We said goodbye to the buzz of NYC to head to the beach
of LA. After a few travel tribulations… saying goodbye to Mom (always hard!),
Britt getting her hair patted down for any goodies she may have been hiding,
and JD having to convince the flight attendant that he was old enough to sit
next to the emergency exit, we made it to meet Jenna at LAX.
Where we stayed: Chez Jenna, in her cute one-bedroom
apartment in the area of Palms, LA, conveniently near a liquor store, the Topless
Maids van, and a greasy spoon breakfast place. We made it work with a bed, air
mattress, and couch, essentially converting two-thirds of the apartment into a
giant bed. A perfect place for a home base, starting with a home cooked meal of
spaghetti, soup salad, and squash.
What we ate and drank: After the delicious home-cooked
meal, that first night, we drank all the things… beer, vodka, martinis, drinks
out of fish bowls, and Mad Dog 20/20… which tasted like blue marker. After we
recovered from drinking all the things, we proceeded to eat all the things.
Authentic Mexican and Salvadorean food at Gloria’s, once featured on Diners,
Drive-ins, and Dives. We were even given the cheque by Gloria, herself! Which,
by the way, was the only celebrity we spotted. We ate cupcakes served FROM AN
ATM. WHAT? And had sushi ON A CONVEYER BELT in little Osaka. WHAT? Amazing!
Including, of course, a California roll. When we weren’t eating Mexican or
Sushi, we were taste-testing late night McDonald’s, which Britt and JD had to
get by walking up to the drive-in window, late at night, and In-N-Out Burger,
served ‘animal style with spread’, which sounds so wrong but is soooo good. We
ate popsicles to stave off the heat of the day, and enjoyed pogos, fries, and
lemonade on the beach after making a quick exit from a line where two men were
in an altercation and one was in the process of telling the other how many
people he had shot.
What we did: We spent a night at a famous drag bar called
Hamburger Mary’s with Jenna’s PhD friends, which ended at a local watering hole
called Cozy Inn. We didn’t see Willam Belli, but her picture on the wall was
practically the same thing after a few $5 martinis. We spent time on the
boardwalk, walking from Venice beach to the Santa Monica pier. We spent some
time staring at skateboarders contemplating taking it up, but figured with
Ash’s clumsiness and the cost of healthcare in the US this would be a bad idea.
A better idea? A picnic on the beach staring at the ocean and iconic lifeguard
towers and the Santa Monica pier. We walked down the Hollywood Boulevard,
visiting Meryl and Marilyn, the Dolby theatre where the Oscar’s are hosted, and
the Chinese Mann theatre. We figured out how to get a Star Map out of a rusted
holder on the side of the street, mapped out our route, and then proceeded to
follow a chartered star tour bus… checking out a lot of really fancy gates, but
no celebrities. We strolled down Rodeo Drive, pretending we could afford more
than the ATM cupcakes. We won an award for taking Jenna on her shortest hike
ever with guests, making it halfway to the Hollywood sign before calling it a
day, and maintaining our image as ‘the lazy travellers’. To be fair, we had
just narrowly missed accidentally taking a 5 hour walk from the Griffith
Observatory to the Hollywood sign. When we weren’t adventuring, Jenna and
Ashley had to work-work-work-work-work (unfortunately, doing a PhD isn’t always
a joy, surprising, isn’t it?), but at least they were in it together (the motto
of their PhDs).
Lessons learned: If something tastes like Blue Marker,
it’s probably not going to be a good scene the next day. Like hangovers, June
Gloom lifts by noon, and then you can go to the beach.
Biggest mix-up of the trip: When Britt read “You should
get Starbucks in LA” rather than “Star Struck”… no wonder we didn’t see many
celebrities!
Some questions for San Francisco…
1)Will
we meet up with Greg for an insider tour of San Francisco?
2)We
we get locked in Alcatraz… or lock ourselves inside a winery in Napa valley,
refusing to leave?
3)Will
we hang off the back of the cable car while driving past the Painted Ladies?
Stay tuned!
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