Two weeks ago, I posted a story about the impending visit of my two young nieces from Michigan, with their “wish list” of things to do on their all-expenses paid, 5-day visit to visit their “Favorite Aunt Marilyn” (F.A.M.) in California.

Maddie (almost 14) and Lauren (12) were appreciative, courteous and non-demanding. And – somewhat surprisingly – they really liked each other!  It was a delightful opportunity to spend time with these girls who I know mostly through their Facebook postings.

But the pace of playing tourist (and answering emails into the wee hours of the morning) was a challenge for Old Aunt Marilyn.  I was exhausted when it was over – and ready to come back to work!  I don’t know how parents – particularly single parents – manage. And this will come as no surprise to any parent: entertaining kids is expensive!

Here’s a recap of our itinerary:

Thursday – Bird Strikes & Burgers

• Their outbound flight from Grand Rapids to Detroit was cancelled because of a bird strike. Delta re-booked them such that they arrived at LAX at the height of rush hour.  Traffic was as bad as I’ve ever seen – going and coming! Welcome to the world of airline travel. Welcome to LA
• They’d never heard of plane spotting. I took them to a patch of grass in Westchester – adjacent to the runways. As giant aircraft zoomed overhead just before touchdown, I regaled them with one of my favorite childhood memories:  “Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, a family went to Washington D.C. for vacation. After the first day of visiting major monuments of dead presidents, the Dad asked the oldest brother what place he wanted to see. “The Smithsonian Museum,” oldest brother replied.  The next day, the Dad asked the next-oldest brother where HE wanted to go. “To the Zoo!” he said.  On the third day, the Dad posed the same question to the daughter, who exclaimed, “I want to go to the airport!”  (One guess as to who THAT was!)
• They’d also never heard of In-N-Out Burger. Can you imagine?

Thursday – Plane spotting!

Friday – Pottery Painting, Puppies and Pork Belly BBQ

• F.A.M. was in no mood to get on a freeway today. Besides, it was unusually humid. So we went to one of those pottery painting places in the Oaks Mall.  My step-daughter, Erica, came along, and we four girls had a lovely time being creative!
• We went to the “puppy store” where the girls wanted me to buy a Beagle, insisting that, “Uncle Scott would love it.” (Uncle Scott, Aunt Marilyn and our cats would most assuredly NOT love it!)
• Tonight we celebrated the 23rd birthday of my other step-daughter, Ashley. We went to a Korean barbecue place where you cook your own meat on a tabletop grill. The girls weren’t too adventurous, nor are they particularly Top Chef candidates. F.A.M. did a lot of cooking on this night.  For the girls, the best part was riding in Scott’s convertible.

Friday fun

Saturday – Hollywood, Shirley Temple and The Chinese Death March

• The girls love cats – so our four cats kept them occupied for a few hours this morning.
• Wanting to expose them to one of my favorite modes of transport in any city I visit, I purchased unlimited day-use subway passes for the three of us. The girls occupied their time by scrambling up the down escalator until our train finally arrived. I think was their first subway experience.  I think they were underwhelmed.
• We exited at Hollywood & Highland to see “Michael Jackson” and his gloved hand dancing to “Thriller” next to his giant, sequined Donation Jar. Oh, look! There’s Superman, Cinderella, Darth Vader and a guy who looked remarkably like Alan from the Hangover movies – with a baby strapped to his chest.  It takes a very firm “no” to get these costumed characters to back off – as they all wanted to pose with the girls, provided F.A.M. was willing to pony up the bucks to “tip” them – which she, most definitely, was not.
• In the crowded courtyard of the Chinese Theatre, we found Shirley Temple’s tiny handprints and footprints from 1935 (when she was only 7 years old). We learned that her “Star” on the Falk of Fame was out for repair – caused by tree roots that buckled the section of sidewalk where her star had been installed back in 1960.
• The girls made their first purchases of the trip – at a candy store, appropriately called Sweet!
• We took in a movie at the historic and beautiful El Capitan Theatre, which was preceded by a Disney song & dance production.
• Lauren bought a mug for hot chocolate with her “star.”  Maddie thought $20 was too much so she didn’t get the “Madeline” version (which she later regretted).
• Ever-adventurous F.A.M. decided to take them to Downtown LA to see the tall buildings, distinctive architecture of Disney Hall and get authentic Chinese food in Chinatown. F.A.M. seriously overestimated their interest in architecture and seriously underestimated the walking distances. It nearly became the “Chinese Death March” on this hot, muggy afternoon, as we trudged down Temple Street, past the (ugly) modern Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and over the 110 Freeway. Finally – a restaurant! Air-conditioning! Ice water! At Hop Li Seafood Restaurant, Lauren ordered steamed chicken with white rice and Maddie had Beef Chow Mein. They tried (in vain) to use chopsticks.  It wasn’t till we exited that I noticed the “B” rating from the Health Department. Oops.  I hoped it wouldn’t literally become a death march.
• Fortified and hydrated, we finally found the shopping area and perused specialty shops and Asian markets with merchandise they’d never seen before: dried seahorses, mummified sea slugs and assorted fungi. (They passed on all of this.)  I bought them both some “beginner” chopsticks which (I hope) will someday trigger a memory so they can regale their kids with the story of the day of the Chinese Death March with their Crazy F.A.M.

