Day Six: Los Angeles - Beverly Hills and The Grove

First and foremost; a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year to you all.

Yesterday we went to the equivalent of Jerusalem for American Jewish women: Beverly Hills. Specifically, Rodeo Drive.

We started the day at Nate & Al's for breakfast, which is my wife's favorite restaurant on the West Coast. It is the mother of all Jewish delis. I've eaten there many times in the past and yesterday was the first day I didn't see Larry King. I has the scrambled eggs with salami and stuffed cabbage. That might not sound right on paper, but it makes perfect sense at Nate & Al's.

After that we cruised around Rodeo for a while. The Wife amazed me and didn't purchase a thing, although she I gave her full license. I give her a hard time but at the end of the day, she is pretty pragmatic. Alas, wish I could say the same for myself. I bought myself a sweet ass special edition, Japanese import hoodie from North Face that was far too expensive. You can't go to Rodeo Drive though and not purchase something.

After that we cruised to The Grove, which I had never been to previously. It's a combination enormous mall/enormous farmers market, but in my opinion it was nothing special and way too crowded. Wish I could say more but it merits not much more than a sentence or two. We headed home and The Wife took the kids to the Santa Monica pier, which they loved.

I went for a run to Venice, my normal run when I am in LA, when I encountered the coolest thing. As the sun was setting. I noticed that there were about a hundred or so people gathered on the beach. I ran over to see what all the commotion was all about, and it turns out to be a massive drum circle/hippie dance/sun saluation dance/jam. Think Grateful Dead parking lot, circa 1968. When you run smack into a drum circle, there's only one thing you can do: jump in and freaking dance. So that's exactly what I did.

California, baby.

Happy to be alive.

Happy New Year y'all.