REGULAR READERS may remember me sharing some LA activities suitable for when younger visitors come to town….well now it’s time for some ideas for more seasoned visitors….mainly because my beloved Mum and Auntie Sue have been doing it up on the West Coast!
After a two-year hiatus (for obvious reasons), the pigeon sisters were back in LA and they certainly took flight!
To be fair galavanting around in rollercoaster-laden theme parks isn’t quite their speed, but fine dining certainly is. I suggested they make a list of all the places we went in the eight short days.
Of course Tuesday night was a big hit as it was Brits in LA pub quiz hosted by newcomer Lauren Samuels, who was a delightful replacement for our regular quiz master Sandro Monetti, while he was hanging out with the toffs and the toast of the Cannes Film Festival.
“Everything is so big” expressed Auntie Sue and she tucked into the fish and chips. Two beers later, the quiz ended with us coming in a not-too-bad joint second place, This set us in a jolly good mood for the week ahead.
Wednesday was wicked as we attended the Bridgerton Experience – it was an excuse for m’ladies to get dressed up, however I failed to read the fine print, as literally everyone in attendance (except us) looked absolutely divine and spiffing, dressed in outfits from the era. Well I guess it’s one way for us to stand out…
The event hosted at the Biltmore Hotel downtown is a real treat for die-hard Bridgerton fans and non-fans alike.
A string quartet played Beyoncé, cast members cavorted and strutted, with all the dolled up m’ladies outfitted with feather fans, all the better to gossip behind about The Who’s-Who of Society.
Themed cocktails were served in the bar area while we awaited the arrival of the Queen herself. And when she did, it was quite the ‘fanfare’, with everyone bowing or courtesy-ing as her Maj perused the crowd for the ‘diamond of the evening’.
Manners, full participation and humour were all definitely on the menu, and the dancing performances entertained us throughout the affair, and not even American actors with slightly annoying Dick Van Dyke could put us off.
Mum and Sue were given the royal treatment of front row seats to watch the evening unfold, and for the memento minded, there was even a gift shoppe chock full of Bridgetown wares on display and for purchase.
With tickets at a mere $45 I have to say it truly was a fun packed 90 minutes and we’ll worth the visit. This wonderful event will close very soon, so don’t dally, get your tickets at bridgertonexperience.com/los-angeles.
The rest of the week was spent in Palm Springs which the ladies absolutely love, enjoying warm days by the pool sipping gin and tonics before visiting some of the fabulous local eateries by night. These I will share with you another time, due to space.
I’ll end with the facial experience at Raya spa which Mama didn’t not like, I forgot to mention the European facial involves extractions and after she declared “never again” and that she almost punched the technician for squeezing too hard. So be warned don’t go if you can’t ‘face’ a bit of pain.
We enjoyed a couple of lovely meals to end the trip, including The Castaway in Burbank which m’Ladies highly recommend and Yamishiro which (except for the views) was awful. In fact food poisoning was the final pay off for me unfortunately. So avoid it like the monkey pox!
As I bid farewell to my lovely family I’ll leave you with this… life is short, so make long-lasting memories, good or bad , and try to write them down so you don’t forget them. They now have so many stories to go home with
Until the next time….
Craig Young
