A 5-day L.A. itinerary

An old friend of mine visited this past week and it was a great chance to see some of the sights in L.A. that I haven't seen before. Luckily she wasn't that interested in seeing stuff like Hollywood Boulevard or Rodeo Drive so we got a chance to see some of the 'interesting' sights in and around L.A. Namely, we visited the following:

- The Queen Mary. This is an old sailing vessel that is now permanently docked in Long Beach. It was lots of fun to wander and explore, and it just *feels* haunted in places.

- The Fashion District in Downtown L.A. My friend is a sewer and quilter and we thought we would explore and look at the textiles. This multi-block area is AMAZING. There is store-upon-store of gorgeous fabric, beads, and trim for making clothes, drapes, jewelry, decorations, etc. And the best part are the deals that you can find here. There were complete bedding sets (gorgeous fabric) for $20-- the kind that I've seen at Macy's for $300!

- The Getty Villa. The grounds and the building are gorgeous and make for a very relaxing visit. I'm not knowledgeable in antiquities, but the explanation placards were very informative and relatively interesting.

- The Channel Islands National Park. The highlight of this has to be the hundreds of dolphins that we saw while on the boat returning back from the island.

- A taping of Jeopardy. We're not Jeopardy fans, but I think it was still interesting for my friend to see how shows are taped. The Jeopardy stage is larger than it looks like on t.v. which surprised me since every other set I've seen is smaller than it appears on t.v. Also, I never realized that there are Game Show Groupies akin to Star Trek Fans. The audience was primarily the groupies and relatives of the contestants. There were only a small handful of people who were there just to see the taping of a television show. Of course we saw Alex Trebek. He's just okay. Let's just say that he would not be anywhere near the top of my dinner-party invite list. He didn't seem to be that interesting, or smart, or nice ...

I don't usually get a chance to see what this city has to offer until somebody visits. It was a lot of fun taking a vacation in the city that I live in!

I remember the '80s

I admit that I am old enough to remember the group 'Huey Lewis and the News'. Not only am I old enough to remember them, but I actually recognized 'Huey Lewis' at the grocery store yesterday. In my mind I see him in the black leather 80's style bomber jacket. But he was wearing regular street clothes at the grocery store, and it was a little bit of 'is that....?' His car was parked behind mine in the parking lot, and as I was putting my groceries into the back seat of my car, I saw him get into a red convertible Porsche. Then I knew it was him. He was easier to recognize because he fit into my impression of what a rock-and-roll star should look like.

This has been quite the week for spotting celebrities at the grocery store!

A really good idea

One thing that most people know about L.A.-- it is a driver city. It is normal to spend hours in a car driving from place to place. With all the driving is the increased chance for car accidents. There are certain parts of the city that I avoid because they tend to be overpopulated with wealthy people in big SUVs who don't care about the traffic laws or anybody else on the road. I have been rear-ended several times since moving to this city and feel like a seasoned veteran at dealing with fender benders.

When I dropped my car off at the car mechanic today, we got to talking about car insurance and dealing with car accidents. He has had a lot of frustration dealing with the car insurance companies. As a result, he has developed a simple form that can be used for 'In case of accident'. The form contains space for the date/time/location, then information on the other car including the car's VIN number, year, make/model, car license, and license state. It then has space for the standard information of driver license number, state, name, insurance company, policy number, etc. Basically, he compiled all the information that an insurance company would need to complete a claim. If any of you are interested in a copy of the form just let me know and I can send it or post it online.

The genius of this ready-made accident form is the obviousness of the need for it. It's hard to think clearly after an accident sometimes. And sometimes it is even hard to find a sheet of paper to take down the other person's information. Having this form makes getting peoples' info a standardized process. I plan on keeping a copy of the form in my glove compartment so that I will be prepared when there is an accident.

BTW, the one item he stressed was to get the other car's VIN number. People sometimes get fake licenses or give the wrong telephone number, but police can usually trace a car's VIN number to the owner. If nothing else, get the other car's VIN number.

Happy motoring!

Top Ten List

It has been a while since I've seen a recognizable celebrity, but yesterday I saw someone who is in the current news media: David Letterman. I saw him at the grocery store parking lot yesterday. I had just parked my car and was walking to the corner and he was driving and waited for me to cross in front of his car. No, he wasn't wearing a hat. Yes, he was here in L.A. I know his show is filmed in NYC so I have no idea what he was doing here. Maybe he went to a Halloween party?

Anyways, in honor of David Letterman, this is my Top Ten List of favorite places to see a celebrity in this town:

1. Running (usually along the ocean between Venice and the Palisades).
2. While shopping at Fry's Electronics (section with the really big screen TVs).
3. At a restaurant.
4. On a plane (flying into/out of LAX or Burbank).
5. Driving on the streets.
6. At Starbucks (in Brentwood off of San Vicente or in Bel Air off of Mulholland).
7. While hiking past their house.
8. At the theater.
9. Local grocery store and farmers market (Studio City and Sherman Oaks).
10. Shopping at Target.