LA Randomness
OK, you all know that Ted and I went to Los Angeles last weekend and had a great time at the Cruel World Festival, but surely you have questions. Such as, How did you get there? Where did you stay? What did you eat? Did you see any stars? What else did you do? If you do not have these questions, skip this post. If you do, I am here to give you answers.
How did we get there?
We considered flying, it’s a quick one, but when you factor in time getting to the airport, being there ahead of time, and the fact that we would need to rent a car once there (well, I guess we could have taken Lyfts and Ubers, but that rarely occurs to us), we decided to drive. Our region this time was the northern area of LA, and it is a 5 1/2 hour drive, so not horrible. Our cars, Fancy and Boomer, are 20 and 17 respectively, and we weren’t eager to find out whether this was too much for them, so we rented a car. You know what? Cars have changed a lot in the last 17 years. Shoutout to our trusty Hyundai, which we named ‘Reliable’. Reliable did a great job, and we enjoyed listening to Sirius XM all the way home. On the way down we mostly listened to music from Ted’s phone, though we did throw in a podcast for fun. Ted loved having the seamless integration with his phone, having the car read texts to us, being able to answer vocally, etc. The seats weren’t terribly comfortable, I doubt we would buy this exact car, but now we know some features that we liked.
Where did we stay?
The festival had package deals with nearby hotels. We sorted through those, looking for one that didn’t charge too much for parking, wasn’t crazy expensive, and also had better reviews than ‘the carpet in this place is gross’ or ‘fine as long as you don’t want to sleep in the bed or take a shower’. We ended up at the Hotel Mariposa, which is in Studio City or North Hollywood or something. Our room was very clean and nice and the bed was comfortable. The staff was helpful and friendly and generous with the pour on our evening glass of wine. Definitely would recommend. The picture above is clearly mine, and the hotel is the building on the left. The taller building looked like cosmetic dentistry to me. Big building, but this is LA, and everyone (including the front desk clerk at the hotel) is an actor.
What did we eat?
On the drive down, we stopped for lunch at Denny’s, which was Denny’s, and it was fine. I love a club sandwich, and that’s what I had. For dinner, we went to Hugo’s, the little restaurant across the street from the hotel that offered a 10% discount for hotel guests.
Ted had the steak, which he liked, and I had a salad, which I loved. It was really good, and if I lived nearby, I would make that a regular place for dinner. I’m not a big fan of tofu, I had mine with chicken. No picture of the steak, it was a hanger steak I think, and he had it with veggies on the side.
Brunch the following day was at Bea Bea’s in Burbank. I had these lemon ricotta pancakes, which were delicious but honestly a bit too sweet for me. If you like birthday cake, you might love this. I don’t think I would order them again, but I’m glad I tried them, I see them on menus from time to time. Ted had a low carb protein egg dish, as is his way.
This was the day of the festival, so dinner was the delicious Korean quesadillas. Here is a picture of them after I scarfed down the first one. Ted had something, but I don’t remember what. Chicken?
Our final morning, we went back to Hugo’s, which was amazing. This Flex Hash is probably one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in my life. SO flavorful.
Ted had the Protein Scramble, but this is not my picture. He had his with fruit. He liked it a lot, but not as much as I liked my Flex Hash.
Ted in front of Hugo’s, giving serious thought to Los Angeles and its artsy vibe, which he’s digging.
Did we see any stars?
On our way into town, I saw Aimee Mann and some other people going into a Starbucks. Was it really Aimee Mann? Who knows, probably not. But she was cool, dressed in black leggings and a leather jacket, tall and thin with that white blonde hair, so in my mind, it was Aimee Mann.
What else did we do, besides the concert?
