Back from California...and I already want to go back!

The Great California Adventure of 2009 was a resounding success. Having never particularly desired to visit Los Angeles or Hollywood or all the other crowded, sweaty tourist-y things evoked with the words Southern California, I can now admit to what an idiot I've been. Our week in L.A. was such an oasis from the heat here and, despite the notorious traffic, it was nice to be in a big city. We also found lovely places to go that totally by-passed a lot of touristy crowds. Aside from the theme park and one of the concerts being unfortunately during the opening weekend of the Orange County Super Fair (worst. parking situation. ever.), we really felt like we just lived there.

From our limited experiences, and despite my web research, Zips and I didn't find it to be much of an eatin' place for us. Although I did find this parking spot:
outside of a vegan Vietnamese joint called Au Lac. It was exciting to go to a Vietnamese restaurant where I could order anything at all, but I found it all a bit daunting. The place was fancier than I expected (it looks unassuming and strip mall-ish on the outside)-- everything was a tiny decorative serving on oversized and weirdly-shaped white dishes (the kind Cat Cora uses to plate stuff on Iron Chef America), and the items that won the most rave internet reviews were from the exorbitantly priced Raw section of the menu-- so I didn't try them. Overall the place made me miss my own Pho Chay and Cha Gio Chay (so I made them both on our second night home).

We also tried two vegan Thai places in West Hollywood. They were both fine, but nothing to write home about, although one of them boasted being a regular spot for the cast of Grey's Anatomy (flyers stuck under the glass on each table gush: "Sandra Oh is a regular and McDreamy Patrick Dempsy just loves our vegan chocolate cake!"). The most successful meal we had was a sandwich I made at a picnic bench in Griffith Park just before an Andrew Bird concert. I used hummus acquired at a Trader Joe's along with some microgreens and sprouts, avocado slices, lettuce and tomato. We had Coke from the cooler, sunchips and rice pudding from Trader Joe's. We were famished, and this was perfect.
We did, in fact, overplan for our five day vacation-- with two concerts, two screenings and a panel at a film festival, and a two day pass at Universal Studios Hollywood (oddly, Monday was far more crowded than Friday) (there is, incidently, NOTHING for vegetarians to eat here. Just a tiny cucumber roll at Panda Express, a tiny cheese pizza at Pizza Hut, or a tiny salad.-- or leave the park and try one of the many pricey restaurants at CityWalk). But we waded in the Pacific Ocean, collected sand and seashells, marinated in one of the hearts of American popular culture, drove over 2000 miles, and recharged our batteries a little. We can't wait to go back.