Walking in L.A. 5 days hanging out around the Sunset Strip

 

You know sometimes you just need to visit a place to see if it really is what people say it is? It may be some place monumental on a world scale like the Parthenon in Athens or the Pyramids in Egypt (which both are truly memorable if you get the opportunity). Or it may be something personally meaningful to you; a place you have always dreamed of visiting or read about. A place where your heroes trod or used to hang out?

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For me most of those dream places were in LA. I'd read that many rock bios to finally entice me to that city where I hoped I could still try and catch some of sights and sounds that Jim Morrison or Zeppelin or the Gunners or countless other saw.

 

I’d avoided it for years, but I had got to the stage where I wasn’t sure why anymore. Maybe it was fear of disappointment, fear of driving, being shot, fear of my reaction to finding out how good it was and then pining that I’d not been sooner, whatever.

 

I just knew I had to finally do it. Only having a few days in LA before heading off to my Annual pilgrimage to Rocklahoma meant that the itinerary was short and sweet, forget the shopping, ditch the beaches, just plant myself somewhere within the vicinity of the strip and walk up and down looking for some rock and roll.    

 

Below the Strip

 

First night we checked into the Ramada Plaza Hotel on Santa Monica Boulevard, near the corner of La Ciegna, just below the strip and just North of the Beverley Centre. Perfect location – built on the site of the motel Jim Morrison used to live in or have breakfast at or something. The hotel was just on the edge of ‘Boys Town’ (which of course we were unaware of at the time). Jim’s ghost was strangely absent that night though, despite a few beers…

 

Like I always am on vacation I am up unnaturally early, and unlike the work week absolutely unable to get back to sleep after I’ve woken. So a few words to the wife, something mumbled about getting her a coffee and I’m out of the door into the LA morning sunshine.  It feels great, and I start to stroll down Santa Monica westwards…

 

Boy’s Town

 

It is a little strange I admit (even though I used to live in Sydney), to see quite so many men in one place all wearing tight shorts and tight sleeveless t-shirts escorting small dogs around. Seems like small dogs are the in thing in these parts I tell myself. I pull into Starbucks and outside on the pavement there are more of these guys and their little dogs, all happy to see me. I smile back. Grab a couple of coffees and then it hits me – this is a gay area!  These are little gay dogs. Not that there is anything wrong with any of that of course I have many friends who are little gay dogs…

  

So that’s an eye opener, I drop off the coffee and decide to go and find the legendary Barney’s Beanery, which I’m told is literally just around the corner. So I head east this time on Santa Monica past a parcel post place, past a nice little restaurant, past a little shop that sells every drink and type of chocolate ever made, a t-shirt place, a picture-framers, a big pharmacy, a place to get breakfast…

 

Barney’s

 

And there it is. Standing back behind this tiny open patch of grass… the place where Jim and Janis used to drink, Barney’s Beanery. It doesn’t look much from the street but as it says it is home of LA’s second best chili, which appealed to me greatly. (I never did find the place that sold the best chili and didn’t really care). So I locked that location away for later and carried on east to see what it was like down there, but that way on Santa Monica is more Russian than gay, and just a little bit like a street in any big city. I headed back.

 

Barney’s was to become my favorite place in LA that visit…

 

First Night on the Strip

 

The plan that second night was to hit the strip. We walked up La Ciegna, a steep slope up to Sunset, we saw Chateau Marmont there on the corner, the huge billboards, and the restaurants you knew the names of and turned left (the House of Blues is further to the right).  I know from experience why no one walks in LA now.

 

Soon we saw the Whisky – just like it looks in the pictures. We were off to see the Vains of Jenna play the Whisky before leaving LA on the last night but this time was just a walk past. It was a lot smaller than I imagined on the outside at least. We took a few pictures and I tried to put my head around the door into the main room but was blocked off and asked to leave (entirely through gestures) by a surly Mexican built like a tank. That would have to wait.

 

There’s plenty of other stuff to see on the Strip- the Hustler store, the Viper Room, the Roxy and the Rainbow, then the Key Club and further down, well it just goes on …I saw a poster advertising the Pussycat Dolls outside the Viper room, so didn’t even cross the road.

 

Rainbow Bar and Grill – Tuesday

 

We settled on the Rainbow, it was a Tuesday night, early and quiet. Again it’s a lot smaller than you imagine and dark inside but it just smells of cool. We are looking around like the tourists we were, waiting for Lemmy or some other Rock God to materialize; but as I said it’s Tuesday and I’m not sure Rock Gods are out on Tuesdays even in LA. There’s no denim and little Leather, just lots of old people eating in. And when I say old I mean maybe an average age of 60 or so in the dining room.

 

Toilets are up the stairs and just like you’d expect, dark, dirty and full of history… (I think it was history).  We decide to sit outside by the bar that looks over the Roxy car park, it’s a nice night, the Jack and beer is going down well, the bar staff are friendly enough.  Then I spot it the quiz machine on the bar. I love quiz machines and I know who will have the top score on this one. I’m ashamed to say I beat it after a bit of a play and I plan to check it this time I go back…

 

We talk to a few people who have just come in for a look like we have, then slowly make our way home through the backstreets to Santa Monica, past the people walking their dogs and having fun and back to the hotel for a few mojitos. I wish I’d planned this a bit better I tell myself that next time I’ll do a proper Doors tour…

 

 

Next installment tales from the Whisky and back at Barney’s…