As shallow as this is, one thing I love about LA is frequently seeing places I’ve been on TV and in the movies. Like on 90210 last night, we saw The Edison, which is a bar inside LA’s first power plant. It has an amazing atmosphere, amazing drinks, and literally makes you feel like you are on a night out in the 1920s. There are actually women wandering about wearing flapper attire. I hear it is more douchebag-heavy on a Saturday night, but I’ve been twice (on a Wednesday and a Friday) and both experiences were delightful.
Also, 90210 featured Pink’s Hot Dogs, the landmark hot dog stand that has been around since the Great Depression. Pink’s is known for their hot dogs named after celebrities. I have not been there since college, but I remember thinking that the hot dog itself was not worth the line I stood in to get it. That often seems to be the case with landmarks, but I think it is a place that Angelenos and LA visitors should hit at least once.
But 90210 … everyone knows that you can’t get that close to the Hollywood sign! It is actually against the law. I actually hiked Mt. Hollywood – by myself – a few weeks ago when I was feeling quite overcaffeinated. I was really overcaffeinated, people. I actually scaled this incredibly steep hill and practically killed myself. Luckily, this hike is popular so my carcass would have been found before mountain lions had finished eating me. Anyway, there is a great view of Mt. Lee from this hike, which (I think) may be as close as one can get to the Hollywood sign.
This is one of my favorite quites about LA, from LA Story:
“Roland thinks LA is a place for the brain-dead. He says, if you turned off the sprinklers, it would turn into a desert. But I think – I don’t know, it’s not what I expected. It’s a place where they’ve taken a desert and turned it into their dreams. I’ve seen a lot of LA and I think it’s also a place of secrets: secret houses, secret lives, secret pleasures. And no one is looking to the outside for verification that what they’re doing is all right.”
