California Adventures: West Coast Whistle Stop!

There are few things more sacred to me than my time at West Virginia Wesleyan College. It is, for me, the happiest place on earth. It is really like a family (one that you really enjoy!). There's creepy uncles, the drunken cousins, the dramatic aunts, the loving grandparents, and everything in between. The entire community is a wide range of crazy characters that would not exactly fit in on an MTV reality show, but stand a chance for an NBC sitcom. I spent four years there learning and appreciating the little quirks! As with any family, there are sometimes that I have to remember that others on the outside might not exactly see the normalcy that I do when I return. However, I own it. It is what it is-- and there is NO part of my college or community that embarrasses me. I like that some of the letters are missing from the K-Lounge sign. I like that I feel confident that I'll see everyone there at the end of the night. It makes me happy to know that there will likely be a Sheetz run at some point before I pass my ass out. (Even if it means a pit stop at the car dealership on the way back). I like that the only all night restaurants are Sheetz and the Donut Shot. I love WVWC and Buckhannon, WV.

And like I always do, I assume that if I love something, so will everyone around me. (Fatal personality flaw, I know. As a student of PR and Counseling, I recognize I should know better-but don't). So-- I invited two of my dearest friends from grad school to join me in the journey from Delaware to WV. And, boy, what a journey it was.

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I believe an awesome time was had by all. We hit all the hot spots! Allburgers, CJ's, K-Lounge, 88, Sheetz, Theta Chi, Aggie front porch-- and one of my favorites, the Whistle Stop. While I was a student at WVWC, I spent time at each of these wonderful establishments. I'd say K-Lounge was a favorite, as my friend Tom and I had our own barstools. However, the 88 was a great place for strong drinks with some of my strongest role models. Allburgers was music and the greatest variety in crowd. (I really miss Beer & Bards...)

Famous or infamous flaming Dr. Pepper shots. Remember
to put out the flame completely before drinking. Photo
courtesy of Emmy Wingard. 

But the Whistle Stop was reserved for especially rowdy nights. The night that I broke my blackberry into many pieces-- and later stashed in a bag full of garlic fries. (I'm sorry N-Telos & Blackberry). Whistle Stop was the stop on the way back from campus because my friend Meaghan insisted that I try a Rattlesnake Shake. It was off the beaten path, and for some reason I remember seeing people drinking out of Mason Jars.

My kind of place.

And as it turned out, Beth and Nicole, my friends from Delaware, liked it, too. Or at least, played along.

Merced, 7:30 PM in mid-June.

Now, fast forward two months. June 2011. Poor Beth-Berry is stuck in crappy Massachusetts, while Nicole and I are basking in Sunny California! Well, I don't know if basking is the right word: I'm baking (Merced, CA), and Nicole is trying to stay warm (SLO, CA). And I think it's fair to say that we're having an awesome time! While our internship sites are like 3 hours apart, and neither of us have cars, we've made this the summer of travel! We have been doing our best to explore the best of the Golden State-- and trip one included me heading south on Amtrak to Cal-Poly! (I should say that Amtrak is now my preferred method of travel. Seriously, the best.)

I arrived nearly an hour early! I made friends with a truck driver on my way there who was going to pick up a truck. He had like 7 kids, and did huge hauls across the country. I wish I could remember his name. I do remember that he was originally from Phoenix, and I shared that I was planning on going there for a conference next March. (NASPA, here we come!) His mom runs a Mexican restaurant. Again, I probably should have written it down-- but I figure if I go to one, I'll just ask if the lady working if she has a son with 7 kids that lives in Sacramento.

Check out my album for
more pics. 

ANYWAYS! This was only the beginning to an amazing trip! Nicole and I were pumped to get out and experience this tourist town-- we were going to close the bars down! See what this town had to offer! I, unfortunately was not prepared for how cool the evening was--but I had my awesome UC Merced sweatshirt-- so I thought I would be fine! And we were off-- camera in tote! We walked down and over the woods, heading for Pappy McGregors. Only half of us was assaulted--while the other half felt threatened (A deer came from the woods-- Nicole felt sure that it was a cannibal, and proceeded to try to knock the living hell of out me. (Okay, that may be a tiny bit exaggerated, but if a comedy director stumbles upon this blog before a drama, I want him/her to see the potential- and also recognize just how funny I am. Kristin Wiig, please love this.))

From Pappy McGregor Fail Photo Shoot.
A knight in shining armor! 

So, spoiler alert for those of you who haven't seen National Lampoon's Vacation, it was closed. And no night life to be seen for miles. We could walk for another mile, maybe more, to get to the next bar, but since it was after 12, we were worried it might not be worth it. Especially if we got lost-- and it took us even longer to find the places we were trying to find. We decided to call it a night after a quick photo shoot-- and really hit the road the next morning. So, that's what we did!

We woke up, and boom-- there was Enterprise to pick us up! When they asked where we were going, we answered honestly, "We dunno yet."

We started at the Breakfast Buzz, which Nicole tells me, is rated highest for Breakfast in San Luis! And it was very tasty-- and packed! Luckily, we got seats right away at the breakfast bar. We didn't make friends there, but it was only because the guy next to us sent a weird vibe. Usually, I'm all over that, but for some reason, today it didn't feel right.

After our delicious breakfast, we headed down to Pismo Beach! Where, of course, I forgot my camera in the car. It was freezing there. So, I felt no need to wear sunblock. I later regretted that decision, as I was red, gross, and later peeling. I tried to be a beach person, just hanging out and catching some rays, but I quickly became bored and told Nicole I was going for a walk. AND GUESS WHAT! I SAW A SEA LION! Yes, there was a sick sea lion in the ocean coming from towards the beach. I imagined him to be just like the ones I love at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Playful and sweet! So,  you can imagine my surprise when a lifeguard asked me to back up. It was sick. Apparently they're not supposed to be that close to humans. My heart broke a little. It looked like it was just hanging out there riding the waves.

