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CA and AZ March 2025 A 3 week vacation, I hadn't done that since 1991, and I've got the zillions of pictures to prove it. I'll try my best to whittle things down. This trip was SF (where I hadn't been in 18 years), LA, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff and the Hoover Dam. Started off well on Wed. 2/26 when my walk to Stonybrook, two subways, airport shuttle and going thru security (with my usual pat down) only took 57 min. I had a cheap seat and was in the middle but roomy on Jet Blue. Landed early in SF and got picked up by my gracious host Jeremy (of 90's band Bastard Squad) who brought me to NE Lobster for what he said was the best lobster roll. Good but not the best. Then over to Rolling Pin donuts, regrouped and out for happy hour down the street in the Excelsior neighborhood. We walked the other direction later to stop into Thrillhouse Records, drink at Evil Eye, grab a tasty street hot dog then had to go to the Royal Cuckoo for a cool old school vibe with a piano player. Passed so many old school spots that haven't existed in Boston in years. Ended the nite in a modern way with my first driverless ride in a Waymo. Weird but not as weird as I thought it would be.
On Thurs. Jerry, Gene and I hit the wonderful B Patisserie then to the ocean for Sutros Baths and Lands End, cool ruins, graffiti and waves. Walked around the North Beach area, grabbed a slice and hit the legendary Vesuvio where Kerouac and others drank. Got ok Chinese at R&G then visited Sluggo (of Hullabaloo fame) and met his son Dregen. Drove home thru the Tenderloin to get a bit of a look of seediness (not so bad in the daytime). That evening was a cocktail then dinner at Octavia but Tommy's Joint down the street looked more fun. And don't forget the excellent donut I got at Bob's for the next day, which ranked highly of all the donut stops (I love my donuts). Had a fun motorcycle ride on Fri. (when Jeremy wasn't going >100mph) to Pacifica for breakfast at a surfer cafe then over to cute Half Moon Bay to hang out. Came back for a walk around the Upper Haight section which wasn't nearly as inundated with "undesirables" as I'd heard. Bopped quickly into Amoeba, as you do, and grabbed some tacos. That night we walked down the Mission seeing more cool signs and met up with Nick (Mon. LRC) and his wife Leslie. Got fancy drinks at Last Rites, pizza at Angie's and ended with a night of "gay hardcore" at the El Rio. They had drag stuff in between the pretty decent bands and it was an interesting evening, ending with clonking my head getting into the Waymo heading home.
We went to the Dog Patch section of SF on Sat., got more good pastries, drove by more sights then went to the Conservatory of Flowers, walked around Golden Gate Park and caught some Caribbean music. Too bad it was kinda crappy out. Back to town for breakfast at St. Francis for biscuits and gravy, around since 1918. Checked out Pop's (owned by Chrissy of the Downhauls' brother), more wandering, quick beer at St. Mary's cuz it looked cool, regrouped then off to Oakland for a show. We started at Café Van Kleef on Nick's recommendation which was excellent, known for their $10 salty dogs. Then Beeryland for a burger then the Stork Club. But plans were dashed cuz we were supposed to see the Zig Zags, who I really like and they haven't been east in who knows how long. I'd bought tix already then even got offered a list cuz I knew Anthony the booker (former Bostonian) back in the early days. Sadly, someone in the band was sick so we were left with two just okay bands. Jerry and I left and were in the car trying to decide what was next when old friend Todd (another former Bostonian) calls and he'd shown up at the Stork. Back to the club to hang with him and his friend Chad and catch up. It was a crazy busy 4 days, I was up way too early every day and ran myself (and Jeremy) into the ground but had a great time.
