Road Trip v.2 (Part 6): LA

The next morning we gave my car a rest, and hopped in Kim's car to head up to LA and meet Will, yet another great college friend of mine who was putting us up. Will is a filmmaker and recent graduate from the University of Southern California's film school graduate program (link to some of his stuff on my links page). I had a short list of touristy things I wanted to do and we were conveniently picking him up from a film shoot near one of them, Venice Beach.

Venice Beach was about what I expected, a boardwalk filled with trinket stores and bizarre pseudo street performers. Unfortunately, there weren't many beefcakes to ogle on the Muscle Beach area. Still, there were plenty of other oddities to see and wannabe rap stars to avoid. I was surprised at how clean and lovely the beach was. Perhaps it was so well-kept because it was the off-season, but I was expecting a filthy bacteria and trash zone like Coney Island. Don't get me wrong, I love walking around the Coney Island boardwalk too. But god help me if I ever went there to lounge on the beach and put my partially bare ass in that disgusting water. Venice Beach's sand and water, however, surprisingly pleasant.

Of all the freaks on Venice Beach,
the tool riding the Segway in
business casual was the biggest.

Muscle Beach area. 

We walked around Venice for a while, checked out their "canals," bought some cheap body jewelry, and went to the next stop: Santa Monica. It was a quick stop to see the beach and hills in the distance. Most of our tourist stops were quick trips just to "see" something. Nobody was in the mood or financial position for shopping. Eating, however--we are always in the mood for that. Kim and I had mentioned wanting to get burgers at the Foundry upon the recommendation of Kim's chef boyfriend. Will chimed in with his alternative suggestion, and boy am I glad he did. We nourished ourselves with lunch at Father's Office, which is apparently home to one of the best burgers in LA. Hearing about the lines that formed outside the restaurant on most nights, I was expecting a greasy spoon type hole in the wall--something akin to Ben's Chili Bowl in DC. It was definitely a small space, but well-appointed and the burgers would likely be classified as a "gourmet burger." They cook the burgers with blue cheese mixed into the ground beef and topped with carmelized onions. I destroyed that thing; it was awesome. Not my favorite burger ever--that award goes to Kuma Corner in Chicago--but definitely my favorite go-to classic-style burger. I'm not keen on french fries, but the skinny frites-style crispy strips of joy were also tops.

From there we did the rest of the tourist circuit: walking along Rodeo Drive, driving down Sunset Boulevard by the Viper Lounge and Chateau Marmont, and a quick stop to see the Walk of Fame, Kodak Theater, and Grauman's Chinese Theater. Some sort of event was being set up at the Chinese Theater. Sadly, there were no celebrity sightings on the entire trip.

Will gives us a history of LA at
Griffith Observatory

Last on the list was the Hollywood sign. Thankfully, we were with Will, who, in his five years being in the city since we graduated from KU, has become an LA expert. Seriously. Will = best tour guide ever. We assumed we'd just drag Will along with us on a few tourist stops, get some food, and hang out. But Will went out of his way to take us around town and give us all kinds of info on the history of the city. He took us through the winding streets going up the Hollywood hill to two different vantage points of the sign. Then, we hit up Griffith Observatory for awesome views of the entire city. Last major stop was at Scoops ice cream, which I had discovered in my mandatory search for best ice cream in any city we stopped. The flavors were interesting (brown bread was delightful), though limited. To compensate for my failure to do the Kitchen Sink challenge, I got the four-scoop monstrosity that is the equivalent of their "medium." I thoroughly enjoyed my four scoops, despite pressure from my companions to get the six-scoop "large," but it didn't beat Bi-Rite's ice cream.

We killed some time with a couple drinks before attending a film screening hosted by some of Will's fellow USC folks. Afterwards, a late night dinner that I will never forget.

These guys were powerlifting in their
open-air studio with music blasting
on a Sunday evening in downtown
LA. This other guy was just really
into their routine. 

Apparently, LA has some obsession with food buggies specializing in bacon-wrapped hot dogs. I rarely say no to a bacon-wrapped anything. And I'm street food's biggest fan. We pull up to a gas station parking lot where I first I just see a taco truck and gas pumps. Tucked away in the dark, next to a telephone poll was a little old Mexican lady sitting behind a plastic cart on wheels. What the hell? I assumed it was some bootleg tamale-type hook-up where the hot dogs had been pre-made at home. Oh no. She had rigged the plastic cart with some sort of foil covered hot-plate griddle contraption, which managed to cook the dogs to steaming hot point that allayed my food safety concerns. On top of that, she had grilled up onions and peppers to top the dog. I seriously stood there staring at that car, bending down to look underneath, trying desperately to figure out how her set-up worked. Where was the plug? How did the plastic cart not melt into pieces? Will specified our toppings in broken Spanish and we feasted. Standing in the gas station parking lot. Basking in glorious satisfaction. That dog was better than any ballpark or street dog I've ever had. The killer ambiance might be a factor in it's rise to the top.

I think you're required to take this
picture when you go to LA. 

The next day Kim and I slept-in, sleep-coma-style. The frantic schedule of the trip finally caught up to us. We eventually left the house, guilty for our laziness and trying to catch up for lost time. We ate unnecessarily large breakfast burritos, visited the USC campus with Will, attempted to go to the Getty Museum (which is closed on Mondays), and then headed to Pasadena to see the Norton Simon Museum and the Gamble House. We finished our evening with a few dive bars and Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

Dive bars in LA are actually really creative in their diveyness. Each has it's own theme--like the Lodge, which is decorated like an old hunting lodge. Only one smelled kind of like dirty shoes, but all the others were actually pretty nice.

Best tour guide ever, Will, also
happened to know where they film
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,
one of my favorite shows. This is the
"real" location of Paddy's Pub.

As for Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, I had no intention of eating there at all. I assumed it was just an overpriced tourist destination with mediocre food. Kim and Will both assured me that the food was actually really good. They were very right. Kim and I had the basic and classic chicken and waffle plate. The syrup either has extra sugar or extra crack in it. I'm not a fan of syrupy things, but I could drink their syrup out of a jug. I poured it all over the buttery waffle and delicious salty, crispy chicken.

The evening ended peacefully with a movie at Will's house. The next day we had another frantic and stupidly-packed day involving driving to San Diego for the day and then driving to Vegas.