|
|
|
|
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books 2008by Dave Marx, PassPorter Co-AuthorAs an old-time comedian might say, I just flew in from the Coast after participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and boy, are my arms (and legs) tired!Some say everyone has a book in him (or her), and that's particularly obvious in Los Angeles, where there are so many people able to get a book deal on the strength of their celebrity and so many writers qualified for big-time book deals by the strength of their talent. If ever there was a book fair for the star struck, this has to be it. And with this kind of star power to draw upon, there's little wonder this is the biggest show of its kind in the U.S. We were invited to share a booth by fellow travel publisher Troy Corley, of the Free Fun Guides, and it seemed to be a great way to introduce more West Coast readers to all our books, especially considering that the Disney Cruise Line will start sailing out of Los Angeles in a few more weeks, and that we'll have a new edition of our Disneyland and Southern California guide out later this year. Also present in our 15-foot by 15-foot pavilion were Prospect Park Books, which has a variety of beautifully produced regional-interest titles, and Greenopia, which puts out handsome guides to living "green" in a variety of major U.S. cities. When we weren't busy speaking to our many visitors, we all had a great time swapping publishing tales and advice. Readers of our newsletter may have noticed announcements about our presence at the festival, and it was very gratifying to chat with close to a dozen folks who came specifically because PassPorter would be there, including people I'd already met at MouseFest. I was also delighted to hear so many people call out "PassPorter!" with recognition and delight when they stumbled across the booth. So many of them had nice things to say about our books, and how useful our guides and web site have been for their Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line vacations (let's face it, most Los Angelenos aren't going to feel the need for a Disneyland guidebook). We also made a lot of new friends, who were able to buy our books at good discounts, sign up for our weekly e-newsletter, and learn about all that PassPorter has to offer. Our booth was directly opposite the Los Angeles Times Stage, site of some of the biggest celebrity events of the weekend. Saturday, famously slimmed-down actress Valerie Bertinelli charmed the crowd, even when she accidentally used a "grownup" word she could never have used on TV's "One Day at a Time." As you might expect, she's turned her weight loss experiences into a motivational book. Sunday brought big crowds for Dodger baseball legend Steve Garvey, California's First Lady, Maria Shriver, and the tag team of film director/producer John Landis and actor Tim Curry. We had fun spotting Ms. Shriver's security team (is there a California Secret Service?) as they moved through the crowd with the same intensity, earpieces, and dark business suits as Kevin Kostner in "The Bodyguard." Landis is famous for Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Clue, and not so famously, The Disneyland 30th and 35th anniversary TV specials. Curry is famous for playing comic villains in films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Annie, and Home Alone 2. His miscellaneous credits including the voice of SIR, the comically villainous robotic torturer of cute little Skippy in the dearly departed "ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter" at Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland. They both kept the crowd mightily entertained, and wrapped up at exactly 5:00pm Sunday, official closing time for the festival. Over the next 90 minutes we packed up our unsold books, furled our banners, loaded up our vehicles, and breathed big sighs of relief. So here it was, about 6:30pm. At 10:30pm my flight would be winging its way back to Detroit. So, Troy asked, could any of us squeeze in some dinner? How's Cajun sound? Soon, Troy, her partner Ron and I were headed south on the 405 freeway towards Hermosa Beach, about six miles due south of Los Angeles International Airport. They knew a great little place down there, and it'd be really easy to get to the airport afterwards. Sounded like a plan! I'd never been to Hermosa Beach, and I was ripe for a little adventure. The place has an (apparently deserved) reputation as a party town, and it sure seemed that way when I arrived. While I quickly located the restaurant a mere one block from the entertainment pier, finding parking was another matter entirely. The pier and the surrounding restaurants and bars were jammed, as was every on-street parking space for many blocks around. Still, I was lucky enough to have a spot open up for me after about 10 minutes of circling, just two blocks from the restaurant. Hmm... One Hour Parking at All Times, except for people with Resident stickers? It was 7:30, I'd have to leave no later than 8:30 to catch my flight... seemed perfect to me! The New Orleans Cafe (140 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA) was just the kind of restaurant I love to discover, whether traveling, or at home. Great, authentic food, in a slightly rough-around-the-edges setting. None of the carefully-crafted polish of a chain restaurant (or chain restaurant