WALKING IN L.A. - More wandering...

Another urban hike through downtown Los Angeles to see what I can find...

Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, is on trial for manslaughter.  Before the actual trial was a pre-trial hearing that lasted for weeks.  Here are all of the news vans parked on the sidewalk covering the action.  As a bonus, that parking lot on the other side of the green fence was "Camp OJ," where the news media had a temporary facility to cover the O.J. Simpson trial.  Both trials are/were held in the building in the distance, across the street.

Soap opera fans may recognize that building way in the distance as "General Hospital," a name we also used to call it many years ago.  The real name is USC-Los Angeles County Medical Center.  The old building is no longer used, a new replacement hospital was build next door.

A view looking up the Hollywood Freeway with the cathedral on the left and the new high school on the right.

This is a monument to Fort Moore which stood on this hill back in the early days of the city's history.  When I was a kid, there was a waterfall pouring over that wall.  The water hasn't flowed for at least 30 years now.

When the film industry is in high gear, these yellow signs are a familiar sight.  They point out the parking area that the crews are supposed to use for the shoots.  The one on top is for the show "Common Law." The other two must be for commercials or pilots that haven't been picked up yet.

If you'd like to see more, check out our first Walking in L.A. post.  If all this walking has made you hungry, check out our Three Meals a Day...All Across L.A. video report.

-Darryl
Copyright 2011 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Another Accessible Travel Site: Abilitytrip.com

Run by husband and wife, Darren and Faith Brehm, I'd like to welcome Abilitytrip.com to our list of Favorite Links. Abilitytrip.com is another resource for your accessible trip planning. With reports from destinations around the globe, you can use it to know before you go whether it will be accessible enough for you.

Also handy are the trip tools, like a packing checklist and travel documentation template to help you make sure you have everything when you go.

I plan on using this site to help with upcoming trips and think it'd be a great resource for all my visitors to check out.  Find their link in the blogroll, over in the left column, or click the link below and add to your favorites.

abilitytrip.com

THE COCKTAIL HOUR TOP TEN

Ready for the Top Five?  Last week's first installment of the Top Ten are below these five.  Now, on to the Top Five most popular Cocktail Hour videos, as voted by you, our visitors...


5. Tequila Tasting with the Tios - A cross-border tequila run, followed by a tasting session at a Yuma hotel with two of our Mexican uncles and our aunt.  These guys know their tequila and it was a lot of fun filming this with them.

Tequila Tasting with the Tios

4. Amaretto Sour - This lower alcohol cocktail proved mighty popular with our visitors.  Note that although it is lighter in alcohol, it still packs plenty of calories.  Still, a tasty drink.

Amaretto Sour

3. Belgian Beer Festival - An annual festival at Lucky Baldwin's pubs in Pasadena and Sierra Madre, California.  This video comes from the Sierra Madre location.

Belgian Beer Festival

2. Hurricane - Our top two videos are drink recipe videos.  At number two is New Orleans favorite drink.

Hurricane

1. Tequila Sunrise - At number one is this classic Mexican cocktail, popular all along that country's coastline.

Tequila Sunrise

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Lynt under CC-BY-SA license

Here is the rest of the Top Ten Cocktail Hour Videos...


10.  White Sangria - This wine based drink has lower alcohol content than most of our recipes.  Since it's mostly wine and juice, it's not bad in the calorie count either.

White Wine Sangria

9. Tequila Party at Rudy's - Each year, Rudy's Mexican Restaurant in Monrovia, California has a tequila tasting night with free-flowing agave spirits poured by reps from different distilleries.  Rudy also puts out a great buffet to keep those stomachs full. 

Tequila Party at Rudy's

8. Daiquiri - Hemmingway's favorite drink.  This recipe is from the original...no mixes or substitutes.  The result is delicious.

Daiquiri

7. Classic Margarita - My best margarita recipe...on the rocks.  This is also the first Cocktail Hour video we ever produced.

Classic Margarita

6. Cosmopolitan - The pink drink favored by the women on Sex in the City.  Here's how to make one of your very own.

Cosmopolitan

-Darryl

Copyright 2011 - Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

A COUPLE OF DAYS OFF: Happy Anniversary!

While my wife and I take a few days to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, I'll be rerunning some posts this week.  Enjoy them and explore the archives over on the left to see what you've missed.  Don't worry though, new posts are on the way and we'll be back to all new soon.

Thanks,

-Darryl

NEW BLOG: Musick's Music

We have a new blog to add to our family of blogs, Musick's Music.  Here is where I present some of my favorite songs and artists, along with some commentary, and...most important...links for you to download legal copies of the songs or order CDs.  (that's the important part because that's how we pay for the blog...thank you for your support)

Yes...it's there to make money, but you'll get free content, free video performances of the songs and artists, and we think you'll enjoy it even if you don't buy anything.  We just ask that if you do like what you see and hear, that you use our links for purchase.  It doesn't cost you anything extra, but it will help to offset the cost of producing all of our blogs.

