Day 15: LA

I can’t believe we’ve been at this now for TWO WEEKS. Hell, we’re not even halfway through our trip yet. That is crazy. This has been an incredible trip for us so far. I sometimes forget that there’s a world outside Durham that’s worth anything. Some would say that’s debatable. I’ll entertain those claims.

I had a tragic realization today while talking to Walker that there really is little reason for me to talk to anyone about our trip once I get home because some of you have already read about our adventures. That’s a little sad, really. Oh, well. You can trust that a lot more is going on than what I write about here. I forgot how taxing blogging can be. However, I think it’s really helpful for me to recap the days’ events, so I’m definitely going to keep it up. Forgive me if we sometimes can’t get to a good Internet connection in order to post this stuff.

Dave offered to write a few entries as well, so I might let him have his two cents here, too. He might find it difficult to wrest control out of my sweaty hands. Yipes.

For the record, we are having a great time in LA. The weather is fabulous: warm in the afternoon, cool at night. Mornings? Who’s awake in the morning?

Last night, we got a good night’s sleep after staying up late talking with Walker. I got up at ten and read the news on my phone for almost an hour. Technology is so weird. Once Dave got up, we got going and went to Clifton’s Cafeteria based on the suggestions of our tour books and Betsy Fred-well.


This place is nuts. The first two floors were a dining room designed to look like a forest, complete with trees and little animal scenes, not to mention that forest wallpaper you remember seeing in certain rumpus rooms in the 1970s. I know somebody we knew growing up had that. Was it the Halls? I forget.







Then, the third floor was completely legit. It was decked out like a fancy, tacky dining room. What the hell is going on here? I don’t know, but I know I love it.





The food was also quite good. It was completely cafeteria fare, but it hit the spot. I had the turkey stew with mac n’ cheese, Dave had the pepper steak (which looked more like Salisbury steak to me), and Walker had the roast beef.




After stuffing ourselves on comfort food, we headed down the street to buy shoes. I wasn’t pleased with my choice of footwear for the day, and the shoes I have worn for the last two weeks have gotten pretty—no, unbearably—stinky. So I bought a new pair of cute little Airwalks, but within the first 300 steps outside the store, they were rubbing on my heal something terrible. I was going to need a Band-Aid soon. We saw a pharmacy down the street, but I knew our next stop on the sightseeing trail was closer, so I put it off.

We saw this marquis expressing grief for MJ.


And here’s a little something for Rossi.


We’ve noticed that urban areas in the 20th and 21st centuries love their murals. We’ve seen some really great ones in the Southwest. Here are a few we saw today.



Our next stop was the Bradbury Building. Ross Grady cryptically reminded us that it played a part in the movie Blade Runner. I don’t really remember that, but I’m glad we went anyhow. This building is fabulous. It was built in 1893 by some tycoon or other. Look it up on Wikipedia; the story of its design is bizarre.








Unfortunately for us, the Bradbury is now an apartment building, so visitors are not permitted to go any higher than the landing of the first floor staircase, but I could still see plenty from there.

We were a bit disappointed to see that part of the first floor was assigned thusly:


Ugh!

After looking at the Bradbury, we headed down the street so that I could buy some Band-Aids. We marched into the most bizarre pharmacy I’d ever seen. As soon as we got in there, I remembered that Betsy F-R had recommended that we spend some time in this place…La Farmacia Y Botanica Million Dollar.


This place is craaaaaaaazy. It is only at its barest minimum a legitimate pharmacy. The majority of the store is dedicated to witchcraft and a bizarre brand of Catholicism that employs things like prayers to the Spirit of Death and herbs burned to ensure hasty income.






It was fascinating, to say the least. I was trying to take photos discretely, but an older gent who worked there saw my camera and, in broken English, said, “Is ok. You take pictures here.” All right, buddy. You asked for it.

I felt like I was about to get struck by lightning, so I bought Band-Aids and that’s all.

We then walked through the Grand Central Market, which has been in operation since 1917.


It was very cool. There were vendors of all kinds selling everything from pastries to veggies to jewelry. It was cool.

At this point, I noted aloud that I had yet to see a single celebrity. Not a one. Sad.



The Walt Disney Concert Hall:


The Walt Disney Concert Hall again:



Our next stop was Hollyhock House, which is one of several Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses in LA. Unfortunately, we were not able to go in because the last tour was at 3:30. So we just walked around it and took some pictures.








It was quite nifty. As we were finishing up, we discovered that the makeshift gift shop out on the lawn was closing, so we all bought FLW tumblers with awesome art deco designs on them.

Our next stop was the Griffith Planetarium and Observatory.






The facility is high up on a hill overlooking the city. Its view was spectacular.





Bizarre sign of the day:


From here, we had an awesome view of the Hollywood sign.


After letting Albert Einstein pick my nose, we sat down for a chat about our fingerprints.



Since the Griffith Planetarium was the sight of some scenes from "Rebel Without a Cause" in 1955, there is a monument to James Dean on the front lawn.



A little something for Evan:


After this sightseeing tour, we came home to relax (and blog). For dinner, we headed to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles, which is yet another entry in the guide book.


We’re going to need to call the authors, Jane and Michael Stern, and let them know how many of their suggestions we have entertained. This place was awesome! We got there at 9 for dinner, and it was packed. We waited for about 20 minutes to get a table, but it was worth it. Our server was a little older lady who had “Mama Ella” embroidered on her apron. She was terrific. We each had chicken (in some form—fried, topped with grave, or made into sausage) and waffles.




It was delish! Those waffles were the JAM! They had a ton of whipped butter on them and just a wonderful flavor. So good.

From there, we headed to Albertson’s to get wine to make sangria for tomorrow, and then back home we came for an evening in (blogging).

I can’t believe we are entering into Week Three. We’re having a great time. I have no idea what we’re going to do tomorrow. Stay tuned!