“Walking in LA, nobody walks in LA. LA is a great big freeway, put a hundred down and buy a car.” If you’re anywhere near my age you know those lyrics and nothing could be further from the truth. If you ask someone here where they’re from, they’ll tell you which neighborhood, never just LA. In reality, this is a city of unique neighborhoods, many of them totally walkable with their own main streets, cafes, little shops, housing styles, and identities. Atwater Village, West Hollywood, Larchmont Village, Brentwood, Frogtown, Santa Monica, Old Town Pasadena, Franklin Village – the list goes on forever.
I live in West Hollywood. It’s in the low 80s today, so I thought we could go exploring together. Let’s walk down my street and get some coffee first.
There are so many little cafes to choose from, they line the streets, but this one is right here in front of us. You’ll like the service! And the 70s disco music playing in the background…
After an espresso, I thought we’d hit up the local parks together. Since we’ve been dealing with Covid, I've been walking more and I've discovered we have parks! Lots, apparently! We may as well be outside. Let’s head down SMB aka Santa Monica Boulevard.
OK first up West Hollywood Park. There are rotating art exhibits that come and go, but it’s always interesting. And check out those ficus trees. That's what happens to those little office trees in pots when they are set free.
We’ve seen some art, but it’s getting warm out, so let’s head a couple of minutes west to Norma Triangle Park, a teaspoon of green in the middle of all the homes and condos here, and a 10-minute walk from my place. It has a cool fountain and some benches for us to hang out.
I also wanted to show you the redone cactus garden that looks so impressive from the street, but that’s another mile or so west in the next neighborhood.
We can cut through the Beverly Gardens trail and stay cool. It’s next to Santa Monica Boulevard. Here below is the cactus garden, which I've read was created in 1934 and updated last year with mature specimens. And two long blocks to the north is the park where George Michael was caught "in flagrant" – but wait I don't want to gossip! ;-) It's the park with the fountains and turtles below, named Will Roger's Park. A relaxing place to sit with a book.
Finally, we've walked a couple of miles now, so we can Uber back over to my favorite, a city park on the roof of a 4-story retail building, a park created in exchange for extra building height I’ve heard. You can bring your dogs, cats, coffee, or whatever up with you and hang out. Everyone does! And at night they light the candles and you have a view of the hills. And at night, the neighborhood is filled with creatives. So come visit when all this is over, the lattes are on me.
——————————————-SIDENOTE—
A few peeks into Diogenes beautiful home:
Back in 2013, I had the pleasure of meeting Diogenes when I was in LA giving a talk for Spellbound the women gathered at Spellbound asked me if I knew this man "Diogenes"? I shook my head yes, "Well, through the blog I do, but in person — no." They thought I was a bit mad, not to give it a second thought, to leave the hotel in a strange man's car. Though one thing I have learned from blogging is that if anyone takes time to read my blog, and wants to meet me… then I figure we must be kindred spirits. At 10:30 sharp a black car pulled up in front of the hotel… Instantly, I knew we were going to have a wonderful day. It felt like we had been friends all my life.
We had a fabulous morning and talked constantly about anything and everything. Diogenes asked me if there was anything I wanted to see or do in Los Angeles before we continued on the planned adventure. I said I wanted to see his home. So off we went to see his home.
I imagined my friends back at SpellBound shaking their heads at me, "Crazy girl going to a stranger's home!"
Diogenes' home is/was gorgeous! Thank you again for the amazing tour and your friendship.
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