So come on over and enjoy some great music across the musical spectrum at Musick's Music today.

Thanks,

-Darryl

PLACES THAT DON'T SUCK: The Original Los Angeles Farmer's Market

We've all been there.  Take time to travel to a far away, famous destination and then find out it doesn't live up to expectations...it just sucks.

Today, we're going to start an occasional series here on The World on Wheels called "Places That Don't Suck."  This is for well known tourist attractions and destinations that actually live up to their billing...places that won't waste your precious travel time.

Tim loves Bob's Donuts at the Market

We'll start with one that is fairly local to me, the Original Los Angeles Farmer's Market, located at 3rd and Fairfax, just south of Hollywood.  The Original is added to the name to distinguish it from the Hollywood Famer's Market, which is a weekly market held each Sunday in Hollywood.

This market is open everyday.

The market got it's start back in the depression when Arthur Gilmore allowed farmers to gather on his land and sell produce out of the back of their trucks.  It was a hit and the market grew into more or less permanent stalls.  

Gilmore, who had struck it rich earlier when he tapped into the huge oil deposit underneath his land, never let an opportunity pass.  He had also built a racetrack, baseball stadium, and performance auditorium on his property, attracting people by the horde.

Located near to Hollywood and next door to a busy TV studio, the market and its shops have always attracted a fair share of celebrities and outright stars.  It's one of the best places in L.A. for stargazing, we have never gone there and not seen at least one person who we've seen on the screen.

Most of the produce stands are gone now, two remain.  Two of L.A.'s best butchers still set up shop here, along with two poultry shops, a fishmonger, and a French market.  There are a lot of great places to eat here, with just about any ethnic variety you can think of...there's also a couple of not so great places too (I'm looking at you, Gumbo Pot).

Next door is one of the area's poshest malls, The Grove of L.A.  You can take a wheelchair accessible double-decker street car from the back of the Farmer's Market to the other end of The Grove.  2 hours of free parking are available with validation, but you want to get here early before it gets full.

We come at least twice a year to buy a freezer's worth of meat from the great butchers and Puritan Poultry.  While we're here, we'll spend a few hours just exploring and enjoying the market.  

Here is the rest of the tour...

There are plenty of places to just relax and chill here at the market.  Tim and I are hanging out at the edge, on the border of The Grove, which is on the right of the picture.  To the left is the Farmer's Market.

Patsy's is L.A.'s oldest pizza place.  Tim enjoys a slice.  It's decent, better that Pizza Hut or Domino's, but you can still find better.

Huntington Meat Market, they make their own outstanding sausages plus sell a large variety of Prime meat.

At the counter of Monsieur Marcel's wine counter, with Moishe's Jewish restaurant across the way.

At Puritan Poultry, where we buy all things bird...chicken, duck...and rabbit too.  Rene is the de-boning artist here.  One time, we had a big order to fill and we let George Segal go ahead of us because he only wanted to buy one chicken.  He was very nice and thankful for it.

Tim eyes the pastries at T&Y Bakery while we pick out our poultry across the way.

Can you do this at your supermarket?  While Rene is preparing our poultry order, we hop across the way for some wine and beer while we wait.

With everything The Original Farmer's Market offers, I don't know why anyone would shop at that store across the street.

Watch for some more about the Farmer's Market later this week when we do another video report.

-Darryl
Copyright 2011
All Rights Reserved

TRANSIT REPORT: Phoenix, Arizona

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Ixnayonthetimmay under CC BY-SA 1.0 license

Spend a few days in the Phoenix, Arizona area and one thing will be apparent…this place is huge!  What looks like it might be just down the street on a map can end up being twenty miles or more when you drive it.

This kind of sprawl makes public transit quite a challenge…a challenge that the Phoenix area is still trying, with various degrees of success, to meet.

Valley Metro is a conglomeration of various regional and city transit systems all working under one consolidated umbrella.  Mostly buses, a light rail component was added in 2008 running from Tempe/Mesa to north of downtown Phoenix.  It also serves the Sky Harbor Airport.

 

LIGHT RAIL – There are 27 stations on the route.  An airport shuttle will transport you to the nearby station there.  It mainly travels down the center of streets so it’s more like a street car in some respects.  An extension to the Metrocenter Mall, north of downtown Phoenix is under construction.

Picture courtesy of Flickr

Nick Bastian under CC BY-ND 2.0 license

LINK – This is a rapid-bus system that uses long, articulated buses on very limited stop service.  Buses have stoplight override capabilities and the stops themselves have “next bus arriving in” signs letting you know how long until the next bus shows up. 

LINK runs from Gilbert and Mesa in the east and from Chandler in the south to the Sycamore/Main St. Transit Center at the eastern edge of Tempe.  Click here for a route map and brochure of the LINK system.

