house-made tortilla chips and four salsas — chef’s kiss!
Spring breaks have changed a lot over the years, from dashing home from college to earn money and offset expenses, to trips with our children around the country and across the sea, to simply spending time planning and planting in our tiny urban yard. This year, I got to join my husband in Los Angeles, where he was part of an international conference and I got to see friends, explore on my own and join him for lovely receptions and dinners.
The Loews Hollywood Hotel hosted the conference. Based in the heart of Hollywood, it’s where Academy Award nominees prepare for the annual “Oscars” awards event. Shortly after we arrived, we met up with a friend and found a restaurant next to the hotel with a lovely patio and delicious food and drink: La Popular. I had lunch there a second time during my stay. The Hollywood walk of fame is just around the corner, and we spent a few hours noting star placards in the sidewalk and fitting our hands into the prints in front of the Graumans Chinese Theater. My hands fit perfectly into the prints Bette Davis made. I’m sure that’s the extent of our sizes in common, as she was quite petite. We had a fine dinner at Gwen’s our first evening.
in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater with names, handprints and footprints of Hollywood stars impressed in the concrete sections.
Paul Landacre, The Press, 1934, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The next day I caught up with dear friends and we all went to LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and saw a cross-cultural printmaking exhibit and a whimsical collection of soccer-moment dioramas. That evening, we got to see Ron Carter, a jazz legend who is still playing masterfully at 89 years of age, perform in a quartet at the Catalina Jazz Club. It’s a memory I’ll hold for the rest of my life. The players were so attuned to one another and joyful expressions danced between them as the melodies and percussion moved through the intimate setting.
No visit to Los Angeles seems complete without some time spent at Venice Beach, where the cult of the physical body reigns supreme. After strolling along the beachfront path, we stopped for lunch. We watched the fog roll in and felt the air cool as we sat on the patio at the Sidewalk Cafe. The temperature drop was refreshing after a couple of unseasonably hot days.
I rounded out my time with poolside reading and watching NCAA basketball games and enjoying a late-evening reception in the hotel’s panorama room overlooking Hollywood’s twinkling lights on my last night there.