This is less about reporting differences between the UK and US than it is about simple gloating. I had lunch yesterday at a restaurant called Gladstones; it is located at the end of Sunset Boulevard on the coast at Malibu. The windows offer views across the beach and Pacific Ocean; yesterday there was a school of dolphins just off the beach in a sea that sparkled in the warm sunshine. I had a classic East Coast Fall lunch; clam chowder followed by Lobster roll.
After lunch we went to the Page Museum, a collection of fossils retrieved from the tar pits on the surrounding land. There are over one hundred tar pits on a 23 acre park in downtown Los Angeles. Between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago, animals, birds, and insects became trapped in the tar. The tar, or more correctly the asphalt, preserved their skeletons; making the pits. Since excavation of these pits began more than one million bones have been recovered. Over 650 species of flora and fauna have been identified. The scientific value of this site was fortunately known before the city around it was built as intensely as it us today. The park land was donated to the city in 1924 to preserve and exhibit the fossils. The current museum was built with donations from George C Page in the 1970s. The museum is fascinating, both as a display site and as a working research facility.
All US States have an official flower and bird. California has the California Poppy and the California Quail. Not all of the states have an official fossil, but California is one that does; the Saber-Toothed Cat. This is one of the creatures whose fossils are found in the tar-pits.
The list of State Official things is long, California also has an official dance (West Coast Swing) and an official beverage (Wine). I am not sure if it is a legal requirement to partake of the official beverage on a frequent basis, but on matters of law I think it is better to be safe than sorry.