No rest for the wicked, Sun. I fly Frontier to Burbank (way more convenient than LAX). Got picked up by, you guessed it, another former Bostonian Galeb who's one of my main LA connections. We went for Mexican food at Ernie's by his house with his brother for the most insanely huge burrito ever. I was exhausted and needed a good nap so we could head to the Dresden later, which somehow I don't think I had ever gone to when in LA (main scene of one of my fave movies Swingers w/ Vince Vaughn). Also stopped in Highland Bowl and some dark bar. Galeb knows the great taco trucks so that was the end of the night. Mon. morning I walked the 30 min to the North Hollywood metro with a stop at Randy's Donuts on the way. Interesting subway ride with a whimpering girl, a yelling woman, and a dude with one black glove staring at me saying "You're so fine, can I kiss you", um no. Wandered around downtown looking at the deco buildings, again not seeing as many homeless. Grabbed an empanada at the Grand Central Market, then took a long train to cute Pasadena to meet Galeb for happy hour at Craft by Smoke & Fire then to La Grande Orange for drinks and snacks then ended at the wonderful, long standing Pie n Burger. Came back to watch the Food Network and went to bed, a couple mellow days in LA but I needed that. Galeb drove me to Burbank on Tues. 3/4 to pick up my car rental for the Palm Springs and Arizona portion of the trip. It was like the Seinfeld episode where my compact car wasn't ready so I had to wait to get the Sentra instead of driving an SUV (no thanks). It was my first time using a key fob, I had to be told what to do, plus it was hard to get used to stuff in that car with the radio, my phone not being recognized sometimes, weird brakes stuttering, etc. Drove to Joshua Tree first and got a season pass which was actually cheaper for old people than a day visit but man, I just didn't know what I was doing and had the most half assed (and short) time there. Wandered around the little town which was kind of fun but decided to get to Palm Springs and the cute Caliente Tropics Hotel which Galeb and I stayed at in 2019. It's at a great location and while it could use some sprucing up, it had everything you needed. Showered quickly then the 5 min walk to Mr. Lyons for a great happy hour with bartender Russell (who yes, used to live in Boston). I walked more into town for another HH which wasn't as good but met a couple from SD and PR who knew the Dropkicks and SNFU (and I later hung out with him when he visited Boston). Took a million pics of the beautiful mid-century modern along the way. Wed. I hit Elmer's (10 min walk) for their delicious German pancake then took the tram I reserved up Mt. San Jacinto (it was too muddy when we were there 6 years ago). A good amount of snow up there. I checked out the nice golf club Peter Gates suggested but wasn't ready to eat, so back downtown to wander around, grab an iced coffee, visit the Cornelia White House and McCallum Adobe museum. After tooling around for maybe 2 hrs, I come back to the car and it's running. Forgot to turn it off with this dumb fob thing haha. No repercussions thankfully. I tried to return to Paulbar for HH (we loved it 6 years ago) but it was too crowded so back to the Purple Room supper club which was better than last time. Then one last drink with Russell at Mr. Lyons and a fun chat with a guy from Detroit. Obviously my fave place in PS.
Now time for the Salton Sea, Bombay Beach and Slab City. Drive drive driving on straight, windy desolate roads sucked. I thought BB was gonna be a cute artist area but it was WAY shabbier than I expected. Some pockets of coolness but I can't imagine living there, good photo ops tho. Ate at the Ski Inn (basically the only place in town) where the Anthony Bourdain-approved patty melt was good. A man at the bar told me he has to drive 17 miles to get gas. I thought good, that's the direction toward Slab City, I'll find a cute café. Hahaha, it was so desolate. Took the side road to Slab City, kind of regretting I was doing this the whole time. You can see in the photos, it's a little skeevy and maybe methy. Got out of there to head to Phoenix, unaware that I'd be on the most boring, windswept straight highways for so long. Dozed off a few times, there weren't any exits or even shoulders to pull over on. Finally got on a real highway and between the long drive and time change, didn't check in until 7. Too late for happy hour, wah. The Motel 6 was in a great location on the edge of Old Town Scottsdale and close to some other major Scottsdale places. Including Culinary Dropout which offered a decent drink and bite. Don't you know the full day I had in town was absolute crap weather, so treating myself to a hotel with a pool was dumb as it was pouring and 48°, what the actual F. Saw good stuff at the Phoenix Art Museum, spent too much time looking for Sonoran hot dogs, took a nice coffee break and hit Stinkweeds record store. Grabbed a quick HH at Frashers, wandered around the stores and galleries in Old Town then regrouped to meet Matt (formerly of Dirty Water, publicist) downtown. Hadn't seen him since London like 8 yrs ago. We just caught up at a couple places and called it a nite. Before I checked out Sat. morning, I went back to Old Town to grab a pastry, walk around and soak in the town on a beautiful day. Didn't get enough time there.
I drove to Sedona on Sat. with a stop in Prescott since I had to wait for Shannon to get home. It's a very cute town and I was happy to see a women's march against you know who. I came also to visit the Palace Saloon, supposedly the oldest bar in AZ. You def. felt like you took a step back in time. Had a nice drive to Sedona and got to the great house Shannon was housesitting at, with snow in the yard. We walked into the main drag for a stop at the Vault. Did some laundry since I'd been away for 9 days but even with all the driving, I still slept badly. Sun. we dropped stuff at Shannon's "real" house in West Sedona then even more driving to Page AZ for the Antelope Canyon tour. I really didn't want to drive 6 more hrs but it was worth it, gorgeous stuff. Had tasty green chili cheeseburgers in Page then 3 hrs back. I had to reschedule the "Pink Jeep" tour but kind of wish I just skipped it, this one at least was kind of boring esp. as odd man out with a family of 5. Came back to town to grab lunch then did a nice wine tasting of local wines. That nite we got a fancy dinner at The Hudson and that was Sedona time.
