Luci and I returned from L.A. last Monday evening. The primary reason for us to go was the wedding of one of my oldest friends, Chad Driscoll. We went a week early to see all our other friends and surrounding areas that were long overdue a visit. Here’s a quick recap of our amazing week on the West Coast.
We arrived on Saturday, the 24th and Luci’s friend Jason Cokias welcomed us into our furnished suite in Santa Monica. He manages the building and had an open apartment we could stay in. Supercool. We went with him and his family to the 3rd Street Promenade for dinner. I brought a sinus infection with me from New York, so it was another early night full of Benadryl dreams for me.
Still on East Coast time, Luci and I woke before the city and took an early morning stroll on the Santa Monica pier and beach.
From there we went to see Chad and his wife to be, Jen. They took us out to Baja Cantina for lunch in Marina Del Rey and a quick walk by the canals of South Venice. After lunch we went to Jon Covert’s loft in L.A’s downtown “Artist District” and watched his music video directorial debut that aired the night before on Headbangers Ball. Jon also served as our tour guide for the Hollywood streets before dinner.
That night was a well-organized dinner at Fabiolus with old friends from FSU’s Film School. We talked the L.A. crowd into walking the 4 blocks to the Cat & Fiddle for a nightcap before we all parted company. Saw Amoeba Records and the Arclight Cinerama Theater along the way. I managed to shake the sinus problems and was able to have a good time by the end of the night.
Monday morning, Luci and I did a little shopping at the Santa Monica Goodwill (a travel habit of ours) and then got in the rental car and explored Brentwood, UCLA & Westwood, Bel Air, Beverly Hills... The ultimate destination was Tower Records on Sunset Strip to buy Elliott Smith’s “Either/Or” CD which has a few songs about LA on it. His sad and bitter words were a great juxtaposition to the dripping wealth of shiny Hollywood. Our friends Nikki LaRosa and Nick Rufca came over and walked us down to the Venice boardwalk and afternoon cocktails. We met up with Mike DiGiovanni and his newlywed bride, Brenda, to pick up a key for their place which we were going to housesit later that week. They live just a block off Venice Beach at the North end of the boardwalk. That evening was another large dinner with old friends, this time in Venice Beach at the Library Ale House. Nikki hooked us up with a free nightcap at Circle Bar across the street.
Tuesday morning Nick picked us up and took us up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu Point Dume, a state park with hiking on the coast. We had some wine at the top and went to lunch at the casual and great tasting Malibu Kitchen.
In jest, we were picking houses to buy. This is the one I picked:
And who lives here?
From Malibu we went to Mulholland Drive and Beechwood Canyon. The air on the drive up is sweeter and moister than any I’ve smelled before and we all felt very happy and content. We all agreed it must be the true smell of money. We watched the sunset over the city from up in the hills. We met up with Nick’s boyfriend, Paul, and walked to a restaurant in Los Feliz called Home for an outdoor dinner.
Wednesday Luci and I woke up and drove to Redlands where our newly-wed friends Jason and Allison recently relocated to from Brooklyn. We stayed long enough for pizza and a quick congratulations and got back on the road to Palm Springs. Some other recent transplants from Brooklyn, Maddy and Ray aka Mandad, were to be our desert hosts the following day. We were barely out of the car and Ray whisked us off to “The Lowey House” which friends of theirs own. Raymond Lowey was an incredibly prolific artist of the 50’s and the house is a landmark and epitome of Palm Springs 50’s Modernist Style of architecture. So we sipped champagne with our feet dangling in the pool under the desert moon and caught up with old friends. Very relaxing.
We woke up as early as we could and took off for Joshua Tree State Park in the Mojave desert. I had never seen a Joshua Tree before, nor did I know what to expect, but needless to say, they are a sight to behold.
It was only in the 90s up in the high desert. We drove down to the Cholla Gardens (102 degrees) where Cholla Cacti grow as far as the eye can see. They’re also called Teddy Bear cactus because of how huggable they look.
