Things I learned/observed on my trip to the Easty Coasty
Do not bother renting a car in Philadelphia, you can walk everywhere. Same with Boston.
I walked everywhere in Philly and Boston.
I cannot figure out when to capitalize east coast.
Water in Philadelphia makes me break out, water in Boston cleared it up.
In both places, jaywalking is not optional but obligatory.
The speed limit in Massachusetts is 65 on the highway. This is hard for a Californian who is used to the speed limit of 75, which translates to 85, except on the I-15 heading to San Diego, where speed limits are optional.
Unlike SoCal, toll roads are not optional and they do not mean that you get to fly by everyone else that did not pay for the toll road.
People are nice. Really nice. I told my dad that, he said “yep, that is what happens when you leave Southern California.”
I appreciated that everyone kept apologizing for the weather. I told them that it was over 100 degrees at home, and they agreed that it must be a nice change. NOT ONE person said, “well, it is a dry heat there,” I was amazed! One lady said that it must be a different kind of heat, which is close, but still not as absolutely annoying.
When people asked me where I was from, I replied with the typical “the Palms Springs area.” Then they asked where exactly, and where interested in where it was in relation to PS, LA , and SD. I appreciated that they care that there is more than just PS. I did have to do the LA/SD triangle a few times though.
In Philadelphia and Boston people where more accepting of homosexuals (not only in the gayborhood.) Evidence of this was all over. However, it also frustrated me, here we live in an area that has a city that has something like a gay population of somewhere near 80%, and we are less open and accepting. Come on Cali, we are supposed to the leading liberal state…just sad. But I am glad there is somewhere and hopefully that will spread.
On that note, one of the most interesting things that I witnessed was while I was at Liberty Hall. I was standing in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. Outside was a rally for gay rights. Along with that where people on bull horns condemning them all to hell and speaking on behalf of Jesus saying they are all wrong, which that is a sin (and I can go through the Bible and retort every single claim they make against homosexuality and more). We still have a long ways to go before rights are spread evenly and to all.
More people smoke there…A LOT more. Which if you know me, that is not a good thing for me!
I still seek desperately for toilet seat-covers until I remember that for some reason they are not bathroom staples like they are in Cali.
I now have a boyfriend in Boston named Angelino, or something like that, I could not understand his accent. I was very popular in Little Italy (though I think most blondes are). I do not think that our relationship will be a long-term one.
I walked over 50 miles, if not more. Probably more.
Boston has REAL radio stations that actually play alternative music that is not just the mainstream pop shit. They also play new stuff, concept! I cannot remember the last time I actually listened to the radio.
The little white rectangle on my iPhone headphones is to pause/play if you squeeze it (ok, that has nothing to do directly with the east coast , but I figured it out on this trip).
No matter what, the ocean is west. Even when I lived in Charleston I never got used to it being east. I get lost because of this when I look at maps. Ocean is WEST!
There are no real mountains (which, like above ocean problem, makes it hard to figure out where the hell you are).
There are real restaurants there, not just chains. However, there is of course no real Mexican food.
The area is full of history, which for a colonial historian like myself, is pretty much is heaven. The desert is full of, um, I would say sand, but even that is hard to find these days, except for on my car.
They have seasons beyond summer and Christmas.
Never connect through SFO. Love the city, HATE the airport.
That the airport is Denver is where I have flown in/out of the most, not PS or Ontario. I got that one down!
Men are manly on the east coast. They wear suits. They do not wear jeans that are skinny and skin tight making them look like twigs and smaller than me. They also do not wear about as much, if not more, make-up and/or jewelry than I do. Also, the men there open doors and stuff like that. Another concept!
This weird dirty 80s trend seems to be a SoCal phenomenon. Thank god no one else has to endure it…but it would be nice to send these people somewhere else.
People actually use public transportation…they actually have public transportation!
But, maybe most importantly, as I was gone, I received so many texts, facebook messages, emails, and etc. asking when I was coming home. I realized that my friends really missed me and how much I love them. It is nice to be love and missed.
