Dorothy Malone & the Fig Tree

Today as I walked off my ship at 7:30am, I realized I am embarking on an extremely rare adventure, starting up a brand new ship in a country where ice cream has no nutritional information on the side of their cups and pasta does not come from a box on aisle 9. Of course it all kicks up in Detroit; however before the adventure officially starts, I want to reflect on todays mini adventure with a few friends that I met on the Cruise ship this week. Kim, Danny, and Bruce were guests from the city of angels and I became quite chummy with them over the course of the sailing. What better way to spend an entire day in LA then with folks that are from here:

Let me tell you the great fun we had:

They picked me up from the Hilton Hotel (...fancy!) as soon as they left the port and thus our day began. The very first thing to do? Go to their Cousin June's house to trade the Camry in for the convertible. What was special about this was that June lived in the very bungalow where famed ''Golden Age of Hollywood" Oscar winning actress Dorothy Malone lived (http://finemoviesonline.net/mag/dorothy-malone)... whom I am a huge fan, I mean who could forget her unforgettable turn in such classics as: 'Written in the Wind' and 'Tarnished angles'. If you have not seen these movies, you will want to. The surprise ending in Written in the wind will shock you to the core!

Kim stands by a non fig tree in front of Dorothy Malone's house

The next thing on the "must see" list according to Bruce was the "largest fig tree in the world" and seeing it was absolutely amazing... at 25 mph! It was lush and green and very whimsical. I know what you are thinking: "What's the big deal about a fig tree" and to that I reply "I am from Canada where we don't have fig trees, let alone the largest one in the world" - thank you Bruce for showing me the tree - we will always have 'our' tree.

Next on the list of course was Venice Beach and it was AWESOME. Not since Vancouver's Commercial Drive, have I marinated in such eccentricities. There was a guy dressed like a Baghdad-ian moses playing the electric guitar on roller blades and a street performer who jumped on broken glass...and of course The Zoltan fortune teller machine as seen in the movie 'Big'... I put my dollar in and wished I was small, we will have to see tomorrow morning when I wake up to see if it worked.

After Venice we toured Beverly Hills. Bruce of course was being hounded by the two back seat drivers, Kim and Danny to quit stopping in the middle of the road so he could show me different species of plants such as the Babalogicista shrub and said others. Bruce pointed out the ladies with towels hanging from their mouths by simply saying "botox". That's when I created the game 'Punch Botox no returns".

Finishing our day at the famous Barney's Beanery where Bruce treated us all to a fantastic lunch before heading to Sprinkles for a vegan red velvet cupcake. Unfortunately I had to head back to my hotel for rest and preparation for my red eye flight to Detroit (can you think of anything worse?).

I just want to say to my new friends from LA: Thank for a great day. To come off a cruise and take me out all day before even going home, was so generous. It was a great unexpected day and aren't those the best. Every time I eat a fig newton...shoot are those vegan...probably not...every time I see a fig newton, I will think of our fig tree - the largest in the world!