L.A. part I: from seatless toilets to dwarf bars
We three have all been neglectful as of late and I for one am tired of getting shit for it, so here I am. I spent a fun filled 5 days in L.A. in August and my excuse for procrastinating has been that I'm waiting for a cohort to get some pictures to me so I can post them. Still waiting but I thought I'd try to write a bit anyhow.
The trip was a big step for me in that I had to fly both ways by myself. And had 2 layovers on the way back. I'd never been further west than Colorado and have never been on a flight longer than an hour by myself. I've always been afraid of flying but I have decided not to let fear make me change my behavior (except for that arachnophobia) or miss out on things. All in all I did pretty well. On the first flight I drank some Jack Daniels (straight) and that did the trick.
Probably the highlight of the trip for me (aside from things that happened inside the hotel room) was spending an evening in Hollywood. The men had wedding stuff to do so it was just Melissa and I. Not that I don't enjoy spending time with the men, but it was nice to hang in the city with a fellow adventurous woman. We started by having some great food (and a lovely mojito) at a Caribbean restaurant called Cha Cha Cha. We drove around a bit (I have to comment that Melissa is a mean-ass city driver) to find some champagne and by then the mojito had worked it's way through me. We had to hunt a bit for a public bathroom and I eventually resorted to paying a quarter to use a seatless toilet in a laundromat (Shelley is very critical of people who won't sit on seats in public bathrooms but I think I had a good excuse for squatting this time. Have I mentioned that I hate men by the way? That's the one thing that makes me envious of them. They can pee anywhere). We took our champagne and hiked up to look at the Hollywood sign (hey there was nothing posted saying you couldn't drink there. There were no smoking signs and I did ignore those). We walked down the Walk of Fame and went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre where we posed as Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell and asked a fellow tourist to take our picture. Can't wait to get that one back. We ended at a bar called the Snow White Cafe. Melissa had been on a quest during the trip and she was happily surprised to find that those dwarfs can mix a mean margarita. My beer was good too but it always is I suppose whether poured by a dwarf or not. Of course I'm kidding; there were no live dwarfs just fairytale paintings on the walls (incidentally, not too long ago some friends of mine visited a bar called The Hobbit House in Manila where all the workers are actually little people. Sounds cool to me but I guess we couldn't get away with that in America).
Garrett recently asked me what I liked so much about Hollywood and it was hard for me to put it into words. Of course the weather was perfect. And I miss the city. But I also, like our Virgo Beemaiden, have always enjoyed old Hollywood. I love the stars; I love the movies. I didn't think very deeply about it at the time because I was in such a state of excitement, but later I got a little teary thinking about the fact that I had my hands in the same exact spot where Marilyn had hers 54 years ago (I know I'm a big dork). Melissa and I drove through the neighborhood known as Hollywoodland to get to the sign and I was just in awe. I'm sure I romanticize it in my mind but I felt like I should come back here, pick up the Virgo Beemaiden, and take her there to live with me. Maybe we can retire there :)
The trip was a big step for me in that I had to fly both ways by myself. And had 2 layovers on the way back. I'd never been further west than Colorado and have never been on a flight longer than an hour by myself. I've always been afraid of flying but I have decided not to let fear make me change my behavior (except for that arachnophobia) or miss out on things. All in all I did pretty well. On the first flight I drank some Jack Daniels (straight) and that did the trick.
Probably the highlight of the trip for me (aside from things that happened inside the hotel room) was spending an evening in Hollywood. The men had wedding stuff to do so it was just Melissa and I. Not that I don't enjoy spending time with the men, but it was nice to hang in the city with a fellow adventurous woman. We started by having some great food (and a lovely mojito) at a Caribbean restaurant called Cha Cha Cha. We drove around a bit (I have to comment that Melissa is a mean-ass city driver) to find some champagne and by then the mojito had worked it's way through me. We had to hunt a bit for a public bathroom and I eventually resorted to paying a quarter to use a seatless toilet in a laundromat (Shelley is very critical of people who won't sit on seats in public bathrooms but I think I had a good excuse for squatting this time. Have I mentioned that I hate men by the way? That's the one thing that makes me envious of them. They can pee anywhere). We took our champagne and hiked up to look at the Hollywood sign (hey there was nothing posted saying you couldn't drink there. There were no smoking signs and I did ignore those). We walked down the Walk of Fame and went to Grauman's Chinese Theatre where we posed as Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell and asked a fellow tourist to take our picture. Can't wait to get that one back. We ended at a bar called the Snow White Cafe. Melissa had been on a quest during the trip and she was happily surprised to find that those dwarfs can mix a mean margarita. My beer was good too but it always is I suppose whether poured by a dwarf or not. Of course I'm kidding; there were no live dwarfs just fairytale paintings on the walls (incidentally, not too long ago some friends of mine visited a bar called The Hobbit House in Manila where all the workers are actually little people. Sounds cool to me but I guess we couldn't get away with that in America).
Garrett recently asked me what I liked so much about Hollywood and it was hard for me to put it into words. Of course the weather was perfect. And I miss the city. But I also, like our Virgo Beemaiden, have always enjoyed old Hollywood. I love the stars; I love the movies. I didn't think very deeply about it at the time because I was in such a state of excitement, but later I got a little teary thinking about the fact that I had my hands in the same exact spot where Marilyn had hers 54 years ago (I know I'm a big dork). Melissa and I drove through the neighborhood known as Hollywoodland to get to the sign and I was just in awe. I'm sure I romanticize it in my mind but I felt like I should come back here, pick up the Virgo Beemaiden, and take her there to live with me. Maybe we can retire there :)
posted by sweet adeline | 10:23 PM
3 Comments:
Could you tell that I check this blog regularly looking for an update? Could you feel my disappointment growing with every passing day?
Thank you, that was excellent! Of course, now I just expect to read the next installment, look what you've started...oh, and yes you are a dork.
Yeah, everyone else has probably given up by now.
At least I'm not a gaming dork.
OMG! That is one of the best posts ever! (Especially the part at the end!) It was definitely worth the wait. Be sure to put up some pics when they eventually arrive. I can't wait to see the one of you guys in Marilyn's Hollywood handprints.
I will accompany you on a fantasy trip to Hollywood in a heartbeat, but if we plan to retire there we must save our $$$ for plastic surgury (or marry a plastic surgeon or something) because no one is allowed to age in LA. Sounds good to me! : )
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