Che in L.A.

And of course there was a Che-Sighting in L.A.!

I caught these images of Che hanging out on a hat rack in Chinatown.

At $5.99 a piece, I could have bought the whole lot. But I didn't. I practiced restraint!

Eating My Way Thru L.A.

I love visiting a city when I get to hang out with people who actually live there. They tell you all sorts of timely, local gossip. Plus, they make sure you eat good stuff.

My L.A. family certainly didn't take me to the trendiest, spendiest restaurants in town, but I don't tend to like those places anyway. Here's a sampling of the places I did stop to eat on my recent L.A. tour.

Pinkberry is a chain of frozen yogurt shops. They were started in L.A. by a Korean ex-pat named Shelly Hwang.

Her concept is really simple. You choose from three flavors of frozen yogurt and then top it with fresh fruit, nuts or carob chips. The yogurt flavors are coffee, green tea or original.

The coffee is very coffee, the green tea is very green tea, and the original is not vanilla. It's tarty plain as in plain, original-flavored yogurt.

We went in the evening and I was trying to avoid any caffeine, so I sprung for the original topped with mango, raspberry and strawberry.

It was yummy!

We also hit up the Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax.

What started as a simple, homegrown farmers' market back in 1934 is now a permanent collection of food stands.

A "market" feel still exists, however. When strolling through the cool, covered alleyways, I felt the same curiosity I've felt when strolling through a market in Mexico or Thailand or Vietnam. What's around the bend? What funky food will I find?

We ate at two of the stands. Loteria served up massive lunch burritos overflowing with juicy pulled meats. We were all so stuffed that dinner hours passed without hardly a peep from any of us. The iced limeade was especially refreshing given the hot, hot outdoor temps and my niece seemed particularly fond of the guacamole.

We also hit up Bob's Donut Stand. Again ... yummy!

When we finally recovered from our burrito stupor, we went for an old-time diner experience at Dinah's. According to all the signs, Dinah's serves up the best fried chicken in town.

If it's not the best, it's certainly the most plentiful! Goodness -- the size of these helpings!

The decor is a throw back to days-o-yore. Circular booths. Swivel stools at the counter top. An odd color scheme of maroon and blue.

It would most definitely be the sort of place to head for a massive, heart-stopping breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon and all the fixings to fuel any sort of sight-seeing in L.A.!

Cruising Venice, L.A. Style

Of all the places I have traveled, I've never traveled to Venice -- Italy or L.A.

Today that changed. Now I can say I've been there, at least California style.

Considering the rush and jumble seemingly all of West L.A. has to offer, the Monday morning canals of Venice were a pleasantly cool and calm place to stroll.

There were some joggers. There were a few dogs. There were ducks quacking, following us along hoping for whatever crackers or crumbs we might toss their way.

And there were for sale signs! Oh, what a dreamy way to pass a morning -- musing over
a swanky home on a Venice canal.

Hot, Hot Le Brea Tar Pits

A long time ago, when I was a young girl, my parents took me to the Le Brea Tar Pits during a family trip to L.A.

I have no idea how old I was, elementary aged for sure. Yet the museum made an impression on me.

Saber tooth tigers stuck forever in bubbling pools of hot tar? How could that not make an impression on a kid?

I'm all grown up now, nevertheless, the Le Brea Tar Pits was at the top of my list when it came to "Things I Wanted to do in L.A." I guess I wanted to know if my memories of the place held true.

Turns out that bubbling pools of hot tar still impress me. Even before we reached the door of the museum, we'd run across several places where tar was simply seeping up out of the ground.

And perhaps equally impressive is that the Le Brea Tar Pits are not on the outskirts of the city. They are in the middle of L.A.! Right on Wilshire Boulevard!

Imagine that! Underground pools of liquid tar are swimming just under the surface of our country's second largest city!

And while Ice-Age animals are no longer wandering astray and getting themselves all tangled up in goo, the museum showcases plenty examples of animals that did perish at the hands of tar.

Like this creature. It's a "Harlan's Ground Sloth." The animal is extinct, but 76 skeletons of the species have been excavated from the tar pits at Le Brea.

Even though there were displays of extinct deer, wolves, mammoths, and saber tooth cats (not tigers, cats is the correct name I learned), it was the remains of this goofy looking half bear-half sloth that most fascinated me.

It reminded me of a similar extinct animal my hubby and I had run across in way southern, southern Chile - the mylodon.

And no wonder the tar pits were especially bubbling during my visit. In the afternoon, we spotted a bank sign boasting a temperature reading of 107!

The news later reported Saturday's high at 96. No matter. It was still hot enough to boil tar.

Feeling Groovy in L.A.

I've come to L.A. for a visit with family. I'm feeling lucky to have gotten out of Minneapolis. It's sleeting and snowing in Minnesota, but hot and sunny in the city of angels.

I'm also feeling groovy, thanks to the photo booth program on my sister-in-law's Mac. It provided lots of good fun as we perfected the two-faced shot.

And just to set the record straight. That is not a poof of blond hair growing out of my neck. That's my niece, who was engaged in her own brand of photo booth fun.