I am a born and bred Southern California girl and have lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles my whole life. Where else on the same day can you go surfing in the morning and then skiing in the afternoon? Within a 90 minute drive I can be in Santa Barbara, Palm Springs or Mexico. While there are things I definitely do not love about living here (smog, traffic, prices), there are so many things I would never see or do if I lived anywhere else.
When I heard the Endeavour space shuttle would be making it’s final flight over L.A. before landing here for good, I knew there was no way I was going to miss this historic event. The list of places that she (yes, in my mind, the Endeavor is a girl!) would be doing flyovers were many and I was close to all of them. Heck, all I had to do was stand outside my front door and I would have seen her but I wanted a bird’s eyeview. The flight would be low, only 1500 feet. Griffith Park Observatory, which was on her list to fly by, is at 1100 feet. At only 400 feet above me head, I could almost reach out and touch her!
I expected a crowd to show up so I planned accordingly. We left the house at 7:30 a.m. and 90 minutes later we exited the freeway. What is usually a 10 minute drive up to the observatory took almost 90 more minutes. When we finally got to the top of the hill with what felt like the entire population of Los Angeles, the excitement was palpable.
Eyes turned to the sky for what seemed like forever, when first one person called out and than another. “There it is! There it is!”. There was a dot on the horizon that slowly grew larger and as she got closer, the crowd grew louder. Hundreds (probably a thousand, easily) of cameras and cell phones pointed to the sky, awaiting for that one moment in time that would never repeat again. When the moment finally arrived and she flew over, the jet engines so loud that you couldn’t hear anything else, it took my breath away. I suddenly became emotional at the thought that a part of history was coming to an end. There was cheering and clapping and the crowd began to chant “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”. That glorious piece of machinery gave us a show and flew over and around us 3 times. It was magical, awe-inspiring, amazing and I would do it all over again. I mean, really, only in L.A. are you going to see a space ship right above the Hollywood sign and never think it’s an odd sight at all. I love L.A., I really do. ๐
How about you? Everyone has something they love about where they live. Today, share with us what that is.
Gabriela says
Thank you for sharing these amazing shots…I love that I could spend a beautiful Sunday in Autumn at a historical cemetery during an annual family day….Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta is the resting home of famous historical figures like Margaret Mitchell and not forgotten confederate soldiers…for many it is odd to spend a family day at a cemetery, but to the locals it's our day to rejoice in the history of our community. Here are a few shots of the day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gamaraca/8072539045/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gamaraca/8072530826/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gamaraca/8072537109/in/photostream/
Susan says
"Well I love that dirty water, oh Boston you're my home!"
http://lichtyears.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/day-at-the-park/
Alex says
Great photos! That must have been an awesome experience. It looks as though it's flying so low!
My utmost favorite thing about living in The Natural State:
http://wildfledged.tumblr.com/post/30087953610/communal
Jennifer says
I had a similar experience when the Blue Angles flew around the San Francisco Bay this weekend…
http://unskilledperfectionist.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/hooky/
Jennifer says
Angels. Blue Angels. Hate typos!
Anaisa Jaurgui says
My favorite place
When I marry may husband, almost twenty years ago, we lived in SoCal, his hometown. I love to live there for all the reasons mention above, specially for its proximity to Mexico, {my home country}
Now we live in the East Coast, in the suburbs of our Nation's Capital. To me Washington DC area is one of the most beautiful places in USA. Here are some reasons why I LOVE to live here. First of all we have the beautiful four seasons, spring and the gorgeous cherry blossoms, summer with his humidity and all is just so much fun, we have beautiful beaches, free, yes free activities in all of the Smithsonian museums, we have the opportunity to visit lots of embassies during the annual open houses, and I don't think there is any other place in USA where the celebration of the four of July will be more exciting! Then it comes the calmest and the exquisite beauty of autumn where each tree becomes a colorful piece of art. When winter arrive somedays are cold and windy, some days are sunny and chilly, some days are snowy! On a good snow day you can hear the delightful sounds of the kids all around us playing in the snow while inside wrapped in a blanket someone if reading, baking, resting…
Jessica says
I grew up there. There's always something to do but I wish it was more beautiful.
Megan says
on this day my husband texted me while he was outside on his break at work. "are you gonna see the shuttle?" he asked. with a flurry of texts back and forth i ended up outside my building at work at just the right time. moments later the shuttle made its first pass – up the east bay. i continued texting with my husband, letting him know it was coming towards him. the next time around the shuttle was much closer and finally it took off going south down the peninsula. back at work i sent a quick chat to a friend in la. and a little while later the shuttle was there too. awesome to share these small yet extraordinary moments.
ellen patton says
I love LA too! I grew up there (in Van Nuys to be specific). There were so many fun things to do and our mom dragged us to everything — we slept out at the Rose Parade, we were in the Dodger Pepsi Fan Club, we went to the new malls when they opened, experienced every museum, spent time at lots of beaches, etc. We were in Long Beach the day the Queen Mary made her final voyage — I remember people throwing rolls of toilet paper out of high rise apartment windows! I live in Boston (well, Lexington) now and I love it here and will stay forever. I visited LA in January (after almost 20 years!) and had a great time. I went to my favorite restaurants (have you eaten at Phillippe's?!?), drove around my old neighborhood, visited my old schools and even went to Disneyland. It was a magical vacation!