wannabe) here! It was a long, narrow, neighborhood lunch-counter-style restaurant with a long dining counter and small kitchen along one wall, and about ten tables along the opposite wall and up in the front window. We quickly settled on a dozen hushpuppies for appetizers. Ron and I both ordered crawfish etouffee (mine "spicy" - though I could have had regular or extra-spicy, with rice or over pasta - or the same choices with shrimp, instead). Troy went for the fried catfish with red beans and rice. Our entrees came with a salad - we all took the house Caesar. There was a nice loaf of home-baked French bread, spiced up with a bit of melted cheese on the crust and some coarse ground black pepper in the dough. Nice! So was the salad. Soon, we were tucking into our main courses. The etouffee was even better than I'd been lead to expect - lots of crawfish tails in a thick, brick-red sauce full of chunks of peppers and onions. As one Cajun TV chef used to say, "Ooooh weeee!" Troy's red beans had big rounds of andouille sausage, and the catfish looked fabulous, with a deep brown cornmeal crust. Troy marveled over how sweet and tender her catfish was. On a previous visit the chef told them it was because the catfish wasn't farm raised (unlike nearly all restaurant-served catfish is these days). A natural diet makes all the difference. I didn't have the heart to ask Troy to part with a sample, but it sounded like the catfish I used to catch and fry as a boy. Now I know why the farm-raised fish doesn't match-up with my memories. The restaurant flies in its seafood and pork products (andouille and boudin sausages, tasso ham) fresh every day from New Orleans (that short drive to the airport definitely comes in handy), and that, too, makes a difference! Alas, I didn't have time to stay for dessert (their home-made peach cobbler was awfully tempting, though). I looked at the clock, and it was already 8:40! Between the risk of a parking ticket and the risk of missing my flight, I made my goodbyes and was out of there tout de suite. I zipped straight up Sepulveda Boulevard to the airport, gassing up along the way to avoid the $10/gallon rental car penalty. The rental drop-off went smoothly, I squeezed onto the jam-packed rental car shuttle, managed to get checked in quickly ("Anybody here for Detroit?"), made it through a long security line (it's a good thing I'm well-practiced in the drill), and was on the plane in the nick of time. Whew! I had one final treat as the plane took off into the darkness. Our flight path took us out over the "southern route," with the plane flying out over the Pacific, turning south along the coast, and finally heading east a bit south of Long Beach. I had a bird's eye view of Hermosa Beach (hadn't I just been there?), and moments later we swung over San Pedro (soon to be the Disney Magic's temporary home port). I could pick out the twinkling lights of the Queen Mary next door in Long Beach, where we stayed the night a few years back. As we headed inland over Orange County I tried very hard to see Disneyland, but for whatever reason, I wasn't able to spot it. Altogether, though, it was a nice way to wrap up a long weekend in LA. Footnote: My cousins Robert, Jodi, Bradley, and Andrea (who were gracious enough to have me as a house guest for this visit - thanks again, guys!) stopped by the booth on Saturday afternoon, and we got together afterwards for dinner at The Grove shopping mall in Hollywood. The Grove is right next door to the Los Angeles Farmers Market on Fairfax and 3rd. In fact, it's hard to know where the Farmer's Market ends and The Grove picks up - they're all part of the old 1870 Gilmore dairy farm, and the property is still in the hands of the A.F. Gilmore Company. The landmark Farmers Market (founded in 1934) morphed into a full-fledged modern shopping mall when The Grove was developed, while preserving its old "look." And that look should be familiar to fans of Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, where the architecture of the Sunset Ranch Market food court pays homage to the old-time Farmers Market ("Fairfax Fries" refers to the Farmer's Market location on Fairfax Avenue). This, of course, put me in something of a Disney mood, and must have colored my impressions of The Grove as well. Let's just say The Grove is a highly-themed shopping experience. In this case, it emulates a turn-of-the-20th century major city (rather than the small-town America of Main St. USA), with two- and three-story brick buildings, brick and cobblestone streets, a full-size trolley line (with working double-decker trolley), and several city squares surrounded by shops. There's no Disney-style "forced perspective" here - those upper stories are full-size retail space. Still, in some ways, it resembles the Streets of America area at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Of course, it's a Hollywood version of a city, and where better to find it than the middle of Hollywood? Out of town visitors to Los Angeles generally have places other than shopping malls on their To Do lists, but if you're in the immediate neighborhood, it may just be worth a visit. About the Author: Dave Marx is a bestselling author of dozens of travel guidebooks. He lives in Ann Arbor with his partner Jennifer and son Alexander. Related Articles:
Return to PassPorter.com |
Visit the PassPorter Message Boards
Copyright 1999-2015 |
|
