Dizzy in Los Angeles

Los Angeles. There’s a ring to those words. My mind conjures up many different ideas about L.A. The city is a melting pot of world cultures, struggling actors, aspiring writers, directors, fashion designers, singers, and every other kind of person in between to fill in all the gaps. In Los Angeles, there’s a slot for everyone of every kind. In all my traveling days, I have never seen a city so spread out, so diverse, so mismatched. Beverly Hills screams money, Venice Beach is fueled with craziness, and Hollywood buzzes with tourists. Whatever floats your boat, there is a neighborhood for you. 

We’ve got four days here, and there’s no way we can cover a thumb of the things to do here, but being this has thus far been a trip circled around food and excitement, we will stick to those things. 

After we pick up Jennifer who is our go-to-guide for the L.A. area, we head out the door for some food. It’s time for a western institution, IN-N-OUT Burger. People have raved and raved and raved about it, so I cannot leave until I’ve had one of their burgers, so I might as well hit it on the first day so that there won’t be a chance that I’ll miss it. IN-N-OUT burger reminds me a little bit of Five Guys. You go in, you tell them what number you want, and how you want your fries, and you take your number and have a seat. Outside, we sit down in the cool of the Californian afternoon and have a quintessential burger experience. Jennifer orders the animal fries which are smothered in a secret sauce, grilled onions, and cheese. Talk about a mouth full of flavors. Crazy deliciousness. The burgers are good, the fries are good. First food experience in Cali is good. 

And honestly the food continues to be good. The next day at lunch we munch at the Aroma Cafe. Giant plates of salads and panini sandwiches entice our eyes and make it hard to order. Not to mention the giant cakes, muffins, and cookies in their dessert display case. My goodness. I’ve said before that everything out west is bigger, but even their food. Their food out here is huge! Portion here are humongous. Finally, mom and I decide to split something so we can get lattes and dessert too. We have a turkey and pesto panini with a side Caesar, but the star of the meal is the final course. Sweet, creamy vanilla lattes accompany a rich, luscious tuxedo cake. Layers of cake and sweet cream icing send everyone into overdrive. Afterwards, we head to Griffith Park, the infamous Griffith Park. All those celebrity magazines have picture after picture of celebrities walking their dogs or pushing their kids in swings in Griffith Park, so of course, we have to go to Griffith Park and head up to the top so that we can see the infamous Hollywood sign. After we park, we walk up the hill, and immediately the freshness of the air hits me. It smells really really good up here compared to down in the valley. I suck up the air. My lungs rejoice in the freshness of this air. At the top of the hill, resides a giant conservatory which is absolutely brilliant for those who love science, astronomy and whatnot. 

I sadly do no fall into that category. I’m all for staring at the stars, but as far as understanding why the stars are the way they are, I don’t have clue, nor do I truly have a desire to discover that long lost clue, but my hat (or hair band technically) goes off to those who do understand it. One really cool thing that I will point out is that the conservatory actually houses Galileo’s telescope. Now, I think that’s really cool because that relates a little to my history studies. Galileo is the man when it comes to studies of the skies, so the fact that my little eyes have gazed upon the telescope that let his little eyes gaze upon the heavens is kind of neat actually. 

We do the tourist thing and take pictures of the Hollywood sign and carry on our merry little way. More tourists things follow and we take the metro down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame where anybody who’s ever been somebody has their star here. I run around and read all the different names, pointing out the ones I know and shrugging at the ones I don’t. It’s odd thinking about all the famous people before my time who I don’t know about, and wonder about the people of today’s fame and wonder if they will be remembered 30 years from now. Jennifer had the brilliant idea of getting us tickets to see Jimmy Kimmel Live, so we headed over to his studio to soak in the comedy. First of all, the studio is much much smaller than it is on television, and as soon as you sit down, you are given strict instructions on how you are supposed to behave. You have to cheer, clap, and the like when they say, and you have to hush when they say. They want the audience at home who are watching to think that the present audience is having the time of their lives. Jimmy has a great sense of humor. If you’ve never watched him, you really should. Ice Cube and Melissa Rycroft are the two guests, but sadly neither of these two really excite me. I’ve never followed either one of their careers, so really the only reason I’m watching is to see Kimmel. When the camera starts rolling, he lights up and immediately begins chatting, but as soon as the camera stops, he shuts completely down. I guess funny people cannot be funny all the time. We decide to have our own bit of funny afterwards and go to a Karaoke bar to see if any of us has any talent. I have zero talent whatsoever when it comes to the music department, but as the night is winding down, they finally convince me to join a group of them onstage and we end up singing Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. That’s enough singing/comedy to last a week for me. 

Los Angeles is having its effect on me, and I decide to have my hair done the next day. I feel like I need a bit of glam. So, I go to a barbershop on Venice Beach that Jennifer swears by and talk Zoran the stylist into dying my hair a chianti red, my entire head. I don’t want highlights, I want red hair all over my entire head. He agrees and it’s a success. I now have fabulous red hair. The dazzle of hollywood is taking over. We go to the Hollywood Bowl to see the production of Rent, and the beauty of the bowl itself is enough to bring thousands of people up the hill to fill the seats. We have the pleasure of watching Vanessa Hudgens and Nicole Scherzinger prance around the stage. Scherzinger is hilarious with her impression of a cow, but Hudgens needs a little more practice in the dramatic death scene. Of course, I don’t know I would do in front of thousands and thousands of people, so I really cannot say too too much. I would go back and see anything at the Bowl. I love the Bowl. You see! Los Angeles has me amazed at a bowl!

Food is always on the mind in L.A., and we dine at some fabulous places during our quick hop and skip on the west coast. Urth Cafe is one of my favorites because not only can I get Moroccan Mint Boba Tea, but I can also get a killer honey vanilla Spanish latte alongside a bavarian fruit tart. Urth stands as heavenly. We also get sushi at Katsu-Ya which boasts some the freshest and best in town. We eat tender toro and yummy eel alongside giant tempura shrimp. The fish is fresh, tender, and full of flavor, and we almost convince Jean to have a piece of raw fish, but she won’t touch the raw. She’s scared of the worms. The idea of worms doesn’t phase Katelin and I and we dig in. Food, food, and more food. Los Angles is full of fabulous food. Oh and shopping! No, trip to L.A. is complete without a trip down Rodeo Drive. Trust me! It’s worth it.Your bank account might not agree, but just looking at everything and all the shop and designer names give me giddy feelings in my tummy. More feelings. I feel like I’m headed towards dizziness. Los Angeles perhaps itself is dizzy.