Welcome to Hollywood
After a busy month in the Denver Health ED, a last-minute change of plans to leave Denver and head to Telluride, and a helacious day of airport bar-hopping thanks to some lovely Real Estate agents from New Hampshire, I arrived in L.A. to "relax" and see the guys play the Viper Room.
My friend Jared Hooper, a sommelier originally from Brooklyn who crashed with Liz and I for a bit in Telluride, is currently living in Hollywood. So of course we had to get together and rage a bit. We began innocuously enough, strolling down to the beach to say hello to the Pacific before grabbing a happy hour brew. What followed was an all out onslaught on our livers which began with a tasting at Whole Foods (incredible, making groceries, gettin' buzzed)... and led to a pub crawl over to the Dresden. Now the Dresden holds a special place in my heart, and is actually what my friends an I called our favorite place in Oxford back in college. It was made famous by "Swingers" and I was lovin' every minute. We sipped Manhattans, listened to some jazz, and checked out all the "beautiful babies" before heading to In-N-Out for late night.
The following day, we strolled down Hollywood Blvd, people-watching and sipping Chimay before grabbing Jared's girlfriend Erica, and heading to check out some art museums. After this artwork, Jared and I headed to Jumbo's for some more "au naturel" artwork. I will say that, in my opinion, the appeal of both the go-go girls and the Richard Serra artwork lies in the curves... Zing!
Because of Jared's position as a professional wine enthusiast, we decided the Stars of Santa Barbara tasting should be on the agenda for the following afternoon. Relying on my bartending experience and Jared's connections, I was able to attend the Trade Show version of the tasting, which was held at the disgustingly lavish Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. I had to grin as we tossed the Subaru keys to the valet, then stepped between a Bentley and a Ferrari to gain entry to the booze... The day was incredible, and we had the opportunity to taste a mind-boggling array of grapes from all over Santa Barbara...
Now, the inciting event that led to this trip was the Viper Room gig... Which, of course, rocked. Jared and I rode over to Sunset a bit early to pre-game with the fellas before the show. We spent the night jammin' with a shit-eating grin plastered across my face and a cold PBR plastered to my palm... I wish you'd been there.
Damn, good times.
Damn good times.
Damn. Good. Times...
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