My favorite memory from when I was younger is one from when I was fourteen. I was staying in San Simeon California, my mom’s favorite coast town. We were staying at an old style open air Best Western, so there were railings and stairs to every level and railed balconies outside the front of the door. She had just let me buy two things I had been begging her to let me wear for years, high waisted shorts and a bikini. I was so excited, my legs looked so long in the shorts and I had gotten so tan at the beach the day before. We had driven up the coast highway that day to get to San Simeon and I was antsy after being in the car the whole day. The next day we were going to Hurst Castle to explore the house and the grounds, something I was extremely interested in. But that night was a bit of a freebee for me. I got to do as I pleased. So I went out to call my best friend, sticking my legs through the rails of the balcony as i sat on the ground trying to see the stars. Him and I talked about music for a while, talking mostly about our favorite band, All Time Low. His favorite song by them was called “Somewhere In Neverland” so we talked about being Peter Pan and Wendy for Halloween the next year. He had to go, so I got up from the balcony. The cold air was chilling my legs but I wanted to see the stars. I ran down to the parking lot and layed down behind the small stand alone cafe that the hotel owned. The stars were so bright and beautiful I fell in love with that hotel. The waves on the beach then interested me so I wandered down a path and watched the stars from the sand. It was such a happy and peaceful moment for me that I just stayed there as long as possible until my mom called me and told me that I needed to sleep for tomorrow. It was a day where I truly felt full.
This summer one of my favorite bands released a new album called Sounds Good Feels Good. They said they wrote a 6 minute song at a crappy hotel in San Simeon California. They mentioned it was a Best Western hotel. They then did a “behind the album” type deal and posted pictures from the recording process. One of those pictures was from a hotel room, one that showed the tell tale signs of the Best Western I had stayed in.
Theres only two best westerns in San Simeon, but they posted a picture then of the beach they stayed out which had the funky retro fireplaces that I had seen while stargazing.
The song is called “Outer Space/Carry On,” and is one of my favorites on the album. It creates such a celestial beauty that can only be rivaled by the stars themselves.