03 October 2012

California & Grand Canyon Adventures, Part 7, Day 6

If you need to catch up on our California & Grand Canyon Adventures this summer, check out Part 1, Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5, and Part 6! 

On day 6 of our trip, we headed back up to Los Angeles with Jim & Wanda...this time, to the downtown area.  On our way through the parking garage we ran into a cop who started chatting with us about our plans for the day.  We were heading to central market when he asked us if we had heard about The Bradbury Building.  We all looked at each other and shook our heads no.  So he walked us to it.  It was amazing!!!
Built in 1893, the architecture of the building has invited itself to be featured in numerous movies, television show and novels.  For good reason too.  This place was sooo neat to look at.
And just across the street....Grand Central Market, the oldest market in the city.  It was freaking awesome.  If I lived near here, I'd be here everyday.  If we didn't already have lunch plans at another LA landmark, I would have tried to eat everything in the market.  So we just picked up some fruit and berries for later.
Pig heads on top of the bike rack outside the market.  I like!!!
Just a few blocks away we rode Angels Flight for 50 cents each.  50 cents to ride the worlds shortest railway (298ft)!  Basically this was built to bring rich folks to and from the fashion districts back in the day.  This day, it brought our group of normal tourists up and down for no particular reason.  It was fun!
To keep up with our fancy pants style, we headed a few blocks over to the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.  This. Place. Is. Fancy. Pants.  Big, fat fancy pants.  If you want to stay in style in downtown LA, you could totally stay here like nearly every famous person in history.  I wanted to go here because Ghostbusters (among other films) was filmed here.  And Ghostbusters is one of the greatest movies of all time.
By this time, we were pretty hungry, especially after staring at all the yummy goodness at the market, so we started to make our way to our lunch destination.  We parked on the other side of Olvera Street, which is considered the Little Mexico of LA.  Cute little shops and tamale joints.  It just made us even more hungry.
And finally, our destination!!! Philippe's French Dipped Sandwiches.  Another historic site!  One of Los Angeles's oldest restaurants.  And for good reason.  It's a fun little joint, and if I lived in the area, I would come often.
You walk in, the floor covered in saw dust, and you head straight to stand in one of the many lines at the counter.  You tell the ladies what you want, they remember your whole order and run around preparing it.  Then you grab your pile of food and go find a seat at one of the family style tables.

These sandwiches are good. Really, really tasty...and the banana cream pie is fabulous.  With all the au jus (I got mine double dipped), the whole thing is so soft and tasty you can practically swallow it in one bite.  And because you have barely digested it yet, you'll want another one.  Trust me.
You should probably just order 2 to be on the safe side.  It won't go to waste.

By this point in the day, we were full and getting tired, so we headed back to Rancho Palos Verde, but not before stopping at BevMo (um, favorite booze store every!) and Trader Joe's for some more snackings and supplies for Wanda's famous margaritas.

Day 7 soon!!!

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01 October 2012

Our Life in Numbers

I like lists.  I like numbers.  And I like countdowns.  Let's put them all together, shall we?


108 days left of Aaron's Pilot Initial Qualification course

125 days (or sooner) until our 'arrive no later than' date to Japan

16 computer based training exercises Aaron needs to complete

6 training flights left

85 days until we see Rachael

75 amount of homemade dinners to make in the USA (approximately)

days until we see Aaron's parents

130 hours (approximately) left until Kacey finishes Rosetta Stone Japanese

4 suitcases to pack

2 vehicles to sell

1 cat to annoy

Also, if you're into applesauce, check out a recent post called Applesauce at my kitchen!

If you enjoyed this post, and would like to follow 'Where in the World is Kacey?', please subscribe here so you don't miss anything! Also, be sure to check out Kacey's Kitchen for my food blog!

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