A few weeks before our LA weekend, my friend Tracy messaged me and told me that she was going to be in LA performing in a two woman play. I met Tracy years ago, via her blog, when she was single and living in Los Angeles, working a 9-5 cubicle job and dreaming of acting. She mostly worked in theater, which she loved I remember one post where she said she had to go sit in the toilet stall and sing show tunes to get through the 9-5 job. How can you not love someone like that? She met her husband on eHarmony, and they married and moved to Texas, closer to her family. He got a job as a minister. (Pastor? I’m not sure of the difference…) and they adopted 3 beautiful children. We met in person a few times over the years, she was the first blogger I met in real life, when she came to Burlingame for her wedding shower (her father’s family lives there). Before she moved to Texas, she was in a play in LA, and my friends Cherry, Liz, Dorothy, and I all drove down to see her. (Cherry, Liz, Dorothy, and I all met at a job in the late 90s, and they are the women that got me into blogging, but none of them have blogs anymore.) She and her middle child came to California again to visit family, and we had a get together. That’s a lot of talking for me to tell you that when I found out that she was going to be in LA performing the same weekend that Ted and I were going to be there for the festival, I said, HECK YEAH.
The play was The Secret Comedy of Women, which is a two woman play put on by the women who created it. Tracy and the other actress are understudies, and they were there for just 4 days, which happened to be while we were there. It was a lot of fun, and they were both great. The following morning, we had brunch (my lemon ricotta pancakes) with Tracy at a restaurant in Burbank (not a CareFast medical thing, that was next door).
We drove to pick Tracy up for brunch, and we got there early, so we walked around the neighborhood a bit while she finished getting ready. We saw this sign, which Ted said sounded like B-52 lyrics. “Get Big! Get Loud! And Shout! Go AWAY COYOTE, GO AWAY!”
It was great catching up with Tracy. I spent a bit of time trying to convince her to start up her blog again. I told her about all of you, and what a fun community we have, and that I thought she would fit in really well. I hope she does.
After brunch, we stopped at Macy’s to buy Ted a new belt. I saw this outfit, and wondered if the Miami Vice look is coming back. Is this an LA thing? I’ll have to check out my local Macy’s and see. Also, what’s with that underwear ad in the background? NSFW.
Update: After writing this post on Friday, Ted and I went to dinner near our local Macy’s, and we went in and looked around for the Miami Vice vibe. I did not see it, instead I saw this horrible outfit. I mean, the shirts are fine, but the shorts are dumb.
Back to LA fun.
We’re early Gen X, so we had a couple of stops we had to make on our way out of town on Sunday. First we went to see the house from The Brady Bunch. Extra credit to the folks who bought it and fixed it up so the inside now looks like the set, and for putting the station wagon out front.
Our final stop was more somber. We were big fans of Beverly Hills, 90210 back in the ‘90s, and I had been to see Casa Walsh once before, early in 2020. Ted wanted to see it, so we drove up to Altadena. The devastation from the fires back in January is horrible. Here is Casa Walsh, and the house next door has burned to the ground. There was a big dumpster just to the left of this picture, in the driveway, I’m sure the house has a lot of smoke damage.
These are the remains of the two homes across the street, both are gone. The one on the left has a burned out car in the driveway. It must have been terrifying to live in this neighborhood at the time, and it seemed so random to me, which houses burned and which did not.
A few doors down is Dylan’s house (also from 90210), also unscathed (though I imagine every house in the area has a lot of smoke damage). Altadena is a beautiful area, with mountains abutting the neighborhood. It is really sad to see how many houses and businesses burned down.
Bonus randomness, I snapped a photo of Smokey Bear Road in the Grapevine on the way to LA. Longtime readers may remember that if my house were burning down and everyone alive were out, my Smokey would be the first thing I would grab. Should we move there? Probably not, pretty rural and probably a big fire risk.
Did I leave anything out? Any other minutia you’re curious about with our trip? Want to know how much we paid for gas? (Kidding, I don’t know, Ted paid for it.)
30 Comments
Lisa’s Yarns
What a fun trip for you guys! Newer cars are amazing. I had a 2003 accord up until 2015 when its transmission failed so I got a new Camry and it was such an upgrade with things like blue tooth! We sold it a few years ago to get a Rav 4 which had a back up camera. All those bells and whistles are amazing.
I love seeing thr 90210 houses! I loved that show. How sad to see all the devastation from the wild fires, though.
J
Really sad to see the devastation, Lisa. Sigh.
The bells and whistles are GREAT in newer cars, and I know when one of our cars finally gives up the ghost, we will really enjoy that feature.