I walked everywhere in Philly and Boston.
I cannot figure out when to capitalize east coast.
Water in Philadelphia makes me break out, water in Boston cleared it up.
In both places, jaywalking is not optional but obligatory.
The speed limit in Massachusetts is 65 on the highway. This is hard for a Californian who is used to the speed limit of 75, which translates to 85, except on the I-15 heading to San Diego, where speed limits are optional.
Unlike SoCal, toll roads are not optional and they do not mean that you get to fly by everyone else that did not pay for the toll road.
People are nice. Really nice. I told my dad that, he said “yep, that is what happens when you leave Southern California.”
I appreciated that everyone kept apologizing for the weather. I told them that it was over 100 degrees at home, and they agreed that it must be a nice change. NOT ONE person said, “well, it is a dry heat there,” I was amazed! One lady said that it must be a different kind of heat, which is close, but still not as absolutely annoying.
When people asked me where I was from, I replied with the typical “the Palms Springs area.” Then they asked where exactly, and where interested in where it was in relation to PS, LA , and SD. I appreciated that they care that there is more than just PS. I did have to do the LA/SD triangle a few times though.
In Philadelphia and Boston people where more accepting of homosexuals (not only in the gayborhood.) Evidence of this was all over. However, it also frustrated me, here we live in an area that has a city that has something like a gay population of somewhere near 80%, and we are less open and accepting. Come on Cali, we are supposed to the leading liberal state…just sad. But I am glad there is somewhere and hopefully that will spread.
On that note, one of the most interesting things that I witnessed was while I was at Liberty Hall. I was standing in the room where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. Outside was a rally for gay rights. Along with that where people on bull horns condemning them all to hell and speaking on behalf of Jesus saying they are all wrong, which that is a sin (and I can go through the Bible and retort every single claim they make against homosexuality and more). We still have a long ways to go before rights are spread evenly and to all.
More people smoke there…A LOT more. Which if you know me, that is not a good thing for me!
I still seek desperately for toilet seat-covers until I remember that for some reason they are not bathroom staples like they are in Cali.
I now have a boyfriend in Boston named Angelino, or something like that, I could not understand his accent. I was very popular in Little Italy (though I think most blondes are). I do not think that our relationship will be a long-term one.
I walked over 50 miles, if not more. Probably more.
Boston has REAL radio stations that actually play alternative music that is not just the mainstream pop shit. They also play new stuff, concept! I cannot remember the last time I actually listened to the radio.
The little white rectangle on my iPhone headphones is to pause/play if you squeeze it (ok, that has nothing to do directly with the east coast , but I figured it out on this trip).
No matter what, the ocean is west. Even when I lived in Charleston I never got used to it being east. I get lost because of this when I look at maps. Ocean is WEST!
There are no real mountains (which, like above ocean problem, makes it hard to figure out where the hell you are).
There are real restaurants there, not just chains. However, there is of course no real Mexican food.
The area is full of history, which for a colonial historian like myself, is pretty much is heaven. The desert is full of, um, I would say sand, but even that is hard to find these days, except for on my car.
They have seasons beyond summer and Christmas.
Never connect through SFO. Love the city, HATE the airport.
That the airport is Denver is where I have flown in/out of the most, not PS or Ontario. I got that one down!
Men are manly on the east coast. They wear suits. They do not wear jeans that are skinny and skin tight making them look like twigs and smaller than me. They also do not wear about as much, if not more, make-up and/or jewelry than I do. Also, the men there open doors and stuff like that. Another concept!
This weird dirty 80s trend seems to be a SoCal phenomenon. Thank god no one else has to endure it…but it would be nice to send these people somewhere else.
People actually use public transportation…they actually have public transportation!
But, maybe most importantly, as I was gone, I received so many texts, facebook messages, emails, and etc. asking when I was coming home. I realized that my friends really missed me and how much I love them. It is nice to be love and missed.