that time we were tourists in los angeles on our anniversary

Saturday, Anne and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary by being tourists in our own city. We got a little fancy, and went to The Broad museum in Downtown. I love their permanent collection (one of these days, I’m eating a gummy to go giggle myself into oblivion at the giant table and chairs), but we were both super excited to see the Takashi Murakami exhibit they have out right now. They did not disappoint; getting inches away from some of these pieces was extraordinary. If you’re local, remember that the Broad is free.

From there, we took the Angel’s Flight (first time, ever, for either of us) down Bunker Hill to Olive, and walked to the library. Y’all, the Angel’s Flight is so great. It’s a short funicular ride in a tiny car that feels like it hasn’t changed since the day they started operations. It’s not even a minute, but is still kinda magical. I have driven past it hundreds of times a year, for decades, and never even thought about riding it. But it was right there, and we were deliberately being tourists, so we bought our tickets and hopped on. I’m so glad we did.

We walked a big loop down to Pershing Square, and up 5th Street to the library. The last time I went there, I was in high school, probably sophomore year. My studio teacher, Marion, took me there on a field trip, specifically to do research using the vast resources that the public library offered.

I did the whole thing, with the card catalog, the microfilm thing, old newspapers, all that stuff. It was so much fun, and so satisfying, and my old man brain has completely forgotten whatever it was I learned about that day. All I remember is how exciting and overwhelming it was to have access to so much information, so many primary sources. Oh, buddy, just you wait for Wikipedia. You have no idea.

The library wasn’t that busy, but I was so happy to see the media labs and creative areas just full of people. Some kids stopped me for a picture. I asked them what brought them to the library, and they told me they were there to make posters and materials to promote their poetry shows in the valley. How fucking awesome is that? God, I love artists so much! And I love that our public libraries offer materials and facilities to support artists at no cost.

We spent a lot of time in the library. There are a lot of great exhibits up right now, including a giant pop-up book that actually works, even though it’s about the size of two billboards. There are many exhibits celebrating the library’s 100th anniversary, and they’re all written in English and Spanish. I’ve been learning Spanish with Babbel for awhile, and I’m starting to get to a place in my education where I can read the Spanish, understand most of it, and infer the parts I don’t know from the context that I do. This is the first foreign language I’ve ever learned, so I don’t know what milestone that is, but it felt so satisfying to experience.

From the library, we went into the Biltmore, which has historic significance in our family, to get out of the heat and have a Coke. We sat in this little bar together, quietly away from anyone else, and just sipped our sodas.

I said, “I love that we are being tourists in our own city, on our anniversary, because this is exactly what we’d be doing if we went away.”

“I love this too,” Anne said.

“And I know I say it all the time, but goddamn do I love being married to you. I just love Us so much. I love being part of Us.”

“Yeah, I love it too,” she said. She sipped her Coke and I did the same. “Happy anniversary.”

We clinked our glasses.

“Twenty-seven years. Still punk as fuck.”

“Still punk as fuck.”

We giggled like the dorks we are, settled up our tab, and headed back into the surprisingly suffocating November heat. We rode the Angel’s Flight back up the hill (I got to help a lady with her stroller, which I only mention because I rarely get an opportunity to help a lady with her stroller, and I love it when I get to be a helper), then we went to dinner.

It was, like everything else we did that day, just wonderful.

I’m so lucky, and so grateful to be married to my best friend, my partner in crime, my ride or die, for 27 years. What’s wild is, we both feel like we’re just getting started.

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Hi, I’m Wil. I narrate audiobooks and host It’s Storytime With Wil Wheaton. Sometimes I’m an actor on TV. Sometimes I write this blog. I’m on Instagram and Threads @itswilwheaton. My Tumblr is wilwheaton.tumblr.com. My bologna has a first name, it’s S-U-B-S-C-R-I-B-E if you want to get these posts in your e-mail. Here’s the thingy: