Weekend With Liz & Mike

Elizabeth and Mike came to visit for a couple of days, and we had loads of fun. I wish they could have stayed longer, but they had to get back home and back to work.

Yesterday we went to the Getty Villa off of Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades. Driving down PCH on a 78 degree January day was a little surreal. The beaches were packed with surfers trying to make the best of the poor surfing conditions, and we even saw three people on surfboards with long paddles. They looked a little funny... more like gondoliers than surfers.
The Getty Villa is a spectacular place to visit. Admission to the center and museum are free, but there is a parking fee. The museum which houses Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities is architecturally in the style of a Roman villa complete with gardens. I was all ready to take a ton of pictures of my favorite people in one of my favorite places with my brand new digital SLR when I realized my backup battery was still in the charger at home and the only battery I had with me was almost out of juice. Well, at least I got a couple pictures before it died.

After going through the museum building, we had lunch at the villa cafe and then decided to check out the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Since it was Saturday the Promenade was filled with street performers, shoppers, and curious onlookers such as ourselves. As soon as the sun began to set and it started getting a little chilly, we head back to the San Fernando Valley. Along the way we discovered Mike had never been to BJ's or even heard of a Pizookie. We knew we had to go to BJ's for dinner and Pizookie. I ordered a pineapple and jalapeno pizza, my favorite. For dessert, Andrew and I shared a half triple chocolate and half chocolate chip Pizookie with all vanilla ice cream. I was in Heaven!

We decided to go to the Los Angeles Zoo today. Andrew and I are members, so we got everyone in for free. Walking up and down the hills is good exercise. Plus, we get to support our local zoo. The new gorilla habitat is wonderful, and I can't wait to see the expanded elephant enclosure once it opens. There is always a young giraffe (this time two) and baby koala. The lions, tigers, snow leopards, orangutans, and chimpanzees are a must see as well.

After the Zoo, we drove into Thai Town in Hollywood and had Thai food at Palms, famous for its Thai Elvis impersonator. When we finally figured out what we all wanted and placed our order, the server wanted to make sure we knew what we were getting into when we requested everything be spicy. We assured her we understood that the food would be very spicy, exactly the way we wanted it.

The dishes started coming out and the Basil Chicken (which I unfortunately couldn't taste because I don't eat chicken) was apparently extremely spicy. Andrew and Elizabeth concluded it was some of the spiciest food they'd ever put into their mouths. Mike took a short break until the pain subsided and then dug into the Beef Panang. Andrew said the Basil Chicken was by far the spiciest dish we ordered and at least twice as spicy as the Kee Mao Noodles which were spicy enough for me.

We rounded out our meal with Shrimp Cakes (my current favorite), Chicken Satay, Spring Rolls, and Coconut Soup with Shrimp. It was all quite delicious!