Sketchbook: I ❤️ L.A.!

That's Lower Alabama, of course. (Wait, is there another L.A.?) WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY PETER MOORE

THIS IS THE WEIRDEST spring getaway ever.

First of all, we left Colorado, a state that entices 84.2 million visitors every year. Plus there’s record snowfall this winter, and I—um—love to ski, along with 14 million other downhillers who actually leave home for the privilege. And yet, we chose to fly from Denver to Pensacola, Florida, then hopped over to Lower Alabama, a redneck Riviera par excellence. The air was so humid, my chewable aspirin turned into gum balls. I didn’t even know that could happen.

There were more surprises ahead.

As we sat in our friends’ bayside cabana, overlooking a dolphin-infested bay, I was distracted enough by the beautiful view to overlook this pants pirate, who introduced me to the abundant insect life of a wet, wild, warm place.

After I finished shrieking, I determined that it was a member of the phasmodea order of insects, alternately known as walking sticks or, more colorfully, the devil’s darnin…