Along the coast was much cooler than a few miles inland. It was probably 65 degrees on the pier as opposed 85 in Hollywood. Also, there was quite a bit of cloud cover. This being Labor Day weekend, and it being Santa Monica, the beach and pier were packed! It was interesting to walk along the pier and see all the people selling paintings and other various dust collectors. If we weren't so full I might have insisted we ate at one of the best local joints in Santa Monica, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Fo REAL!
The crowded pier.
The crowded beach. It was cold, so I'm not sure how people could really get in the water.
Me before my haircut looking like a jerk, with Laura.
If you look to the left, those condos were exactly like the one Donna, Kelly and Jason stayed in in the latter years of 90210. I was so excited!
People performing some stupid human tricks most likely to be followed by some frisbee and pot smoking.
After strolling along the beach we walked down 3rd street which is a dedicated pedestrian street. There were a bunch of people singing, doing flips, playing guitars, and whatnot. Along either side of the road were numerous shops that you would find in your local mall. Laura showed remarkable restraint by resisting the temptation to go in and shop.
While we were walking back to the car we spotted this gem along the main drag by the coast. We are certain it's Jay Leno's car because embroidered on the headrests of the back seats were the initials "JL". I was able to snap a few pictures (as you would expect).
From Santa Monica Laura instructed James to drive toward Rodeo Drive because she was on a mission. A mission for cupcakes. Laura had spent a good couple months researching the best places to get cupcakes in LA and she wasn't going to come back to Atlanta without her craving being satiated. So we stopped in at Crumbs (for the second time this trip). We heard about Crumbs when were were in New York last year. They had some amazing treats. However, in LA the Crumbs cupcakes were sub par and to be honest, a bit disappointing. But we got the Crumbs cupcake and were going to head to dinner, but Laura said, "Not so fast! I want to see something down the road." So we walked a few blocks and found ourselves in a line of people. What the hell were we doing? Well, we were waiting in line for more cupcakes. This time from the Oprah endorsed, Sprinkles.
After 20 minutes we made it into the store, and with a plastic bag of Crumbs cupcakes, Laura ordered a couple Sprinkles cupcakes. This might signal, to the 3rd party observer, an addiction. However, I as someone who respects the scientific method, recognize this as a poorly conducted, but extremely gratifying experiment.
The cupcake selection at Crumbs
Inside at Sprinkles.
Before doing the taste test we had to get some protein. So we hit up Umami Burger. This is a local (I think) LA establishment that has some terrific burgers. They aren't very big, but are very tasty. Also they had some pretty good onion rings.
Finally, after dinner we retreated to James's apartment to conduct some delicious science. It didn't take long for us to determine that the LA version of Crumbs is NOT as good as the New York version. So it was an easy victory for Sprinkles in the cupcake battle of Los Angeles. We probably could have guessed this because the wait for Crumbs was about 5 minutes, while the wait for Sprinkles was 20 minutes. So there you have it, Sprinkles is 4 times better than Crumbs.
Now that we had completed our whirlwind tour of LA and most likely developed some form of diabeetus, we got on the plane for the red eye flight to Atlanta. The trip was very successful and we had a wonderful time. We appreciate James being our safari guide through the jungle of Los Angeles.
