A Sunday In Venice

 

Today, I met up with my Southern Belle buddy Bev, and we went for a drive to Venice Beach:

 

                                                                              

 

The weather was perfect, the people were odd:

 

 

 

And the trees were lush:

 

And when we stopped for lunch, did we go to any one of the hundreds of quaint little Mexican places in L.A.?

No.

We thought outside the bun.

Taco Bell.

 

 

TTFN.

 

Bus Trip

There is indeed public transportation in L.A. The bus is an odd mixture of older and newer technology. There's a TV monitor and pre-recorded stop announcements, but there's also strings to pull for stops, and fabric straps on the bars above the seats.

 

 

 

 

There's burger stands and tiny burger places all over. But sometimes, the classics are the best:

 

 

Here, it's legal to ride bikes on the sidewalks, as well as motorized scooters.

 

 

 

The streets here aren't crowded, which is nice. People walk, and jog, and walk and jog with their dogs. I'll take pictures of the doggies soon.

 

TTFN

 

Cold Saturday

Ha! Just kidding. It was slightly chilly and overcast, but nothing that could be described as "cold." I did see people walking around in hats and scarves. I've still got my New York blood, so I managed with a light jacket.

 

 

 

Headed out to Santa Monica Blvd. Went to the UPS store to check on my boxes. They're holding them for me till the day after Christmas. Then, I went to CVS. Party time!

There were three full aisles of hard liquor. All on the shelves. The only things behind glass were some pricey scotches and small bottles of Patron (which I guess could be easily shoplifted) The liquor store lobby must not be very strong here. This would *never* be allowed in New York. The CVS stores there have cheap wine and beer, but that's it.

One thing about L.A. that no one tells you -- it's very hilly here. I walked from Sunset to Santa Monica Blvd, and had to ask the guy at the front desk how to manage without falling down the street. He came up with leaving through the parking garage and walking down a less steep hill. It worked.

On my way back up the less steep hill, I saw plenty of these:

People here take their dogs very seriously. There's as many pet salons as human salons. Lots of varieties as well -- I saw a bunch of Terriers, a Chihuahua, a Goldendoodle, two Basenjis and a particularly stunning Weimaraner jogging with his person.

Okay, gonna go now and watch 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas.' I like to watch it in reverse, so it has a happy ending...

TTFN.

Exploring Sunset Blvd

So now that I know the Mayans were wrong (or really bad at sarcasm) I figured it was time to go exploring.

Oh boy....Sunset Blvd. Great movie, sunny street.

In New York, we don't put our parking lots so close to dirt and gravel monoliths which will crush us come the next heavy rain. Ah, but what do I know about physics?

Lemon tree in a parking garage.

Strolling around, I found the famous Mel's Diner. This diner is pictured on the front of my L.A. Guidebook, and seeing it in person made me downright giddy:

 

 

Across the street, I found some L.A. parking meters. Not only do they have a credit card option, you can punch in how much time you need. These people really are parking pros...

And yes, Virginia, there is public transportation in Los Angeles:

One more, just for my X-Phile friends:

TTFN.

Unpacking

I started unpacking. I brought the important stuff -- clothing, shoes, toiletries...and, um...these:

Never underestimate the importance of toys. :-)

Above It All

A view of the clouds from the flight out to L.A.