Los Angeles Is No La La Land When It Comes To Going To Events & Bars
Back when I lived in the “other” L.A – Lower Alabama – I dreamed of being in a big city.
There would be more to do, more opportunities, more diversions. And more girls!
Now that I’ve been in the real L.A. – Los Angeles – for a while, there’s certainly a lot more to do and more girls.
But it has one big drawback and that comes to light every time I have an event to attend in this sprawling city. It’s too danged big. And with spotty public transportation it’s too much of a hassle to get anywhere.
That’s why we all live and play in “the bubble,” the small area where we live and out of which we rarely roam.
And it blows, frankly. I get tons of invitations to fun things all the time – most of them involving free food and free drinks – but to get there, I pretty much have to drive. And, that, of course means driving back home to Hermosa Beach.
Yes, there’s Uber and Lyft but because the distances are so great you’re still spending $20-40. Each way.
I always wonder why when PR people, liquor companies and others who so graciously send me the invitations always seem to hold them in Hollywood or Beverly Hills (or, in the case of one particular event, way east in the general vicinity of downtown LA). Is it because they think it’s more prestigious, or the executives simply want to be high-rolling while on the road?
I went to one Tourism Switzerland event at a studio in Hollywood (a very nice event to be sure) that took me two hours to get to it. Two hours! Heck, I could have taken a train from one side of Switzerland to the other in the amount of time it took me to get from Hermosa to Hollywood.
Why don’t they ever hold events here in the South Bay? It’s the most beautiful place in the city, has the best beaches, a mere fraction of the traffic and it’s just 15 minutes from the airport. Plus, we have nice places here, very nice places (I’ll be happy to recommend a few, too!).
Maybe people who are from New York are used to using the subways and assume that it’s easy to get to places in L.A. Well it’s not, and not by a long shot.
It’s the same for going to public events such as festivals, wine tastings and seeing sports teams like the Dodgers, and there are plenty of these things happing all over L.A. Or going a new or cool bar or even a different part of town to go party for a night.
Q: “Who’s driving?”
A: “Not me!”
It’s a shame because this vast city has enough to do to keep you busy every night of the week.
But who wants the hassle? It’s much easier to say in your bubble.
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