A Long Los Angeles Layover

Other drivers who saw this go down pulled over to cheer for Ian. One woman in particular cracked me up, stopping to roll down her window and yell, “Y’all are my heroes! You just made me believe in this city again!” We returned the now tattered purse to its rightful owner, who was understandably distraught. My dad, worried the man might return, insisted that she let us drive her home twenty minutes in the opposite direction we were going (that’s so my dad — he would never hesitate to delay himself an hour to help someone in need.) Our new friend Gloria didn’t speak English, so we chatted away in Spanish and I learn she’s a housekeeper who moved to Los Angeles from Guatemala a few years ago to send money back home to her family. She takes English classes one day a week and works the other six — suddenly I understood why she fought so hard for her bag, which had her wallet, her phone, her keys, the keys of her housekeeping clients, her notebook of all her client information, and even bus fare to get home.

Here’s the crazy part: we exchanged number so I could check on her the next day, and a week later I asked if she just might possibly be looking for any new clients. A year later, she’s still cleaning my dad’s house once a week, and we get to practice our Spanish and English on each other whenever I’m in town!

Isn’t that the craziest dang thing you’ve ever heard?

So, suffice it to say we were all pretty bewildered by the time we made it to our intended destination, OUE Skyspace, California’s tallest open-air observation deck. My dad had been super excited to take us here, and we could see why! Rising nearly 1,000 feet above the city, the two observation decks offered the best panoramic views over Los Angeles I’ve seen with these two eyes.

What a place to watch the sun set! Once it did, we got in line for what has been the Skypace’s most viral feature — the Skyslide. Now, I was totally unprepared to capture this and did not get a single Youtube-able video or Instagram-able shot, but I did capture Ian’s pure, blurry joy at sliding through a clear 45-foot glass chute bolted to the side of a building. While you’ll definitely capture better images in the daylight, sliding over the city lights at night was pretty magical.

It was kind of like the low-tech version of the Chicago 360 Tilt I loved so much earlier in the year. And just like in Chicago, they also do yoga classes here too — I’ll definitely be back for one someday!

Speaking of yoga, that’s exactly where Ian and I were headed the next morning. The Line Hotel does a free rooftop class every Saturday morning, and I love that this hip Koreatown hotspot is easy walking distance from my dad’s place. What a way to start the morning! Not into yoga? They also host a weekend Koreatown Running Club.

It’s the place to be!

Next up on this birthday bonanza tour? Brunch at Home, a dog-friendly hipster hideaway in Los Feliz. Tucker strongly approved of this choice. After, we wandered around the neighborhood for a bit, ducking in and out of crystal and record shops and overpriced clothing boutiques. I had warned Ian he’d like Los Feliz as much as he did Silverlake, and by the time we dragged ourselves home, he agreed.

I was thrilled about the evening’s activity: the weekend’s edition of Streetfood Cinema. I’ve gushed before that the movie-going scene in LA is one of my favorite things about the city — and this is just one example.

Street Food Cinema is LA’s largest outdoor movie series with ever-changing locations, so you kind of have to hit the jackpot on a destination within reasonable driving distance and showing a movie you want to see. This particular early October evening, they were showing Scream (score!), in Poinsettia Rec Park in Hollywood (score!) and it was a dog-friendly showing (score!). We paid $19 for reserve seating because if there’s ever a time to pointlessly indulge, it’s someone’s birthday, but general admission is $14.

We loaded up the car with three beach chairs, a trunk-load of blankets, and some emergency snacks that we totally did not need thanks to the array of food trucks that awaited us.

It was such a fun night. Watching an iconic movie with a city of film-buffs is always a good time — I smiled when the crowd quoted along with the most famous scenes, and we all roared together when one of the interrogation scenes involved a cop grilling a high school student on the suspicious grounds that he had a cellular phone in his possession! (It was made in 1996.)

Most importantly, Tucker had a great time, even if he was reluctant to pose for photos proving it. If I was an Angeleno, I think I’d be a Street Food Cinema regular.

And then, we were off to bed! While I’m guessing this was one of Ian’s lower-key birthdays, that early morning flight to Oahu was a pretty strong motivation to hit the hay.

This was my shortest trip ever to Los Angeles and while we fit loads into two quick nights, I was gutted to say goodbye to my dad already. Luckily, I was stopping for a longer visit on the way back. But lesson learned — I’ll try to make it a three night minimum in the future.

And with that, we were off to the Aloha State! Stay tuned!

Confused on where we are? I’m catching up on the black hole of content from August of 2016 to April of 2017 — when I jumped forward to blog the summer of 2017 as it was happening. Right now, we’re in October of 2016 on the way to Hawaii, and I can’t wait to turn my detailed notes and journals into blog posts from Jamaica, Thailand and Bali next! My apologies for any confusion with the timeline, and thanks for sticking with me.