Recently I was lucky enough to spend a few months in the states. Whilst there I had the opportunity to look around LA for a few days. Whilst I found most of the city busy, dirty and a good portion of it not what I had imagined. I did find a few rather nice places and noteworthy sights.
Disneyland – noteworthy because of its shitness. If it wasn’t screaming babies or mothers pushing kids around stacked 8 prams wide making it damn near impossible to get around them, it was the 45 minute waits to get into one of the rides. Or the rides themselves that whilst they were actually pretty damn cool were clearly aimed at kids. We paid $90US a pop for our tickets each and were out of there in under 3 hours. I mean yeah some part of my inner child smiled and ticked another thing off the list. But I genuinely wish I had gone to somewhere far more adult like Magic mountain where I could have scared the shit out of myself. Hell, even a bar would have come up par on that particular day. Special thanks to Heidi Klum and Seal (the dude doesn’t even have a last name) for getting them to close rides to the public so they could ride uninterrupted by the pesants. Me wants me money back!
Venice beach - Noteworthy due to its Sheer Awesome scummy AWESOMENESS. For the Discerning traveller on a budget Venice beach really has it all. Hillbilliy and Asian bums (both Americans) screaming at each other for taking the other ones rubbish pile. White Sandy beaches with rolling surf. Bums busking on the boulevard. Hank Moodys apartment. Shitty hotel rooms that seemed waaay nicer in the photos. Scummy looking Tattoo parlours everywhere, I think I counted 6 on the boulevard in about a 300m area.
The Venice beach sign! Is actually EVERY bit as cool as you think its going to be. Its just a shame the area is a bit dodgy and you genuinely feel like you are going to get mugged being out there! Fantastic Mexican restaurants, fantastic seafood restaurants like Killer Shrimp where waitresses give you free wine if you tip well! This is also the place that I had Sublime on repeat in my head, riding bikes down the boardwalk to muscle beach and back just seemed to be the place where the entire album fitted in like a nice comfortable pair of jeans. I could imagine the band playing at one of the local bars in the early days. Magic. Summer time, when the livin’s easy.
Hollywood sign – The photo doesn’t do it justice. It makes it look fantastic but in reality its a sign. Just like the one we were going to get in wellington. Just a sign. Whats more, its damn near impossible to get to, we drove, and we drove and we drove, went up hills, down hills, round hills, over hills. Turned around and went back the way we came many times only to find that we had a better view where we started... and the star tour busses ?? fuck me. There are about 25thousand of the damn things on the road at any time of the day just waiting to hit the picks infront of you at any given moment...
Queen Mary - The ship is moored as a floating hotel in long beach, we stayed onboard for a the first night we were in the states, was absolutely fantastic. Mainly for me being of the sailory inclinations, however even Christie thought it was pretty damn cool. You get to sleep in one of the upper level cabins that are just how you would imagine something like the titanic to be. Everything is highly polished and shiny and brassy and just fantasticly old school where ships were made properly.
Driving down the 405 freeway seemed to awaken something written lyrically in the back of my mind from my high school days. Sublime ringing in my ears as we drove past Garden grove on the way to Disney land, poor Christie could hardly understand my excitement. Garden Grove!! GARDEN GROVE. This is the point where you realise that you are somewhere very cool. There is me driving down a random highway through LA shouting out lyrics in near hysterics. Every time I listen to the albums of my youth like sublime and Dr Dre which are both primarily California West coast artists, Im reminded of things that were happening to me whilst listening to music. This was ofcourse at a fundamental development stage of my life so driving down the East Anehiem freeway sign took me right back to that special place of good times and good tunes. Sunny blue skies and sand and riots with that particular song. Oh and DR DRE? Jeez, from long beach to South Central? ? Every single time long beach came up... “WO NOT THESE NIGGAS AGAIN” stuck in my head for days. Crenshaw Blvd “PACKED AND FULL OF CARS”. Christie just stares at me. Nothing to say, she is sitting in a tiny Japanese car in a predominantly Black area with me shouting Dr Dre lyrics out the window every time I see a street sign. I guess the thing that made it so cool is that now along with my memories of these classic songs of my teenage years now I have the memory of the actual place to go alongside it. A far more satisfying moment than waiting in line at Disneyland.
LA, it was fun, you pissed me off with your commercial bullshit and insane highways, but you also had some nice unexpected surprises
