The Gold Coast Tour

Over break, I had an amazing opportunity to travel with our university marching band to California. We left at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning and headed to Detroit to fly out to LAX. It was a long day on Friday preparing for the trip. We would be gone for five days and would fly out on Thanksgiving Day. Saturday morning came very quickly and we all drug ourselves out to Presser to prepare to leave. The Kappa Kappa Psi brothers got everyone packed and on the buses within 45 minutes.

Our marching band was split up into three flights. There was a Delta flight leaving at 8:30 (which was the one I was on), a Southwest flight at 8:35 and they had a layover in St. Louis and, another Delta flight at 11:30. MY flight was smooth. The take-off and landing were easy and there was little turbulence. When my flight landed in California, we had to wait for the other groups to come in. When we all landed and got our luggage together, we headed to our first hotel.

Mark Harmon's star on the Walk of Fame

We got to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Los Angeles, Hollywood. It was about a 15-minute walk from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We went to the walk the first night and it was amazing. We got a chance to see a lot of the stars and took a couple of photos of them. The next morning, we went out to Mel's Diner for breakfast and to go down the walk again. We departed for San Diego at 11:45 a.m. that morning. On the way, we got to stop at Griffith Park and take some photos.

We successfully got to San Diego around 2:30 and it was breath-taking. I've been to San Diego once before and my love for it has not changed over the years. Our band got to stay at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. It was very close to the ocean and we had a view out on the bay. The next day, we had a performance in Balboa Park. The performance went well and, we had a pretty good turnout. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music. After getting back to the hotel, a group of friends and I all went out to go find some dinner and hit the beach. We went to Coronado beach. The ocean was cold but, we still all went into the water. It was a great opportunity for some beautiful photos and shell collecting. I found bunches of sand dollars and shells that I brought home for my family. We took off the next morning for Los Angeles again.

The view from our hotel room in San Diego

We stayed in Doubletree by Hilton. At 8:30 in the morning, we took off for Disney and our last day in California. It was the hottest day out of the few days of being in California and we had to dress in our full uniforms to march a parade. It was so hot but, walking down Main Street with all those people watching was 100% worth it. I love performing and things like that always remind me why I started it in the first place. The rest of the day was filled with rides, eating, and having a great time.

Coronado Beach

Our marching band departed for LAX at 5 a.m. We were all exhausted and ready to get home. We only had two flights this time. It was a huge relief landing and knowing we were almost home. I was so ready to get there and see my family and pets again. It was an amazing trip and I fell in love all over again with California. I hope to live there one day but, I got to spend the rest of my Thanksgiving break with my whole family. Even though I spent most of my Thanksgiving break on a plane, bus or, car, I couldn't ask for a better break!

Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland