Easter Sunday At Venice Beach

I’ve missed Easter dinner with my family just once in my life. I was away on a work assignment, covering the Miss USA pageant for my newspaper back in 2004.

We had a local girl competing and people were really excited about it so we wanted to make a splash with the coverage. Lauren Kelsey Hall, the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, was representing the great state of Ohio in the pageant which was held in Los Angeles.

My then fiancé went as my assistant and we flew out and stayed in a hotel with about fifty others from our community. We did some things together as a group and had some time on our own between working. Since the hotel was just a few blocks from Grauman’s Chinese Theater we were able to walk to several fun things.

But on Easter Sunday we all loaded up in a big bus and went to services at the Crystal Cathedral.

Afterward, while the group went out for a nice meal, my fiancé and I caught a very expensive cab ride to Venice Beach. Neither of us had seen the Pacific Ocean so it seemed like the thing to do.

It was warm and sunny and the pier was sort of like a circus. The only thing that made it feel like Easter was the presence of the Easter Bunny posing for pictures up and down the pier.

After blowing so much cash on the cab it seems like we ate burgers at a fast food restaurant to conserve a little money.

I can’t say that it was my best Easter but it is the most memorable! By the way, Kelsey didn’t make it through the first elimination but that’s ok. She will always be a winner in our eyes.

Happy Easter, my friends!