From Beachwood Cafe I drive back to Griffith Park where I visit the visitor center. I haven’t been there before, even though I’ve visited the park many times. The visitor center is interesting as it shows a lot about the history of the area. There are old pictures and there is a 3d-map of the mountains around Hollywood. I have to do some work this morning, so I drive to another coffee place where I’ve been before, M Street Cafe in Studio City. I finish the work in about two hours and then stay a bit longer to also have some relaxing time here. I don’t want to remember this coffee place as just a workplace, so I enjoy a nice smoothie, a blueberry scone and some reading time. I drive back via Griffith Park where I discover a free train museum called Travel Train Railroad where they’ve stored several steam trains. It’s nice to see, but it’s very warm this afternoon (95F / 35C), so after walking around the trains for a while I get back into my car with air conditioning. I drive to my Orange County, just south of Los Angeles, where my friend Matt lives. As usual it takes about two hours to get there and I arrive just when he’s home from work. Matt takes me to a cool Italian restaurant he’s been wanting to try for a while. The pizza is good and then we walk to a nearby brewery to enjoy some conversations over a good IPA.
On Saturday morning we drive to Huntington Beach where we have breakfast at great place called Sugar Shack. Even though it’s only 6.30am yet, the terrace is already half full with what looks to be mainly locals. Matt tells me that it’s hard to get a table here after 7am. I like being out and about early anyway. After breakfast we walk at the pier and watch the surfers for a while. Then we drive to the local theater where we meet with Nancy and more friends to watch the new Lilo and Stitch movie. I don’t think I’ve ever been at the movies around 10am before, but it’s fun and not very busy. The movie is great. Matt and I watched the original cartoon at home last night and it’s fun to see the comparison with this new live action movie. After the movie we have lunch together and since Nancy has to work, Matt and I go exploring together again. He shows me one of his favorite coffee places. I like that he’s about just as passionate about coffee as I am. In the evening we drive to Laguna Beach to a place called 1000 steps. It’s a very high staircase all the way down to the beach. We miss sunset by a few minutes, but can still enjoy the beautiful colors in the sky. Taking the steps back up turns out to be quite a workout, but we manage it and drive back home. We don’t go to bed too late, because we have another exciting day ahead of us.
