A Southern California Visit

Aside from changing planes in Las Vegas, hiking from the C terminal to the B terminal which I swear is a quarter of a mile, my flight to Burbank was effortless.  Melissa and I spent Wednesday afternoon playing cards and just visiting.  Thursday was our day to go shopping which we followed up with lunch, eaten on the outdoor patio - in February!  We split a burger and got the $.95 Cajun fries to go with it.  These could be a meal in themselves - fantastic!

Melissa bought us 1:00 tickets to view the Hollywood Costume Exhibit at LACMA on Thursday. A friend told her about it, but neither of us knew what it was - maybe the Red Carpet gowns?  We were allotted 70 minutes to view the collection but it's impossible to see it in under two hours.  It turns out that Robyn Spady, our workshop teacher, was viewing the collection at the same time as we were and she said they felt rushed at 2 1/2 hours. 

We decided to have lunch first in downtown LA at Canter's in the Fairfax district which is a famous deli. We thought we had plenty of time but the traffic was horrific.  I was trying to track our route on my iPhone but somehow I plugged in 877 Figueroa instead of 877 Fairfax which is just two streets away.

Which lead us to the Original Pantry where I have always wanted to eat.  I use their coleslaw recipe from the LA Times Cookbook and swear it's superior to most deli slaws.  We were so surprised to see this and it wasn't until after lunch that we realized my error.  I'm pretty happy with my mistake. We cut the time really close but weren't late.

Edith Head's nine Oscars were the first display and also the only photo permitted.  The rooms were pitch black with the only illumination coming from the displays.  Guards had flashlights if you needed help. Room after room was filled with the costumes, like Harrison Ford's from the Raiders of the Lost Ark, including explanation and a quote from the designer.  A whole section was of gowns worn by actresses playing Elizabethan roles and another with Meryl Streep costumes, including integrated video of her interviews.  I will never watch a movie or commercial the same again.

This display of restored streetlights greeted us when we exited the exhibition.

A short walk away was the La Brea Tar Pits which neither of us has ever seen.  The whole complex is Hancock Park and when I told Ian, he said that made sense.  Hancock used to be an oil company,  In the center left of the photo, note the ring from a bubble of gas.

There is a large ring of concentric ripples in the center of this photo.  Gas burps up and then leaves these rings but my point-and-shoot isn't fast enough to catch the bubble.  This is pit #9 and to date they've dug 100 and are actively excavating #91.  It smells like a gas station, i.e., it stinks.

I always thought the pits were tar but this says they're actually asphalt and the bubbles are methane gas.

The weather was perfect and the park was beautiful.  I realized that this just looks like a houseplant so asked Melissa to provide some perspective.

Thanks to my model Vanna, you can see they're huge.

This is the Levitating Rock which was touted in the information we read online.

We were parched afterwards and thought we could buy a bottle of water at what appeared to be a concession stand but turned out to be a bar, so we ordered vodka/tonics and took a breather.  

I would say it was perfect except for one thing - traffic.  It took us an hour to get through Hollywood to the freeway.  No comment.