We started off by going to "Its a Wrap" - a store in Burbank where they sell clothing that has been used in television and movies. You can get great deals there, and I found a golf shirt and sweater for less than $20 total. I got the golf shirt because it came from "30 Rock" - I got the sweater because I liked it (it came from "My Boys", incidentally). I looked for stuff from LOST but couldn't find anything.
After that, we went for a hike up in the mountains. Like at the observatory, the mountain had a great view of downtown LA and the Hollywood sign. And not only that, it seems to be the place where the beautiful people hoping to be famous go for their morning jog. Most of the people on the mountain were attractive, and my aunt says that a lot of people go there hoping to be seen by someone.
My final activity in LA was to go to a farmer's market in Hollywood. I've been to LA several times, and I've never really seen a celebrity. One of Margaret's friends claims to have seen a lot of them at this market, and I went there in search of finally seeing someone. And while I had a great pastrami sandwich, I didn't actually see any celebrities. I guess they have some kind of anti-Drew radar.
With that, I went to the airport. Getting through security wasn't eventful this time, and I arrived at the gate with plenty of time to spare. And that's when I started getting text messages - the Rangers made a trade. They had Cliff Lee.
I'd decided to wear a Rangers' cap to the airport, and this made me very proud to wear it. At that point, the rumors were pretty unclear - I called Ashley, and the rumor was that Smoak and Holland were both gone. Maybe Smaok and Martin Perez, one of the Rangers' top pitching prospects. It wasn't until I landed in Austin that I saw that Blake Beaven was the pitching prospect traded. Which made the trade pretty good in my book.
So I left California about 3pm California time. I'd eaten lunch at about 1pm. My flight was going to land in Austin at 8pm, and I'd be there for one hour. I wouldn't reach Dallas until 10pm.
My plan was to get something to eat at the Austin airport - I'd had a relatively light lunch and would be hungry, despite the time change. But when we reached Austin, something was wrong - everything was closed. I went all around, and nothing was open.
I realize that people don't need to work to the odd hours of the night, but flights were still arriving and leaving. It seemed really odd that nothing would be open as early as 8pm, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it. I walked from one end of the airport to the other, and there was nothing.
The bar was open, but they weren't serving drinks. A store was open (with fruit out), but the cashier that was still inside said they'd already locked up the register. I saw no signs of any vending machines or anything like that. I was hungry, tired, and apparently out of luck.
I finally found a bookstore that was open, and they had a limited number of snacks available. So here's what I ended up having for dinner:
- Peanut Butter Crackers
- Sun Chips
- Beef Jerky
- Raw Almonds
- Pepsi
And, yeah, that was a nice $15 meal. Thanks a lot, Austin.
Well, I finally got on my plane with my improvised dinner, ready to do the 35-minute flight back to Dallas. And right before take off, I looked over and this young woman (I'm guessing younger than me, but she could've been the same age) was on her cell phone. The flight attendant saw her on it, and she told the woman to turn it off. The attitudinal girl scoffed but pressed a button that made the screen go black.
The flight attendant wasn't easily tricked. She asked if the phone was off or if the screen was just black, and she got another attitudinal answer from the woman, who seemed very annoyed by something.
Well, the flight was uneventful, but when it landed, I couldn't help but notice the young woman and the man she was with. He looked like a rancher type, with a mustache, and he was easily in his late 40s or early 50s. And as far as looks go, I'd say he was below average. I guessed that the young woman was his daughter.
Wrong. It was his girlfriend. The pair started holding hands on their way to the baggage claim, and I nearly exploded with laughter. I looked over at a girl walking beside me, and she seemed to have the same reaction.
Me - "That's about the grossest thing I've ever seen. It has to be money, right?"
Girl - "Yeah, but you'd think he wouldn't be flying Southwest if he had that kind of money."
Me - "I know, right? It'd have to be private plane money."
And what made it worse was the fact that I'd seen the same exact thing (young and cute girl with an older, not that attractive guy...riding coach on Southwest). I can understand having girls my age stolen by rich executives, but old guys with the same bank account? Really, girls? You can do better than that.
And that was it. Ashley graciously picked me up from the airport, and I was home. Five days in LA and a lot done. Tomorrow, I'll wrap up my little LA series with some interesting things that I forgot to mention.
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