So this will be the first post in a series to summarize the EPIC California trip three buddies and I just had. I had been on two Ghostbusters-themed visits to California previously, but this one managed to top those just because of how much we accomplished in a span of 6 days.
The story begins during the very early morning hours of May 8, 2015. I woke up at 2:15am and got ready for my buddy Fernando to arrive. He traveled from Queens, NY down to my place in Bethlehem, PA and arrived at around 3am. If anyone doesn’t know Fernando, he has one of the best modern-day custom Ecto-themed cars.
It was cool to see it sitting in my dad’s driveway. We were off for the Philadelphia airport. The excitement was mounting because we had been talking non-stop about how we could get Chick-fil-a before our flight as there is one in the airport. Well, we got there and found this:
The damn place was closed. Out of every single place to eat in the airport, this was the only one that wasn’t open. Needless to say, we were both sort of sad…Fernando more so:
It wouldn’t be long before Jonny Ruckus and our other friend Ken arrived in the Philly airport – they each flew into Philly from Manchester, NH and Boston, MA respectively. We then all took the same flight to Los Angeles together (EPIC). The flight was long, but hey, sleeping was a good way to pass the time…depending on who you ask…
OK, no, his head is not on the other dude's shoulder...I was just waiting for it to happen though (darn).
Eventually we landed, got our bags, headed to get our rental car, got to the hotel, checked in, and then it was time for the first matter of business. I wanted a sacred meal to signify that our adventure had truly begun: ROSCOE’S CHICKEN & WAFFLES. If anyone reads this, you MUST go to this place if you’re ever in Los Angeles. The food is amazing:
After this, we headed back to the hotel and then for the Griffith Observatory. The drive to this place is so awesome. To get to it, you get to drive through this:
That’s the tunnel from ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ and ‘Back to the Future Part II’. We spent some time at the observatory and then headed back through the tunnel listening to 'Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!' from Roger Rabbit, but it wasn't as magical as it was in the movie. Anyway, we then headed to House of Pies (which happens to have the best key lime pie in the world…seriously).
By this point, we were freaking exhausted, but opted to head to another location called Eighty Two. This is a pretty cool location with a bar and a bunch of old arcade games/pinball machines. It was a good time, though all I wanted to do was play Street Fighter II but couldn’t because these two guys who obviously go to this place way too much were hogging the machine and there was no way any of us would stand a chance against them.
Eventually we had our share of fun and went back to the hotel to get some sleep. Day #1 was complete.