Stay-at-Home Nerd: Gets Lost
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens have an address, I’m sure of it. If I googled it, went to their website, or even looked at my membership card I’d probably find it. I could even get the exact location and directions from my front door to their front door online, plug them into my phone thereby turning it into a GPS and assuring that I got to the Tea Room at the Huntington in a timely fashion to enjoy mother’s day finger sandwiches and scones with my wife’s mom, sister and her fiancé before we lost our reservation. But, where’s the fun in that?
We were somewhere on the 210 headed east when my wife asked if I knew where I was going. Of course I knew where I was going – we were all going to the Huntington. What I didn’t know was how to get there. Not exactly, anyway. It’s roughly in Pasadena (San Marino), and there’s some street that runs right to it (Alan as it turns out). Not knowing where to exit my wife got a bit impatient until we saw a sign that said “Huntington Library” next exit. The great thing about not knowing where you’re going is that you’re constantly looking for signs and you’d be surprised how often they appear and get you where you need to go.
There were no more signs once we got off the freeway, though. If there were we missed them. We drove South on Hill for a while until it was apparent we were lost and by lost I mean we were here while the Gardens were somewhere over there. So we doubled back and headed in that direction. I was content to drive through this neighborhood of luxurious homes, wide streets and magnificently manicured lawns, but we did have a reservation to keep. My wife called her soon to be brother in law and he told us what street to turn on. Turns out we could’ve just kept going on the street we were on and run smack into it.
Which is long way of saying why I don’t use a GPS. Having a child makes you constantly late and having a GPS is a way of saving time. Supposedly that’s true. But any time you save time it is at the expense of something. Fast food comes at the expense of taste and quality. Quick lube jobs come with the expense of air filter sales pitches. And GPS time saving devices come at the expense of finding the way. I don’t mean to sound all Buddha, but once you’ve really found a place you never need directions again. Addresses become meaningless as your own mind navigates you toward your intended destination. I know exactly where the Huntington is and not because I know it’s address or I can locate it on a map, but because I’ve been there and I could get there again from almost anywhere in the world without having to ask for directions.
Could I tell you where it is? No. Maybe. Yes. It’s in Pasadena, sort of. There’s a street that runs right into it. Once you find it you’ll never miss it again. You get there by getting there or something like that. The next time you’re thinking about punching in a destination into your GPS, don’t. Do what I do and get lost. You’ll find where going because you will be already be there. Trust me.
featured image credit: liewcf
I depend on my GPS to get everywhere and that’s because I have no sense of orientation, so even if I got lost and eventually found the place, chances are I would never find the place again — especially one with the Brigadoonesque qualities of the Huntington Gardens.
Also, you’re not allowed to talk on your cell phone and drive, so calling someone for directions can mean having to pull over if you’re not in the car with someone. Can I just say that your wife is a saint for calling your future BIL and risking possible tardiness as opposed to just making you put the address in the Garmin? It seems to me that you’re weirdly okay with cell phones, which is actually an extra step in the whole directions situation, but not okay with just putting the dang address in the nav system, which is right-frickin-there in front of you.
I say all of this, of course, b/c my husband is like you in that he prefers to find places on his own if he can. I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut and just let him drive, but I’ll never understand this need you two have — though I imagine my tune will change if there’s ever any kind of apocalyptic satellite outage that requires us to get somewhere w/o the benefit of technology.
Until then, though … #TeamGPS
I don’t use a GPS either, where is the fun in using one? When I first moved to LA, I got lost almost every time I ventured outside of LMU, but now, I am a master and I can tell you where the closest whatever is just because I saw it that one day when I was lost. Having revelations while lost like “Oh I didn’t know there was an art store here” or “there’s were two of those stores/diners/etc in LA?” have become useful on more than one occasion. This all probably comes as no surprise to you as there will always be that night where I was in your backseat firmly telling you to exit the freeway and turn around, we’re going the wrong way – I didn’t need a GPS to tell me that.
Love it! I like to leave extra time to get places, because even _with_ a set of directions, Pittsburgh is tricky to navigate. I know where things are because I’ve found them before. And while I might use directions to _get_ somewhere, I always chuck ’em when it comes time to go home again, as I can remember and reverse many of them, and the one-ways and crazy city flow make it impossible to go back the way we came, _ever_. Once I had reached the 1-year mark, I could find my way home from _anywhere_ in a 25 mile radius. Now that it has been nearly 2 years, I am much more willing to _go_ places direction-free, as well as write a note to google maps to correct the errors in their directions after I look them up but before I even head out. (The map database is woefully inadequate for PA. Actually, the printed maps pretty much bite, too.)