as promised, here is a follow up from the previous post of our 4 day trip down to LA to get some dumplings. Yes, we went for dumplings and made a trip around it for the rest.
First off - this being a 'quest trip' (Definition: a quest trip is a trip with a sole purpose to find/see/do a specific thing and not to be confused with a leisure trip or a destination trip.) - we wrapped everything around going to Din Tai Fung. After we accomplished that, it was a matter of following our desires.
We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in Santa Monica. Not in LA but in a more relaxing setting to be sure. We had a cute bungalow which helped emphasis the relaxing part. Well worth the stay - near 3rd street promenade shopping area which is great for walking around and of course the Pacific Ocean sitting right outside our window. Picture above is the 110+ year old fig tree from the entrance to the hotel and of course the one here is the Santa Monica board walk.
We went to the Getty Museum (highly recommended) at night - some great views of LA along the way and from the garden at the Getty. Took in 2 movies - 7Lbs with Will Smith and Revolutionary Road with Leo and Kate. The latter being a preview screening of the film - and we saw both in the newer theaters with assigned seating (pick them at tix purchase time). Prefer seeing movies this way. But the upshot is neither of these films are 'pick me ups' so they were a bit of a downer for the trip - worth seeing just not on top of each other.
Spent a great day out in Pasadena at the Hunting Gardens and then checking out the Greene and Greene style of craftsman houses. Absolutely a favorite of mine.
So the main quest was to go to get some dumplings but we also had a minor quest add - to visit the home of the originator of the French Dip sandwhich - Phillippes. This place was old school and PACKED. Just how many people can you cram into a single place to get cheap eats at 2pm on a Saturday you ask?
LOTS! Yes, all these people are waiting in a line for a simple french loaf, split in the middle to host a small selection of sliced beef (or lamb) and a ton of au jus. It was simple but fantastic. And cheap indeed - the sandwhich was about $4 bucks and the coffee is .09 cents! Well worth the 50 minutes wait (yes, almost one hour in side waiting just to order).
The last portion of this quest trip was to go and see the Bradbury building - a sight to behold when crafstmanship and pride went into things people built. For more pictures, head over to picassa and take a look at the LA trip folder. Its all there for you to enjoy.
