A Weekend Deferred - Part III

If you missed Parts I and II, check them out here and here.

So Saturday morning I wake up with the worst hangover. Ok, fine, the E exaggerates. It was one freaking drink. But I did wake up with a headache for some odd reason.

I fixed myself up and after watching some Saturday morning cartoons, including The Proud Family and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I called my roaddog Xaler to see what was on the agenda for today.

I remembered that he wanted me to check out this breakfast place that he loved to frequent. So after picking him up at his apartment, we headed to the best kept secret in Studio City - Vivian's. I guess the secret was out, though, since it was a twenty minute wait before we got a table, exactly as our hostess predicted (And you know, I really should be getting paid for all the free advertising I'm giving these places I visit...*LOL*).

I saw all these young white girls in the kitchen and I'm thinking, what they know about making breakfast. To my surprise, they know an awful lot. I ordered a pair of large multi-grain pancakes (our waitress talked me out of ordering 4) with a side of bacon. The bacon was a bit burnt but the pancakes were the bomb. I almost regretted only ordering two but resigned that I probably ate just enough.

After breakfast, we decided to check out the Getty Museum. It was like a giant college campus complete with a railway system to transport visitors to and from the museum. Each of the four main pavilions had various artifacts and paintings such as this lovely one. The pieces were all divided by historical periods of time. There was also a beautiful garden area with lots of varieties of flowers that I couldn't name. There's also plenty of grassy area for folks to sit down and enjoy a picnic if they wanted to. From different vantage points, you could have a nice view of the L.A. freeway and city skyline. It was a bit foggy so we weren't able to see much.

Once we left the Getty, Xaler guided me along a road trip tour of South Central L.A., West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills among other cities. We got hungry and stopped back by West Hollywood for dinner. We settled on another sushi place on Santa Monica Blvd called Umai. I realized during the course of my stay at L.A. that sushi spots are quite popular in L.A. I swore I saw one in every block.

Luckily Umai proved to be another good choice. I ordered the Sashimi Eleven, which consisted of 3 tunas, 2 yellowtails, 2 salmon, 2 albacore, and 2 halibut. I also ordered a side of mixed Tempura. I also ate a piece of Xaler's rolled lobster, which was the bomb. Instead of my usual water, I ordered a green tea lemonade, which wasn't too bad. Overall I was in hog heaven.

By the time we left the restaurant, I started feeling a bit tired. I also had a bit of a headache. Xaler and I decided to part ways and hang out later to go clubbing. I never did make it to a club. So ends Saturday.

Sunday morning I contacted an E blog lover nicknamed TheBlacks. We had texted each other a couple times before actually speaking. I had a hankering leftover for Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles. In fact, I think they made a movie about it.

We arranged a time to meet and I soon afterwards contacted Xaler to see if he wanted to join us. He needed an hour but he was game.

So we get to Roscoe's and I luck out on getting a parking spot. I contact TheBlacks as I'm walking towards the entrance and discover that he's within eye contact. We introduce ourselves and to my surprise, a table was actually ready. Talk about instant gratification. (Thanks TheBlacks...:-) )

So the three of us are chatting about our weekends and our respective lives. Things are going really cool. Then TheBlacks announces a surprise. I'm besides myself when he says that a fourth person will be hanging out with us enjoying breakfast. I was besides myself when he said who. And then the mystery person walked in.

It was none other than the infamous, ever so popular, the very suave, and YES, the very debonair Trent Jackson. We introduced ourselves to each other and Trent got to work keeping the rest of us in stitches. I really felt kinda special. It made for a perfect way to end my L.A. trip.

So I said my goodbyes to TheBlacks and Trent. I then dropped Xaler back to his apartment and thanked him for showing me his L.A. Then it was time for me to return my rental and wait for my plane.

So the time to leave L.A. came and since Southwest has this whole festival sitting arrangement, I prayed to get a decent seat near the front. As luck would have it, this kinda cute Samoan-looking guy was sitting by himself in the window aisle. Something told me that if none of the folks in front of me claimed that aisle seat for themselves that I should park my ass there. And park it I did.

I overheard him on his cell talking to his "sweetie". He asked about a baby so I assumed he was married. After he hung up, our eyes sorta met and we exchanged greetings. I had assumed his final destination was Chicago but he stated it was Phoenix. I learned then that my flight was making a brief pitstop in Phoenix before continuing on to Chicago.

So we were chatting quite a bit about our travels. I mentioning that I'm trying to do more traveling and him saying he's bored with Phoenix. I mentioned that Phoenix was another city I was thinking about visiting. He's the second person to discourage it. He states that there isn't really much diversity down there. I'm sure it's true.

He then did the unthinkable. He offered me a taste of his nuts. I was besides myself. He offered it in a public plane no less. I ruefully smiled as I reached over to get a better view of his nuts. I pulled out a couple chocolate-covered Planters Almonds from his bag. He told me there was more where that came from and to help myself. (Heh.)

We arrived in Phoenix and we wished each other well. That pretty much ended the excitement. I moved to a closer row for the rest of my leg home and paid the price by being surrounded by a bunch of loud kids, including one behind me that, you guessed it, kicked the back of my seat at every opportunity. Some things never change...:-)