I sat next to the most obnoxious woman on the airplane. It was all I could do to lose myself in Chomsky's Media Control. She had false nails and clicked them on everything; the seat-back table, the plastic armrests, and she even clicked them against her also-false thumb nails. She took her Crock off of her right foot and crossed her leg so that her sweaty, socked foot was millimeters from touching my leg. There was even the threat of an altercation, one she extended to the mother of a seven year old child. I don't really care to recall it in detail- but it should serve to say that in addition to be obnoxious she was ridiculous and tactless as well.
Arrived at 11:03 am (PST)
We were waiting for our baggage. I thought I'd snap a picture, perhaps in an attempt to capture our jet-lag or perhaps to intentionally catch Riss making such a face. After we gathered ourselves, we picked up the rental car and headed to In & Out (which we frequented over the next seven days). We received some sort of a discount due to, what I assume, the crush the dude behind the counter had on Larissa. He saved us close to $200. :)
In & Out was fantastic. It was like the way you know your mother's house smells and the assurance you get when greeted by it at the front door. Fabulous. We went to Venice afterwards and met a very nice dude by the name of Leo. His dirty, blond hair hung in his face and covered his eyes, which didn't seem to be able to fix upon anything. He and his friends were sitting in the shade holding signs asking for money for marijuana. Neither Larissa nor I had any cash to offer but the conversation, advice, and assistance was greatly appreciated by all involved.We had to hit up Target on the way to the hotel because we both forgot beach towels. Geniuses. The hotel was nicer, much cleaner, than the Ramada we stayed at last summer. Plus this was in Manhattan Beach, I really couldn't have asked for a nicer city to stay in besides Venice or San Fran. There was tons of hot dudes everywhere because we had come during the International Surf Festival. Although we didn't see any surfing there, we did see some in Santa Monica.
After walking around a bit we decided to take naps at the hotel before dinner. We slept through the night.
Day 2: Woke up at 8:15 am, coffee, breakfast, showers, bathing suits.
We drove down the coast to Santa Monica but weather wasn't permitting so we decided to drive along the Pacific Coast Hwy.
We drove for about forty-five minutes until we turned around; the sun seemed to be coming out.
The beach was fantastic for the rest of the day. We went to dinner at L.A. Food Show; I had the Grilled Thai Chicken which was delicious. We followed dinner with THE best red velvet cake I've ever had and, I imagine, exists. Vanilla bean cream cheese frosting. That's all that needs to be said.
Dinner was followed by drinks which lead to Hollywood and then Gelato. We went to In & Out at around 1:00 for hamburgers and we watched SNL which normally isn't amusing in the slightest but that guy from 40 Year Old Virgin and Pineapple Express was hosting and he did a hilarious sketch, one that Larissa and I will be quoting until the day we die. "I said wheahhhh!!!!!!" LOL.Day 3: Woke up at 9:00 am, coffee, breakfast, showers.
Admittedly cheesy but almost necessary when visiting, we bought a star map. We only drove by a few houses (Jennifer Aniston's and David Beckham's) but it really satisfies nothing for me. But it was interesting, all of the houses were beautiful and intimidating in both size and luxury. Really nothing that I have ever seen in the 303.
We spent the afternoon in Santa Monica on the pier and had funnel cake and coffee and contemplated going on a ride or two. We settled on pictures from a photo booth and a walk on the beach. The moon was so peaceful reflecting on the water and the sound of the waves crashing was really like
no music I'd ever heard but stimulating and captivating all the same. The sand was cold which was nice compared to the burning heat that usually met the bottoms of our feet and we went without speaking for nearly ten minutes, enchanted by all of the sights and sounds.
Dinner was hamburgers and milk shakes from In & Out. She read and I watched some crap on the television and regretted not bringing something more to read with me.
Day 3: Woke up at 8:30 am, coffee, breakfast, showers, Manhattan Beach (aka Manhappenin' Beach).
We parked and spent the day walking around and shopping, and ending up at the beach for a bit. We went into the ocean and I managed to talk her into coming in pretty far. The waves did splash up our backs and necks, getting our hair wet and we were done after that. 
We had dinner at some place I've forgotten the name of but I did have some delicious pasta- that I remember.
Drinks and then back to the hotel. We watched a show on A&E I believe... I may be incorrect. Jurassic Fight Club. I highly recommend it. It's fucking sweet.
Day 4: Woke up at 9:45 am, watched Mrs. Doubtfire, coffee, shower, Third Street Promenade.
We shopped for most of the day although I myself didn't do much of it. The
Promenade is much like 16th Street Mall with shops and restaurants lining both sides of the sidewalk. We had lunch at yet another place I can't remember the name of. I had some interesting enchiladas... Larissa was told the Mexican food there isn't that great which I seemed to have found out. But all in all it was a nice day, there were street musicians, one who was playing the electric violin. After shopping we went to dinner and had food even less enjoyable than the Cali-Mex enchiladas. The Island. I remember that name. Gross.
Day 5: Woke up at 8:00 am, coffee, breakfast, showers, bathing suits, Santa Monica.
Santa Monica is probably my favorite beach in CA. The sand is really soft and the houses on the west side of the beach are nice to look at when you're tanning your back. We went into the ocean and did some walking around before playing some footballwith a couple of dudes from UCLA and having a couple of Cokes before realizing how sunburned we were. We had dinner at In & Out for the last time and we were beginning to get downtrodden thinking about returning to work. I did look forward to coming home; I always miss it when I'm gone.
Day 6: The last day but the best one. Woke up at 8:00 am, coffee, breakfast, the observatory.I don't think I can begin to describe how incredible the observatory was. So it's a good thing that I took plenty of pictures:
http://www.griffithobs.org/
http://www.griffithobs.org/
We watched a little planetarium deal. It was just as cool as this place. It was about our place in the universe- very elementary but entertaining all the same. At the end, the guy narrating said something along the lines of, "When we look out into space and all of the stars are shining back at us, it's as if we're looking home."
I bought myself a shirt with Al Einsteins' face made of stars on it with a quote below: One feels as if one is dissolved and merged into nature
We had lunch at the Stinking Rose in Hollywood or whatevs. It has got to be the best meal I've had. It's a garlic restaurant so everything is covered, sauteed, baked, grilled, etc in it. They even gave us little garlic candies when all was said and done. Really unique and delectable. 
Dinner at L.A. Food Show again. Chicken Picata. Mmm. Red velvet cake and ice cream to go, prepared for the following day.
Day 6: Woke up at 4:00 am, shower, last minute packing, checked- out, returned the rental car, left for home at 8:46 am, returned at 10:17 am.
