A Squared: A Long Los Angeles Weekend: Day 2

Friday, November 2, 2012

A Long Los Angeles Weekend: Day 2

On to our second full day in L.A....

We were up early on Sunday for the big race.  After dropping Alex off at the starting line I managed to find an open Starbucks to camp out at while I waited for things to start.

How I spent my morning: Coffee and my trusty race map.

Since the race took place the weekend before Halloween a ton of runners dressed up in costumes.  I think they actually had a costume contest after the race ended too.  I saw a ton of Where's Waldo's, bananas, Batmen, LMFAO guys, and Dr. Seuss and Disney characters.  Some other highlights were the entire cast of the Super Mario Kart video game (complete with cardboard cars), Michael Jackson (running in a red leather jacket and wig in that heat with a fanny pack playing MJ tunes), and Nyan Cat. 



Here are a few other costumes that I actually caught on camera: A guy dressed as Dorothy, a guy dressed as 80's Whitney Houston (above right-- he's hidden behind the guy in black), and a guy dressed as Tinker Bell running next to Alex (see below left).  And check out the group of Elvis fans running in full jumpsuits with Miller Lites in hand and pushing a jogging stroller turned shrine blasting Elvis's greatest hits.  That's dedication!


Poor Alex's injury came back with a vengeance during the race, but he still finished-- and at an awesome pace.  He ran 13.1 in 1:51!  I actually got to see him pass by at mile 6 and then again just before the finish.

Found him!

We celebrated Alex's big finish with our friend Kristen over pizza at 800 Degrees in Westwood.  At 800 Degrees you pick your pizza toppings along an assembly line (a la Chipotle) and then they bake it to order in a woodfire oven.  I had a special fall pizza with one of my favorite ingredients-- what else, but buternut squash?  Love it!



After lunch Kristen took us to the Getty Center in Brentwood by Richard Meier, one of my favorite places in L.A.  I couldn't wait for Alex to see it too.  The building is beautiful, the grounds are expansive, and the views are so breathtaking that it's the perfect place to spend an afternoon outside-- we barely even stepped into the actual museum to see the exhibits.  An interesting fact about visiting: Museum admission is free.  You pay $15/car to park and then take a tram up the hill to the museum, but then you are free to wander in and out of the buildings and around the property. 







Here are a few of the zillions of photos that I took as we wandered around the Getty grounds.  If you're visiting L.A. and love architecture (like us nerds) or want to spend some time outdoors this is on my must see list!






While our packed Sunday began with something Alex is passionate about (running), we eneded it with one of my favorite things: food!  Alex suggested we make one nicer dinner reservation before we took off for L.A. and we decided on Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger's Border Grill downtown.  Everything is fresh and locally sourced (I am a real sucker for the farm-to-table movement) and it was definitely one of the best upscale Mexican meals I have had.  We also got to dine al fresco that night-- had to take advantage of that good weather while we still could!
Border Grill on Urbanspoon

Guacamole and fresh salsa trio to start...

Chile Rellenos for me.  One of my favorites!

Amazing dessert: Tres leches cake and banana cream pie

1 comment:

  1. Travel to los angeles is very expensive. I can't have enough money to have a trip in here. Can we travel by car to los angeles ?

    ReplyDelete

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