pinky and I  headed out to nearby Hermosa Beach,

​...where there was a surprising number of folks who had the same destination as ourselves: Thanksgiving day lunch at a popular beachside restaurant called Good Stuff,

​...where poochies are welcome.

​    As it turned out, we were all more in the mood for breakfast.

       After we arrived back home I began working on my requested contribution to Thanksgiving dinner, my cherry almond streusel pie. 

       Thanksgiving dinner was held at a friend's house in beautiful Playa Vista.

       The following afternoon, Friday, we headed out on the scenic two-hour ride from Los Angeles to Temecula.

    To be continued...