Los Angeles and surrounding areas

I have not spent a whole lot of time in the L.A. area, however, what time I have spent there, has not been very enjoyable. I worked in the Pasadena area for a week or so and the only highlights that I experienced in that short time were a couple of trips to In-N-Out burger, a glimpse of the Rose Bowl and a trip out to Santa Monica for some seafood. Los Angeles reminds me a lot of Atlanta in how it is laid out. It is very spread out and seems to take forever to get from one place to the other due to the miserable traffic. Most of the people seem to be pretentious as hell. I have not had the privelage of visiting any brew pubs in the L.A. area, so I will take this opportunity to tell you a few places that I visited and what was enjoyable or not enjoyable about each. My first trip through L.A. involved only the airport as I spent the night at LAX, making it my least favorite airport in the states. My second trip through L.A. involved a stay at the LAX Hilton on my way to Australia. The hotel was nice and convenient to the airport, so no complaints. Due to the fact that I was trying to conserve funds for Australia, I had a pizza delivered from Pizza Hut. It tasted very similar to every other pizza from Pizza Hut that I have ever had, therefore, nothing to complain or praise about. One of my more memorable trips (not only to L.A. but in my life) involved a trip to Dodger Stadium, what I considered at the time, to be one of can't miss stadiums in our country, at least until I was kicked out. I took the trip over from Vegas with some friends of mine (Seth and Holly) and it was very scenic with no problems along the way. We made a little detour to check out the "Hollywood" sign (much smaller than what I had pictured in my mind) and then made our way to Chavez Ravine. We arrived at the stadium not having tickets so we ended up getting Right Field Bleacher seats for $25 each, a great deal considering those are the "All you can eat seats". Included with the tickets are Dodger Dogs, popcorn, non-alcoholic beverages, peanuts and many other things to fill you up. After several Dodger Dogs and several of the $10 beers (they are 24 oz at least), we were having a great time. Our seats were first row right behind Ken Griffey Jr. and right up next to the Reds' Bullpen. After about 6 innings or so, a guy from across the bullpen yelled at me asking for a Dodger Dog, I had an extra one, therefore, being the nice guy that I am, I tossed it over to him. I mean, I didn't want the poor guy to go hungry or anything and I knew that a Dodger Dog would hit the spot for him. About 15 seconds after the infamous toss, I was being escorted out by Dodger Security. Apparently it's illegal to throw things in the stands, even a hot dog. The security guys were pricks, but what do you expect, they have to live in L.A., and I understand that now. Seth and Holly met me outside, where Holly threw in her 2 cents about what had happened (I think she was more upset than I was), and after a quick pee in the parking lot, we drove back to Vegas with one of the more memorable experiences of my life. I am probably being a little harsh on L.A. having not experienced most of what the city has to offer, but it just doesn't appeal to me all that much. Santa Monica was very nice when I was out there in November. I had some spectacular seafood at Ocean Avenue Seafood along with some friends of mine. We then took a walk down to the Santa Monica Pier and hit up a couple of bars including O'Briens Irish Pub. They have Fat Tire on Draft, which made me very happy, as did Ocean Avenue Seafood. My advice, skip out on L.A. and head south to San Diego, which from what I hear, is simply spectacular. The traffic in L.A., the security at Dodger Stadium, the Committee at the Rose Bowl and my layover at LAX have all added to my displeasure for the city of L.A. On a side note, we did get to see a celebrity (in Santa Monica), Diane Keaton, not high on my list, but a celeb nonetheless.