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# Out-of-townguestsgetadoseofSouthernCaliforniareality
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/out-of-townguestsgetadoseofsoutherncaliforniareality/
- Published: 2005-07-04T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:19:32.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Events, Promenade, #archive-import, Homeless

*COMMON SCENTS*

*By CAROLE ORLIN*

I just said good-bye to some good friends from back east who came to visit us and catch a first-hand glimpse of the Southern California lifestyle. It has been nearly five years since we last spent time together. We had an interesting visit, to say the least.

After the initial shock of seeing our vagrants — nationally recognized as our “homeless problem” — lying all over the streets, parks and alleys, my friends actually became quite adept at stepping over bodies, allowing them to finish looking through the trash before adding ours to their selection, and ignoring the more aggressive ones around our parks and beautiful Promenade.

After touring the Promenade and being harassed by the vagrants, we made our way back to the car. We were doing a decent job of navigating the heavy traffic for about four blocks before the driver of a car in the left lane abruptly decided he wanted to enter a parking structure on the right. He performed this maneuver without checking his rear view mirror, and proceeded to hit my car. Fortunately, only the car was damaged. So the next day of my friends’ visit was spent going to different body shops to get estimates for the damage.

By now my friends were getting a little frayed around the edges, but, optimist that I am, I suggested we go to the famous Santa Monica beach for some sun and surf — during the afternoon of course, because the vagrants have it in the mornings. Off we went, only to find out the water quality was poor, so no swimming for us. Oh well, we decided to head up to Malibu to enjoy the beaches there. Unfortunately, the PCH was packed, so we decided to turn around after almost an hour of enjoying the view of the ocean. Since we were not moving, the view really did not change too much. That’s OK. We were getting hungry anyway, and decided to go out to dinner.

I had been telling my friends for days about my favorite restaurant, Babalu on Montana Avenue. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found it was closed due to a fire. Plan B: we decided to try this fairly new restaurant I had been hearing about that also was on Montana Avenue. Luckily, we were able to get a late reservation, and by then, we were really hungry. We were seated immediately by a wonderful wait-staff, and our menu was explained to us. We ordered, just salivating in anticipation. Our appetizers came, which was strange, since we didn’t order any. Upon closer inspection, we saw that it was the main course, all five bites of it. Now, I’m all for nouvelle cuisine and I appreciate an attractive presentation, but there was more presentation than cuisine. After our mini-meal, we went to TCBY for dessert. OK, tomorrow is another day.

Well, we woke up to “June gloom,” which I don’t mind at all, but it kind of put our friends in a major depression. So we turned on the television, and there it was, one of California’s finest forms of entertainment: A high-speed car chase. Our friends had never seen a car chase before, except of course, for the O.J. chase. Again, after the initial shock, they really got into it. By the time the chase was concluded, the sun was shining, and we were getting ready to go out. Just then, my friends were treated to their first earthquake. It just lasted a few seconds, and they seemed to take it in stride. However, I did notice they slept with their shoes on that night. Also, they are not drinkers, but they seemed to be in the mood for wine, a lot of it. So that night, we had a lovely time drinking and discussing earthquakes. One question they kept coming back to was whether we thought “the big one” might come while they were here. I assured them that they had nothing to worry about, but I think I had lost credibility with them at that point.

The next morning we awakened, and I was ready to continue our adventures. Unfortunately, my friend’s allergies had kicked really kicked in. Our lengthy rainy season this year made for a heavy allergy season. But the trooper that she is, she did not complain a single time about her headache, runny nose and itchy eyes. Only once did she let a sob escape. At this point, I decided to put off our Venice Beach walk for fear it just might send them over the edge. So we stayed in and reminisced about the East Coast. Actually, they reminisced more than we did, and they were only away for a week.

It came time for them to leave. I think they were counting the hours. As we said our good-byes, my friends gave me a kind of “better you than me look.” I don’t think the real Southern California matched their ideal. But that’s OK. Actually, I thought it was a pretty good week here. I love Southern California, warts and all. Besides, we have more than enough people moving here anyway. (Carole)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 4, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070405.pdf?ref=smdp.com)