When heat exhaustion was about to kick in, we ducked into Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown for sandwiches, chips and salsa and of course, ice cold beer. This place is amazing and currently owned by two women from Brooklyn!
In Palm Springs temperatures had reached 112 degrees and we refreshed ourselves in a somewhat warm swimming pool. Luci and I packed up and drove back to the more tolerable climate of Santa Monica. Chad had organized a family and friend outing to Brennan’s for drinks and turtle races. That’s right, turtle races. Our hunger got the best of us and Luci drove Chad, Travis (another very old friend and best man of the wedding) and I around looking for food and yes, more drinks.
Friday came very early because Luci and I had to watch Germany play Argentina in the World Cup at 8 a.m.! We started at a café with danish and coffee for the first half and went around the corner for bloody mary’s and a rowdier crowd at Ye Olde King's Head Pub for the second half that finished in penalty kicks! Travis and Chad had plans to go surfing in Manhattan Beach and we decided to join them. We all got a later start than planned, but I did manage to catch a few waves in the very chilly Pacific before we left. Luci and I walked the Venice boardwalk and had dinner with Travis, Darcy and Rodney, 2 other old friends that we know separately. Rodney and Darcy had the age old argument of “east” vs. “west” throughout the night.
Saturday Luci and I went shopping down Melrose Avenue for hours. Luci found a couple of chic summer dresses and I picked up a new pair of Docs. A notable sight was the “Vintage Tee-Shirt Shop” where I spotted an $80 Iron Maiden concert shirt and many others costing upwards of $150. I guess when Paris Hilton wants a “Journey: Escape” concert shirt, she knows where she can find it and doesn’t mind paying $100 or more for it. Luci and I both left laughing. From Melrose, we went to a garden party at Chad and Jen’s. We met up with Cathy, Travis’ wife, who had just arrived and other wedding guests. As the party dwindled, Luci and I regrouped and went to the Rainbow Bar and Grill on the Sunset Strip to meet Jon and his girlfriend, Heather. Jon told me that Slash had been seated in my seat the night before. I was under the impression there would be more “Heshers” there. I highly recommend the fried chicken. On the way out, I patted Ron Jeremy on the shoulder and said, “You’re the man Ron, you’re the man”. He looked at me as if to say, “I know”. Fun times.
The cab system in L.A., for a lack of a better word, sucks. That’s real unfortunate too. With no real public transportation, people who go out and drink are left with no choice, but to deal with the cabs (super frustrating and expensive) or try and drive themselves home (if not deadly, very, very expensive).
Sunday was wedding day. Beforehand, Travis and Cathy met us for a little last minute shopping. Travis and I went to the end of Santa Monica’s pier for an afternoon cocktail in the sun. The wedding took place on a yacht circling Marina Del Rey at sunset. Really cool way to have a wedding. Most people weren’t finished drinking and socializing after 5 hours of open bar, so we invaded the closest Mexican restaurant, Casa Escobar. Nick came down to meet us and ended up driving myself, Luci and Travis to our last bar of the night, The Brig, on Abbott Kinney in Venice Beach.
Monday we met Jean (yet another old high school friend who lives in Palm Springs) and her husband Joel and new baby Jacob for breakfast at the Omelette Parlor. We finally got by Arbor Skateboards on our way to the airport. I entertained the idea of getting one to carve around the park, but realized I was just chasing a teenage dream and didn’t need another toy to collect dust and take up pricey New York real estate. We ran into Travis and Cathy walking around and were able to say good-bye in person. Then we were quickly off to Long Beach for our return flight on Jet Blue. We finally got home at 1 am Monday night.
Tuesday, we overslept 'til 11 and leapt out of bed realizing we were having a party starting at 3 for the World Cup and the 4th of July. We had nearly 50 people show up and after the fireworks at 9, the party slowly came to an end around midnight.
Needless to say, we are exhausted and spent this last week catching up on our lives and shaking the final throes of jet lag. Now it’s off to find jobs and continue to forward the film. So much for a short recap.