I kept walking-- seeing families, couples and little kids chasing seagulls. The kid was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. The water was really cold, so anytime he got close, he'd run from it. I'm not sure where his parents were, but I thought to myself, "Wow, if I were to ever accidentally have kids, I would definitely want to live here." The water is too cold for the kid to jump in and drown. The sand is soft-- so  if it falls it can't get hurt that badly, and I could just read books-- while the kid chases uncatchable creatures. Perfect. Don't get me wrong-- it didn't give me baby-fever--but it made me think that there likely are some tolerable moments with children.

Moving forward, Nicole and I walked out on the pier, and admired how beautiful it was! We stopped in at a bar on the deck called Harry's. It was dark-- and there was no outdoor seating, which Nicole noticed since we were at a beach, after all. I agreed, but liked the feel of the place. She commented that of course I would. After all, I do love places like the K-Lounge and Whistle Stop. This stop was important in the scheme of the trip, because after only minutes, an older gentleman walked over to tell us that he'd been watching us (for hours there, apparently), and thought Nicole was the most beautiful woman ever. It was awkward; of course I loved it-- and got a good laugh along with the bouncer at the door nearest to us. With that, we closed our tab, stopped in at a tattoo parlor to check on kangaroo tats, and then decided to hit the Pacific Coast Highway.

North or south was the question--and south was the answer. What we didn't know then was that the Pacific Coast Highway goes rogue for a while, and instead of picturesque views of the ocean, we go through miles and miles and miles and miles of California farmland. We loved it, don't get us wrong--but we decided it was time to have a chat with our GPS. So, knowing Nicole and I, and recognizing that we had crossed the line into Santa Barbara County, the only logical search was for wineries.

And so we started making our way toward Babcock Winery. Which is precisely where we met David. Or as I like to call him, the one who got away.

If you know me or Nicole, or especially if you know us collectively, you know that we enjoy meeting new people. However, we usually need to have sidebars about which people to pursue to cultivate stronger friendships. Unfortunately, this small tasting room left no space for us to discuss the potential friendship we both saw for our new friend. We don't really know his name, but we imagine it to be David. There were other noisy drunk guests that were also tasting wine, and I think it's fair to say that we bonded with David through our observations of that party. BTW, we LOVED their Identity Crisis . We even dedicated a toast to Erik Erikson! (Who said theory was good for nothing??)

Afterward, we waited creepily in our car, trying to decide if we should invite our potential new friend, David, to join us in the rest of our adventure. Oh right, who's David? The guy that poured our wine. He seemed awesome. After entirely too much time discussing this, and trying to decide what to say when we did see him, we decided against it. This may be our only regret from the entire summer. We have a rule-- and it's same as the one rule in Improv, which is never say no. I should add that both Nicole and I have been reading Chelsea Handler's books and I've recently started (and nearly finished) Hilary Winston's My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me and Other Stories That I Shouldn't Share with Acquaintances, Coworkers, Taxi Drivers, Assistants, Job Interviewers, Bikini Waxers, and Ex Current Future Boyfriends But Have.  I want to be more like them-- (and I'm not sure if she knows it or not but) so does Nicole.

So, back to the Garmin. Let's enter Places of Interest. Near Here. Entertainment. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

I look at Nicole and tell her we MUST! MUST! MUST go to the Whistle Stop! And her response is, of course we must! We agree it would be a crime NOT to go. And so we do. And oh wow.

On the way, we pass by what has to be the most celebrated Flower Show ever. I mean, there's a ferris wheel. We're talking a full-out carnival, people! We make a mental note that we should go there on our way back-- but for the time being, we're on a mission for a whistle. And this place doesn't disappoint. After several photos in front of the beloved place, we make our way inside.

We're the youngest people there by 20 years. While the place is about 4x the size of my Buckhannon Whistle Stop, it keeps the same feel. My friend Evan commented that there was too much natural light, which I can't really argue. There was. But they also had their own gem that I don't know that we could ever really get-- or even aspire to get. Unless, of course, I find myself alone in 40 years in Buckhannon. And that gem's name was Gene.

Gene knew a lot about nearly everything. I didn't realize it, but in the few minutes it took me to go to the ATM and back, she had quickly created a friendship with Nicole. When I returned, Nicole didn't share the details of the encounter-- we ordered our drinks, and then Gene turned back around to chat with both of us.

"You know, the education here in California is no good. If you want your kids to go to a good school, you gotta send them east."

"This jewelry? It's from Afghanistan. And you know what's happening over there" LONG PAUSE. Then, as if we didn't know, "WAR!"

The bartender actually looked at us and mouthed, "I'm so sorry," and we just smiled. It was fine, we said. The older gentlemen at the end of bar said, "She never shuts up." We finished our drinks, played the lottery, snuck some pictures, and then headed to the flower show. We ate lots of carnival food, and then, as if I could foresee the future, I bought some kettle corn. Which was PERFECT, as we made a pitstop at the Sunset Drive-In just in time to see Cars 2 and The Green Lantern.


Did you catch that this all happened within 24 hours? Trip 1 set the bar high. And so far the trips that followed have done a pretty good job at keeping that bar high. Click here for more pics.

What song would be playing for this part of my movie? I think this song would be ideal. Although, I feel like this could really describe almost any Pepin-Short adventure!