Captured.

HA! I totally neglected to mention one other person that I finally got to meet at comic-con. I completed my Palmer collection and met the illustrious and lovely Mrs. P. Now, I have a slightly odd relationship to the Palmer collective. They are all close to other members of my family and I kind of knew them by proxy, hearing tales of the Palmerlings and Mr. and Mrs. P but never really meeting them. Strangest of all was the day that my brother asked me if I had a blog. Turns out Mr. P had run across it and mentioned that he had been reading it. So the long distance not knowingness just got stranger and stranger. All that got turned upside down a year or so ago when I had a lovely dinner with the Mister. Then on the great cross-country trek of aught six, I had a pleasant run in with the Mister and the Palmerlings but the Missus was poorly and I didn’t get the chance to meet her. Now I can finally call my collection complete as I have finally seen the whole shebang in one place at one time and it was lovely. I have faces to put with names and all is well.

The P’s had asked for some advice on what to see and where to eat in L.A. and I offered a few of my favorite things. I don’t know yet if they did any of them but when YOU visit L.A. I do recommend that you:

Stop at an In-n-Out, a Poquito Mås and Four n’ 20 for, burgers, tacos and pies respectively. Personally, I am not much of a burger person but I do like the In n’ Out burger and I LOVE their fresh, hand cut fries. It’s a once in a while treat for sure but if you are gonna bother to eat fries (and you know I am) then I say go for the super fresh ones! And while Poquito Mas may not be the ultimate taco or even traditional tacos, I really like them and their philosophy. Everything is fresh and prepared to order, it’s fairly cheap and it’s tasty. Sometimes when you are traveling you don’t have time to find that perfect little neighborhood joint, and costs need to stay reasonable. A baja style taco stand does the trick for me. Now Four n’ 20 IS that little neighborhood place and they make a darn fine pie. Nuff said.

As far as what to see, I recommended the George M. Page Museum, which is also known as the Tar Pits museum. It’s very small but I think it is exceptionally well curated and pleasant. It’s good for little kids, well; at least the kids I know have seemed to enjoy it. But my dad, who has a little bit of a hard time getting around, found it pleasant too. Plenty of room to move, places to sit and ponder, a lovely little garden. High marks all around from me.

Speaking of my dad, I took him and my mom to the Autrey Museum of the American West once when they came to visit. We all agreed it was one of the best museums we had ever seen and people, my mom has been to a LOT of museums. What really got me about the Autrey is that I just don’t really have much interest in guns or cowboys or western heritage but the museum kept me fascinated for hours. Good stuff.

Another thing I like but am not that into is cars. I mean, I like cars, I like to drive. I’d love to drive a performance car, or a race car or…I like cars. But I am not obsessive about them. So when we went to visit the Peterson Automotive Museum I was pretty “eh” on the whole thing. Turns out, it’s pretty darn nice.

I know have pimped all these places before but I guess it always is worth repeating when you think you’ve got some good tips. Next time you are in L.A…well, do what ever you want, but if you are not sure what it is you want, maybe try these out. And if you have tips of your own, by all means, comment away!