Day 9 - In Which They Shopped

Originally the plan for Friday had been to head into downtown LA and take the tour buses around the sights. But the consensus was that we were all done in by the theme parks, and it should be a cruisy rest day instead. 

So we slept in, and we shopped. 

The Outlets at Orange are like a shopper’s wonderland. Like the Premium Brands Outlets, they come with a coupon book for extra savings – but the bargains were so good in each store that we barely even glanced at the coupon book. 

I was accosted by a guy in a kiosk selling hair straighteners, who insisted on straightening my hair. After the price came down from $200 to $89, I relented and bought some. My own straighteners had broken the very day I was flying out, so it was really a blessing. Plus I got my hair straightened by a professional!

After that, we lunched at a place he’d recommended, called Saddle Ranch. It’s a huge place with a big mechanical bull in the middle, with metal on the sound system. Our meals were huge and delicious, the bubbly was cold, and they brought us out their signature dessert on the house – a three-foot tall wad of candy floss. Being the sensible, responsible grown-ups we are, of course, we immediately made this into moustaches, monobrows and beards. 

Once shopped out, we headed over to Chris and Julie’s hotel, Hotel Menage, to lounge around by their pool bar for $5 cocktail happy hour. A guy with a guitar set up and took requests, most of which came from our table. And then later in the evening, the fireworks from Disneyland lit up the night sky. Holiday bliss.