AC
I hadn’t realized that it was such a long drive, so with the drive, concert, visiting and sightseeing you packed a lot into the weeknd.
J
We really did! It was a whirlwind for sure.
Nicole MacPherson
IS THE MIAMI VICE LOOK BACK? That’s astonishing.
Sounds like a great trip. I would have loved to see that play, how fun is that.
I love a good road trip! 5 1/2 hours isn’t bad at all. I am a person who likes to get to the airport far in advance of my flight, and that really adds on to the flying time.
DENNY’S! I haven’t been to a Denny’s in a million years. I am slightly disappointed you didn’t get Moons Over My Hammy, just so you could say that.
I don’t care for sweet breakfasts much, so those pancakes would not be for me.
I loved all your trip minutia!
J
Thank you for coming and saying Moons Over My Hammy, because now I can say it too. LOL. Pancakes and sweet breakfasts are generally not my jam either, but I was intrigued by these when I saw them on someone else’s plate.
Elisabeth
So many adventures! And so much delicious food. I would love that breakfast. I love a hearty spread like that.
Last year we bought a 2018 and 2016 used and I will admit I love some of the bells and whistles. My favourite? A heated steering wheel. Second fav is having ApplePlay. It’s so handy to have everything push through likes texts, music, etc.
The bad thing is I think it would be hard to “go back” and I now feel like I MUST have a heating steering wheel forever since it is such a lovely luxury in Canada (we don’t have a garage so it is COLD getting into the car all winter).
J
Oh, a heated steering wheel would be SO NICE in Canada or colder climates! There are times when it’s tough even here, as we also do not have a garage. So when it gets down close to freezing outside, it’s important to wear our gloves.
PocoBrat
Lovely food pics! Ted cracked me up with that quip about B-52 lyrics and you about the front desk clerk and whether or not it was Aimee Mann.
The 90210 houses look lovely (Iwatched a few eps, but not all)–what a pity about the fires, devastation, and smoke damage.
J
Yes, I love seeing that house, I was trying to figure out whether it was in every episode or not…maybe.
nance
Wow! You really made this festival a whole getaway/jaunt. I love that for you.
Lemon ricotta pancakes are a dessert, I think. And I could eat maybe one? Pancakes always sound so fantastic to me, but I can never eat the amount they bring me, ever. And I can never get ONE PANCAKE like the size of an English muffin. That would be perfect.
It’s so great that you could see your friend’s play and meet up with her. What a great trip! AND preview some eventual new car features, too. You two packed a lot in on this adventure.
J
Nance, I feel the same way about pancakes and I should have listened to myself, but I always see them on menus and I love lemon so decided to go for it. It was a mistake, but I did eat them anyway. Felt werid to say, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have ordered this, can I have some eggs?”
I know, we sure crammed a lot in, didn’t we? I mean, what are the chances that Tracy would message me and say, “Long shot I know, but I’m going to be in LA for 4 days if you think you could make it” AND WE WERE ALREADY GOING! AND she was in Burbank, which was really close and convenient to where we were staying, not all of the way across LA in Orange County or one of the valleys, which would have sucked with traffic. It worked out so well.
Margaret
I loved getting the details and enjoyed the photos of food. I miss those LA meals! That city has fabulous food. Meeting up with fellow bloggers is so interesting; we know so much about each other that we can bond on a different level.
J
It’s such a specific relationship right? We know so much about each other, and at the same time we only know what has been revealed.
Margaret
That’s the fun part–to discuss the unbloggable stuff face to face. 🙂
J
Absolutely!
ernie
I love that you are still in touch with a blog friend from back in the day. I hope she decides to start blogging again. It sounds like she has an interesting story.
The food pics are good enough to eat. Yum. It all sounds so great. I died laughing at the what the hotel’s reviews didn’t say. Bah ha ha. It sounds like a great visit. The Brady house. So fun. I still have a hard time believing that so many houses burnded down. It just seems so surreal. In this day and age? It’s just hard to wrap my brain around. So sad. We’re in a similar boat with old cars and road trips. Our ancient Chevy Express van is ideal for picking up college kids, but we didn’t chance it when we drove to Omaha to get Tank and his stuff.
