Los Angeles: The Night
We walked around the beach for a while and then rode around town until it was time to go back to the apartment and get ready for a night out. We got all cleaned up and headed out to one of the more trendier, cooler places in town, the Griffith Observatory. We hipsters call it "the Observatory". That's the way you can tell who's cool and who's not in this town, by how they refer to the "Observatory". I know what your thinking. Your thinking, "LAME!" We were going to a cool club later, but we wanted to see a different side of LA first and it's one of my favorite places in town.
On the same mountain that hosts the famous "Hollywood" sign,
sits this observatory. Inside there are lots of scientific and
astronomical museum exhibits, a planetarium and high powered
telescopes. My favorite part of this place has nothing to do with
the view of the stars, but with the night time view of LA. From
the balcony and roof of the observatory you can see the city
stretch out and disappear into the horizon in three directions.
The view can overwhelm and/or inspire you. It's a beautiful sight,
if you like seeing the trillion odd lights of America's second
largest metropolitan area.
After taking in the view, we drove back down the hill and stopped at the House of Pies for dinner. Oddly enough none of us had pie. And there was plenty of pie in the place.
Our last stop for the day was a swing dance club called the Derby. It's named for the famous Brown Derby restaurant that once stood around the corner. It was at the Derby or outside the Derby, where I had my first "Hollywood Star" sighting.
Author's note: I have to stop for a minute and give you some background information. When strangers meet my wife they say one of a few things:
1. " Why did you marry him?"This last item has been a running joke between my wife and I for years. So, when I crossed the street to get to the Derby and saw Tracy Nelson sitting on the wall outside the club, I stopped dead in my tracks. What kind of omen is that? It must have been a good omen, because the car approaching the intersection, managed to stop within inches of killing me.
2. " No, really. Why did you marry him?"
3. " Okay if your not gonna tell me the truth then forget it!
4. "He's dying and you felt sorry. Oh, that is so noble."
OR
5. " Hey, you look like the nun character from that TV show where Richie Cunningham's dad plays a priest who solves murder mysteries. The Father Dowling Mysteries. What's her name? Her dad was a big rock star in the 50's. And her brothers where little rock star wanna be's of the 90's. Tracy Nelson! That's her!
After listening to the colorful language of one of the many wonderful licensed drivers in this town, we all went into the Derby to listen to some swing and maybe do some dancing. Swing is big in the city of Angels these days.
We stayed pretty late listening to the swing band and staring at Tracy Nelson. We got back to the apartment after one. The day had finally come to an end and so had the trip. Wendell was on a plane back to North Carolina 12 hours later. I was back at the apartment trying to sort out what I was going to do now that I was in LA.
Copyright © 2000 The Van Gogh-Goghs