BUS – Local, express, and limited stop bus services makes up service to the rest of the more than 2,000 square miles of the metropolitan area.  Express routes have route numbers in the 500’s. 

Click here for a route map of the system.

Fares are $1.75 for local buses and light rail.  $2.75 for express bus services.  A day pass is $3.50 if you buy before you get on board, $5.25 if you don’t.  Disabled passengers pay $.85 for local and light rail, $1.75 for a day pass.

All Metro services are accessible for wheelchairs and other disabilities.  For more information, visit valleymetro.org.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Ixnayonthetimmay under CC BY-SA 1.0 license

Like our Videos? Want the Camera?

Sorry for this brief interruption...

Athough we use both the Flip and the Kodak HD Digital cameras for our videos, it is the Kodak that has proven more versatile over time...and now it's on sale!  If you'd like one, click the link above and, at no extra charge to you (heck, you'll get it at a big discount), this site gets a small comission.

Click soon before the sale ends...now back to our regular blogging.

Thanks.

Best of 2010 - Foods

Let's finish off our Best Of awards with the best foods we ate last year...

First, no change here, the best tacos we've had were at Los Tacos de Huicho in Bakersfield.  Tender slabs of pork, stacked up on a vertical spit with a big, sweet onion on top, slowly rotate and cook to provide the best al pastor tacos you've ever had.  At 99 cents, what a bargain too!  Tim also says they make some of the best fries he's ever had.  My wife says the fish tacos are to die for while I'll always get a couple of tacos de tripas to go with my al pastor.  All of us also love the sopes, thick bowls of masa served with meat, beans, cheese and cream. Served plain, you finish it off with their awesome salsa bar featuring their delectable, creamy, and spicy guacamole salsa. 

PIZZA! This is a hard choice.  Our picks may seem like heresy to some, but our favorites are in our hometown area of Los Angeles, California. Three pizza parlors make our top three, all very worthy contenders...Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock, Tony's Little Italy in Placentia, and Joey's Red Devil Pizza in La Verne.  Casa Bianca makes a mean thin crust pizza topped with their fennel-infused homemade sausage but have some quirky, customer unfriendly policies...they don't open until 4pm; they're closed Sundays and Mondays; they take many long vacations; there is almost no parking; and it's cash only.


Tony's has the very friendly Tony Sr. and Tony Jr. running things.  They're open everyday, take credit cards, offer acres of parking, and make a Chicago deep-dish style pizza you'd think was flown in from the Windy City that afternoon.  At almost 1,000 calories a slice, it's good...very good...but it has to be a rare treat.


Just nudging out Tony's for our top spot is Joey's, next to an empty supermarket on the corner of Wheeler and Foothill in the really good pizza city of La Verne on the eastern edge of L.A. County.  Thin crust, flowing with melted cheese and sauce...we get the pepperoni, sausage, and American bacon pizza...these babies are the bomb!  Other items worth getting are the pizza crust bread sticks (not on the menu) that are wrapped around jalapeno peppers and cheese and the very excellent penne carbonara infused with garlic and bacon.  Get some Roland's sauce, a fiery hot pepper and vinegar potion made on the premises by Joey's mom, on the side.  It is also not on the menu but ask and you shall receive.

Barbecue.  This one's easy.  Go right now to Kansas City.  Find a Gate's restaurant.  Order the burnt ends sandwich.  Enter barbecue heaven.

Jalapeno poppers.  Thick, 5-6 inch long peppers.  Stuffed with ricotta.  Wrapped in bacon.  Smoked for two hours over oak wood.  Incredibly delicious.  This awesome piece of flavor is on the appetizer menu at The Dancing Bear restaurant in the old Plymouth Hotel in Plymouth, California in the heart of the Motherlode.

Hot dog, we went to a lot of ballparks last year and ate an astonishing array of tube steaks.  The best were the Hungarian sausages we made at home using the great sausages made at Huntington Meats at the L.A. Farmer's Market.  Outside of home, however, I have to give the nod to the Dinger Dog, available at Raley Field in Sacramento, home of the River Cats baseball team.

A half-pound, perfectly seasoned, natural casing sausage in a bun that can stand up to it.  Huge, snappy, and delicious...it's served plain and you load up with the ballpark's condiments.  It's not cheap at $9 but is big enough for two, I shared the sausage pictured with Tim and we were both full afterward.


That's our food finds for 2010!  Have a great and appetizing New Year.


-Darryl

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Holiday Spirits

What were we drinking this holiday season here at The World on Wheels?  Well, watch and see.

Watch the Video!

Christmas Eve found us with family and friends as we sampled a variety of tequilas.  From what one person termed "rubbing alcohol" to the nectar of the Gods, we had quite a range of tastes.  Also, for this group of tequila drinkers, we tried two very good zinfandels from Story Winery.


Check out the video for our reactions and recommendations.  


Happy New Year from The World on Wheels!


-Darryl