J
Most of the food pics are from the restaurant websites, I should have given credit. I took the picture of my eggs and my pancakes. Everything was really delicious. Regarding the fires, yes, the wild fires we get are really scary. California (and much of the west) is really dry from April to November, and Southern California was dry all last winter…so when the wind gets crazy like that, it causes huge fires that can be really scary. Altadena abuts a large national park, so there was a lot of fuel. California (the whole country really) needs to do a better job of forest management. There were rumors that at least one of the fires that burned in January was caused by power lines that should have been shut off, and another may have been arson, which is really horrible.
Jenny
Not sure what this says about me, but the two things that really jumped out at me in the post were that Power Green Salad (I WANT ONE! I’ll have mine with the tofu!) and… THE BRADY BUNCH HOUSE. I think I need to make a pilgramage to LA to see that house.
J
That salad was really good Jenny, and in the same general part of LA as the Brady Bunch house!
Suzanne
This trip recap was so fun to read! You packed a lot into your time there, and a lot of good food. How cool to see those iconic TV homes, although, wow, the fire damage is so upsetting.
I am very curious what kind of noisemakers people are supposed to bring on walks and what “always haze” means. But now I know what to say to a coyote!
J
‘Always haze’ means to make being around humans as uncomfortable for them as possible without harming them. So make a lot of noise, throw rocks, wave your arms, yell and scream. I was followed by 3 coyotes on a trail once, and after that whenever I went on the trail I brought a whistle.
Ally Bean
I remember Tracy and her eHarmony love story. How fun you got to see her again. I also remember Cherry whose blog was Cherry Extract? Wow. Talk about names from the past.
Anyhoo, your weekend in LA looks and sounds like fun. I’ve only flown or driven through never stopped to visit. If I did I would like to see the Brady Bunch house, among other sights of course.
J
Yes, Cherry Extract! I miss her blogging too. Maybe if I can get Tracy blogging again, Cherry, Dorothy, and Liz will start up again too. I used to like how Tracy called her (now) husband ‘eSuitor’.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Oh what a wonderful joyous trip.
And how great to meet an old blogging friend. Extra special.
I would love to eat at Hugos. It looks like my kinda food. Maybe not the sweet pancakes… even though they look delicious,
J
They were delicious, just too sweet. Excellent for dessert, or for everyone to have a couple of bites and then get back to their savory breakfast.
coco
So much yummy food! we are going to LA in july, would love to hear more about what to do. It has been over 15 years since i’ve visited there. How was traffic? LA has bad fame for traffic. If I avoid downtown area, is it ok?
J
I think that generally traffic in LA is horrible. We were there on a weekend, so it wasn’t as bad as a weekday. I think a lot depends on where you stay and what you want to do. We stayed in the North LA area, and everything we wanted to do was in Pasadena / Burbank, which means we didn’t have to go through the downtown area at all, and we didn’t have time to go to any beaches. So my advice would be to figure out what you want to do, and stay near there. For example, if you’re going to Disneyland as your main thing, stay in Orange County so you don’t have to drive through LA to get there. EXCITING!
Kyria @ Travel Spot
That sounds like a fun weekend! I do love a good road trip! I drove down to Palm Springs once, and stopped along the way in Big Sur and Pismo Beach, then had a great time hiking in the San Gabriel mountains. I did not book anything in advance, just drove and then around midday would decide how far to go, and it was kind of fun! I love going to plays and think it’s really fun that someone you know was doing one at the same time that you were there! Also, my go to breakfast is usually eggs, as pancakes seem to be hit and miss sometimes. They can easily be too thick, too bland or too sweet. Maybe I am team Ted for this one! 🙂 PS I do love pancakes though, and French Toast too, but they can be inconsistent when you are dining out.
J
You are for sure an adventurer, going on trips without a clear destination is not something that I’ve ever done.
Yeah, I’m team eggs too, and very rarely get pancakes or French toast. I mean, I enjoy them, but yeah, they’re inconsistent. These were good, but too sweet and I kind of wished I had gotten eggs. I made up for it with my epic win the next day, though!