Fudge

Me and Mrs %26#39;In need of a holiday%26#39; had the pleasure of 2 weeks in San Diego not that long ago (got engaged there in fact. Nearly didn%26#39;t happen as she fell asleep just as I was about to whip my ring out)

One fine evening, we were approached by a friendly chap riding a cycle with a two seated contraption on the back. He offered to give us a guided tour of the gaslamp quarter. His jovial nature, and the two bottles of wine we had just had, convinced us it would be a great idea.

On checking her purse, Mrs realised that apart from a half chewed mint, a broken earing and a photograph of some orphaned puppy, we only had three dollars in cash. We did, however, have a $50 travellers cheque.

Our guide assured us our lack of ready cash was no barrier to a whirlwind, romantic tour. He knew of many places en-route where we could change our cheque for the green stuff. So off we went.

He gave us a 15 minute ride along 4th %26amp; 5th (which we had actually seen a dozen or so times already, but hey) He then changed his attention to sorting our fare dilemna. We took a quick turn off the main street and quickly ended up in some very unpleasant looking part of town, with some very odd looking people around (think of every zombie film you have ever seen).

He stopped outside an all night store with the biggest shop assistant I have ever seen. The guy was huge, with a big H. We tried to buy some pretzels and a bottle of water to get change for a cheque. Big guy wouldn%26#39;t take a fifty.

The next 30 minutes was spent touring some parts of town I would not have thought are on the tourist trail. I think some of the guys we rode past must have thought they had been on a bit too much crack that night, seeing these tourists cycling past. A few more stops at some dodgy looking shops, and still no change.

We finally ended up back where we started, at the Seaport village. We found the only shop still open. It sold fudge. You think of something, they cover it in fudge.

The young girl on the counter could obviously see the terror in our eyes and took pity on us. She agreed to take our cheque if we made a purchase. We bought $18 worth of fudge covered items we didn%26#39;t want.

Cycle guy charged us $30 for his tour of %26#39;the hood%26#39;. We were only too relieved to have survived the experience. We didn%26#39;t argue with him.

Moral? Don%26#39;t do a cycle tour at night with no ready cash, unless you like fudge!!

Fudge

Holiday, You write very well! It%26#39;s amazing how these exciting things happen to you in your travels. I wonder if Lancaster is a quiet place or if there%26#39;s excitement there too?

Fudge

Thanks for the funny story and the good advice!

I%26#39;m a bit of a one man twilight zone and sometimes author of my own misfortune. I feel disappointed if we go away on holiday and nothing bizarre happens.

I wouldn%26#39;t want to put anyone off with my tale of woe. It wasn%26#39;t all bad. I have used just a little artistic licence. We didn%26#39;t feel in danger at any time. Plus, I got to eat fudge every morning for my breakfast.