Santa Monica Dream

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Long story short, I traveled to LA from Sydney not simply for the purpose of the vacation, but with the intention of meeting someone I believed was the love of my life at the time. But human promises are not eternal or golden, and after I came home to Sydney, the world had lost a bit of magic. When someone tells you they love you, and then proceed to threaten to harm you if you leave, you should know they are lying. 

Nonetheless, I think the early 20s are the best time for anyone to be in a long distance relationship. We are finding ourselves, we are naive and we are reckless. We find out that people may not be the what they appear to be. When things end badly, we find it harder to trust someone like that again, we grow a little cynical about the world but we learn to be prudent and protect ourselves before we grow into full adults. It's also a great time to go through these things because if things do work out for you two, you could realise that the oceans between you and your other half are nothing compared to what you have. Unfortunately this was not the case for me. Nonetheless I will always love this place.

The zeitgest of this place, and very much how I felt when visiting this place is encapsulated by the song below. The song is about dreaming about both the past and future, to have fond memories with someone that appear distant and imagining the life you would have had with them if you hadn't parted.

Goodbye My Santa Monica Dream.
 
There is something mystical about this place. It is the West Coast's version of Coney Island. It is thoroughly used in pop culture. It is scenic, it is busy, it is peaceful and timeless. After hours of shopping at Third Street Promenade, my best friend and I trekked toward the jetty on a warm Winter afternoon. 



The beach house, flat sand dunes, skaters, volleyballers are as American as you can imagine the beach to be. It was peaceful and quiet because it was Winter, but I can only imagine how lively this place would be in the heat of Summer.







The restaurant at the end of the jetty where we had a cosy dinner. Food was cheap, but it did not taste like it. I remember laughing over drinks and hearing the echo of the busker at the end of the jetty - she had the voice of a superstar which matched the soothing throbbing of the ocean against the wooden poles that upheld the pier.



Our night concluded with a rather bizarre street show by a group of young children who we could see really did not want to be there. They did a medley dance to Michael Jackson and the father prompted them to demand money from the crowd. It was one of the not so great things we saw in LA, but who knows, hopefully these kids grow up to be superstars.

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1 comments

  1. Surprised? Not in the slightest... I too found myself in a long distance relationship for a while around the ages 17-18. It didn't end how yours appears to have, but now in a relationship with a very different person having had that experience does really help shape the outward view on people. As for LA, Toronto is my equivalent in so many ways. Great piece :)

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