Ben Comes to Town.

There is nothing like a trip to La La Land to revive a persons soul. With the sun, surf, beautiful people, and ME, LA can be a great place to come to escape your worries. And that is exactly what my friend Ben did. For a total of 24hrs!! It was the shortest amount of time I've ever had anyone come visit me for. We did, however, make the most of our time and had a great time doing it!! And just to embarrass Ben a bit, if that's even possible, I think it is important to note that Ben did ask if this would be appearing on my blog. I think he was secretly hoping to get a little face time. Ha Ha!! Here's to you Ben!! I hope it is everything you were hoping for, and more.

Ben, being Ben, on the Santa Monica Pier.

Our evening started out in Macy's. Yes. That's right. Straight from the airport to Macy's. As the weekend of Ben's arrival was approaching, I informed Ben that LA was having a bit of a "cold," wet spell and he better bring something warm. Did he listen. No. This is where Macy's comes in. Of the 24 hours Ben was in LA, 1 1/2 hours was spent shopping for something warmer for him to wear. That stripped sweater he's wearing is it. And some new kicks that gave him blisters.

It was a chilly evening, but not with his new sweater!! And the sunset was amazing.

We spent quite a bit of our time goofing off on the Santa Monica Pier. Riding the roller coaster, the ferris wheel and playing air hockey in the arcade.

A visit to the Santa Monica Pier is not complete without a ride on the roller coaster.

*check back soon for a video of the ride! I'm having technical dificulities at the moment.

Enjoy the ride! And hold onto your sunglasses!

Equally important to the roller coaster is the ferris wheel on the pier. This was taken at the tip-top of the ferris wheel. Amazing views all around.

And when not taking in the view, we were making funny faces,

and in general just being goofy.

Another amazing view from the ferris wheel, looking down on the pier.

After the pier and much indecisiveness on where to eat we ended the evening ended at a fantastic new Mexican restaurant I scoped out in Hollywood called Pueblo Viejo. I loved the atmosphere of the tiny joint and the food was great!! It's one of those hidden treasures a person can get excited about finding! It was definitely the sort of place to go when you want to chill for several hours and enjoy the conversation with the people your with. Plus, a major bonus was that the margaritas were NOT lacking in tequila, as the above picture testifies. And after Ben ordered three different appetizers, all involving chips, (my weakness), I certainly did not leave the place unsatisfied. After dinner, Ben wanted to check out the tattoo parlor where they film "LA Inked," so we swung by there and checked it out. I tried to convince Ben to get a tiny tattoo, just to say he did it. I figured since he already has 18 of 'em, what's one more. I think I had him convinced to do it until they told us the minimum was $200 bucks. Fugetaboutit we said. It was a neat place though. After that we headed home and zonked out. I think we were asleep before midnight. We acted like a couple of old farts. Oh well, we didn't care. Thanks for visiting Ben!!