On Tues. 3/11 I went to the excellent Sedonuts then drove the short distance to Flagstaff. Dano used to live in Boston and is still an MBR listener. He's actually about 12 miles from town which was not quite as convenient but fine. We took a hike in the snowy park, saw bear tracks and ended up at this local place Timberline where Shannon and I had gassed up at after the canyon. We ordered a Navajo taco which is served with fry bread but nothing was hot, and the bartender lady got weird on us. Regrouped then out for what I thought was HH at the Hotel Monte Vista but drinks were $19 drink, even in AZ. Talked to a funny couple from Waco, got dinner at The McMillan and back to the Monte V to watch bad karaoke. On Wed I parked downtown to wander around, grab a treat, catch up on my notes, and tried a Hawaiian lunch. In the evening, we had excellent drinks at Annex where we met young Scott, then a great dinner at Shift. Finished off with a game of pool, I sucked.
Got up early on Thurs. to head to the Hoover Dam/Boulder City before the storm came. Had a tasty breakfast at the Route 66 Diner then checked out the dam which was def. worth the side trip. I didn't take a proper tour but the Boulder Dam Hotel where I stayed had a little museum that had a lot of info on it. I was glad I stayed at that historic hotel (1933 with a speakeasy) where you could easily walk around the little downtown. I got HH at The Dillinger then over to Skinny Bar, but both were just ok. Got a lovely potato and leek soup w/ bread at Cornish Pasty (used to be one in Boston). then watched Top Chef. Out early, drove to Peggy Sue's which was a great, kitschy diner. Rode by the country's largest gas station, Eddie World, and Calico Ghost Town but didn't stop. Another long drive, some crappy weather and even snow, falling asleep again so I stopped for 5 min in a mall then got Starbucks to make it back to LA. I was so happy to get rid of that car at the Burbank airport, with 1900 miles, and happy to see Sandy drive in to pick me up.
We headed right to long-standing Formosa for a fun happy hour. Regrouped then met Galeb in Silverlake. It was hard to find place to sit and eat so we ended up with veggie burgers at Monty's, then drinks at the cool old timey Gold Room. Sat. Sandy and I stopped at Kettle Donuts and walked around the touristy Hollywood stuff (her place and neighborhood are so great), split a good pizza for lunch at 800 Degrees then it was time for me to head downtown for the LA Punk Invasion. I timed my trip to be there during that event but didn't fully plan on going but Mike from Blanks 77 said he'd put me on the list. 40 bands, 4 rooms, 2 clubs, not really my thing. I did LOTS of walking back and forth in the maze of rooms where you'd sometimes get lost. My favorites included a surprise set from DI (taking the Dead Boys spot), Clit 45 and Lion's Law. Only saw a couple people I knew but did hang with Wattie from Lion's Law a bit. After being there for 4.5 hours, I couldn't take it any longer so met Sandy to hit House of Pies in Los Feliz, delicious, then to the Drawing Room, a fun cash only dive. Which the bartender kept reminding us. Had a great time talking to the people on each side of us, and kind of doing a shot. Drove home along Sunset where tons of low riders were out, quite a sight.
Sun. we went to the Hollywood Farmer's Market, got some food and iced coffee, stopped by the Record Parlor and walked around Melrose. I was meeting my promo buddy Matt at 9PM at La Cuevita bar in Highland Park and also was trying to meet up with Orville from OBNIII's, Bad Sports, Spiritual Cramp, etc. I headed out early for dinner at the bar of Hippo which was excellent (and had a food and drink happy hour which I didn't know about), enjoyed chatting with more nice people sitting next to me then Orville arrived to hang with us. Then Matt showed up and we all headed to the bar for a great hang.
Monday was a yummy breakfast at Clark St. Diner, formerly the 101 Diner where another great scene from Swingers was filmed. We wandered around then checked out the Hollywood Forever cemetery where lots of celebrities are buried. Ran into a friend of Sandy's who then says "Joanie what are you doing here?" I didn't know "Donna Lethal" but she had actually been to a party at my Kenmore Sq. apt eons ago, small world. On the final evening of the trip before I took the red eye, I got dinner with Sandy, Galeb, Allen and Julia, all former Bostonians, at Little Dom's for their Mon. $25 3 course special nite. Super fun and a nice way to end the trip, and appreciated A&J giving me a ride to the airport. It was a very long, often tiring, action packed trip but somehow, I wasn't dying to get back as much as usual. Good time. And I'm rushing to get this done before I head to France and London. 😀
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