Hollywood, here we are!

Sunday – Venice Freak Show and Freaky Lightning

• Did I mention how sweet the girls were? They wanted to make “Breakfast in Bed” for Uncle Scott. We nixed the “in bed” part. Instead, Scott enjoyed every moment of the experience on the patio.
• Today was Venice Beach day. Repulsed at the thought of spending $20 to park, F.A.M. squeezed her little Audi TT into a free parking spot on the street! We got to the Boardwalk a bit early – as the most of the crazies and characters were probably sleeping off their Saturday night exploits. The girls found a store where they designed their own neon-colored sweatshirts, which will probably get a lot of use back home.
• Next up: the Santa Monica Pier.  F.A.M. happily found a cheap parking place: $2 for 2 hours
• Bought the girls wristbands for unlimited rides (thankfully, I had a Groupon coupon). While the girls were in line to board the “West Coaster” roller coaster, I heard a thunderous sound. All the locals were exclaiming, “Did I just hear thunder??” Meanwhile, the out-of-towners were unfazed. Sure enough – a freakish 15-minute thunderstorm rained down on Venice Beach – just about 3 miles from where we had come from. Nary a drop fell on us. Tragically, a young guy who was in the water was electrocuted and many others were injured.  (The L.A.Times reported that the odds of being killed by lightning in California are 1 in 7.5 million…!) Prudently, the operators stopped all the rides at the pier. The girls were bummed. Time to go home – but only after F.A.M. stood in line to get a refund on those wristbands. I told the girls we could come back tomorrow – when there would be fewer people.

Freaky Sunday

Monday – Roller Coaster Re-Do

• I was secretly hoping the girls would forget about going back to Santa Monica. But no … we were back there in the afternoon. I was determined to park in the $2/2 hour lot again. I circled for 15 minutes before someone finally pulled out. Maddie made me aware that my “driver’s language” isn’t always so good. (Several times, I found myself saying, “Excuse my French.” To which she would say, “I don’t think that’s French!”) As predicted, it was much less crowded, so the girls rode the roller coaster about 8 times. We all went up on the comparatively boring giant Ferris Wheel and had some really great views of the coastline.

Monday’s Roller Coast re-do at the Santa Monica Pier

Tuesday – Waking Up and Winging It Back Home

• This is how it works in L.A.: working backwards from a 7 AM flight – targeting to check in 90 minutes prior (since they’re Unaccompanied Minors), include a generous 60 minute drive (no traffic at that hour – I hope!), allow 30 minutes to get up and get ready, plus a 15 minute cushion … means setting my alarm for a 3:45 AM wake-up call. Brutal! When I tried to wake Maddie at 4 (per her request) she nearly slugged me!
• At the airport I asked the girls, “So, what was your favorite experience?”  Shopping in Hollywood and riding the roller coaster was the unanimous verdict. As for F.A.M., I think my favorite moments were finding those cheap places to park!

Wow – this post got really lengthy! Thanks for hanging in there and reading all the way to the end.  Always love to get your comments (please post in the box below!).  Thanks!

pssst:  Did you hear about our invitation-only Greek Island Cruise in June? It’s going to be A M A Z I N G – and so much fun! Hope you’ll snatch up one of the limited inventory on this luxury 88-passenger mega-yacht.  Check it out on our website: wowtravelclub.com