Dan and I made a quick (to pick Tanja's spirits up) trip to Los Angeles this weekend.....and it was "off the hook"....ahh-ite? (say that one out loud, it may help).
We got in very late to Los Angeles on Friday night. We checked into our hotel around 12:30 am or so. What does one do in that situation? Throw on a sweater and get over to the bars asap before they close!
We went to the Saddle Chop house hoping to see some drunk people ride the mechanical bull. It was late enough for people to think doing that was a great decision. Our wish was pretty much granted because a large group of overweight women in short skirts thought they'd take a ride but there seemed to have been a disproportionate amount of effeminate men who wanted to ride that bull as well....
We went out onto the deck so Dan could have a smoke and this very tall, thin woman with super short red shorts, a small white fur jacket and the highest heels I'd ever seen starts talking to Dan because she's trying to figure out who the oldest person is on the deck. Nice. Dan tells her he's 51 and she introduces him to a woman who said she was 55 (but quite honestly she looked a lot older than my mother who is only in her 60s). We made the appropriate comments about how she definitely didn't look her age (the word "younger" didn't pass my lips though). This white-fur jacket wearing chick then told us about how she's a model and how she's working in Los Angeles.....I've met models and there was no way this girl (with the strung out look on her face and the bad skin) was anything but a model in the valley for porn shoots....I mean really....It was sort of sad actually. Ahhhh, my town doesn't seem to change much. Sunset Strip will always be full of wanna bes.....I love it.
We closed the place down and got late-night hot dogs at Carney's next door. There was some pretty loud stuff going on (which made the security guard very nervous) but nothing dangerous happened and we went back to our hotel safe and sound.
The next morning we had breakfast at the Newsroom Cafe on Robertson Ave because I had told Dan that one of my friends (Linda Bobel) saw Jimmy Page there once. That pretty much did it for him. So...we had to go based on the slight chance that he would show up. Of course he didn't show up but we were there and we shared a plate of Pasta and Eggs (my favorite dish from that place). I was still feeling the effects of the night before so I had iced tea and Dan had a mimosa (because he was concerned about the habaneros that were part of the Bloody Mary mix -- rightfully so my dear). After breakfast the waitress gave me a "to go" cup of iced tea. Dan asked for a "to go" cup for his mimosa....that was denied of course.
We walked a bit around Robertson and went into Kitson Kids. That is a really cool boutique store that had some awesome kids clothes. I saw a little t-shirt for my niece Hannah that cost $48. A little t-shirt. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that she (or anyone else) didn't get a $48 t-shirt from the place.
We then dropped by Vendome Liquors on Olympic so Dan could get some Baileys to put in some coffee (which they also sold there -- very conveniently). I was driving "Sir Kelly" around so there was no reason he couldn't enjoy a cocktail. Vendome Liquors has been around a long time and its massive so its also always cool to wander around there and see all the stuff they have. Dan was wearing his Led Zeppelin t-shirt and this old grouchy guy at the cash register told him that he hated that band. Really? Why would you even say that? We just laughed at him and Dan said "then I definitely shouldn't be your friend because I love those guys."
We went to the Fairfax Farmer's market next because I've never shown that place to Dan. He's seen it on TV a couple of times and asked me recently about it. Its pretty darn awesome and there's so much stuff to eat and so many people to see there. Dan decided that he needed to buy a hat so we went to several hat stores there before he could find the right one. There was also a sizing problem because Dan has a big head. Interpret that as you will.....the fact is that his head is also physically large.
We bought t-shirts for the kiddies, and went through the 100s of selections at the hot sauce store to buy a gift for Ray. After that we decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art in Downtown LA. We got in the car, and got on the 101 (near the Hollywood Bowl) and got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Sigh. We went a few blocks and then Dan got it in his head that his legs were too warm and that he needed shorts. Then he saw someone in another car and decided they had to be cargo shorts. So....for the next 10-15 minutes all I heard about was how much cargo shorts would make his experience better......
Dan sitting by the pool at the The Standard with his new hat.
I finally pulled off the freeway at the 101 so I could circle back to the Target and get him those damn shorts. There were several racks but he finally found the shorts he wanted. (He was also very happy and wearing his new hat.) Then (the museum was obviously a bust), we drove back to our hotel and stopped at the Santa Maria Novella store near Melrose and got soaps and body cream for my mother (she ran out). I also just like to go there and smell the place. They were surprisingly out of gardenia soap at that time but expected more next week. (I'll have to get some when I go back in October.) We went back to the hotel and decided to have a drink by the pool. I mean, we're in California, right?
We got an awesome seat by the pool and had cocktails while a live DJ was spinning some tunes (it was ok....it was a little loud). Am I getting too old when I complain about loud music? Probably.
Next, we decided to start heading towards the Sunset Street Music Fest. We stopped at the Saddle Chop house and got some beers and shared an appetizer. I had a bottomless mimosa....which means that I got free refills while I was there. I must have at 10 or so and I could tell the bartender was getting annoyed. I felt a little like my dad and his fraternity brothers at Georgia Tech when they went to an "all you can eat" rib restaurant and stayed there and ate all the ribs they had. He eventually got kicked out. After I was told that I'd reached the "bottom" of the bottomless mimosa deal, we left and walked down Sunset some more.
We stopped at a cool restaurant where dried cow skulls hung from the bar and ordered a cheese plate. I had wine and Dan stayed with beer. The waiter totally forgot about our cheese plate so it was free. But, once we found out that they were going to take the cost of the cheeseplate out of the waiter's pay, we gave him a tip large enough to cover it. Rough restaurant...geez.
We finally made it to the music fest and, after being let into the VIP area (ah hem....yes....you read that correctly), saw Bush play and they were pretty darn fantastic. After then we went to another stage and saw Public Enemy play. That's were Flavor Flav kept saying "ahh ite"....which everyone in the crowd (including me) shouted back to him. I have no idea what I was alright about..... Maybe it was the seriously strong marijuana smell in that crowd. Those young kids.....
After that show, we were walking back to the Motley Crue stage area and a reporter from local Los Angeles channel KTLA 5 news interviewed Dan about the festival and he couldn't stop talking about the influence of Public Enemy and how important they are to music. I just stopped by him in shock because it was total bs...the reporter bought it lock, stock and barrel. We moved on to the Motely Crue concert area. The VIP area was too crowded for this one so we went back with the "little people" and saw the show. We could see the stage but (fortunately) weren't too close. I say fortunately because Vince Neil thought it was a good idea to throw red kool aid on everyone in the front at the end of the show....we met several people who weren't too pleased with that. It looked awful and was reportedly very sticky.
The most fantastic thing about that show. (They sounded great, by the way.) Was that Tommy Lee played his drum upset down on the set. I mean his ENTIRE drum set was on a roller coaster track and it moved and he and his drum set were moved in a circle upside down. That man never lost his beat either. Pretty amazing. I've never seen anything like that before. Its actually on YouTube. I'll try to send the link when I get home.
The next morning was pretty anti-climactic. We had breakfast at Mel's dinner and drove to the airport. We're exhausted.
We've got tickets to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at the Desert Diamond Casino. That should be interesting.....
You forgot to mention that I spilled my coffee on Mr. Pages arm. It was hot but he was cool.
Posted by: Linda | September 02, 2011 at 05:52 PM