The summer is a tough time to try and rack up out of town DDD locations since the flight loads are always so full and I have to fly on a stand by basis. So usually I take the summer off, unless it is within driving distance or I am going to be taking the trip anyway.
In an episode from August 2010 Guy featured a couple from Michigan who were celebrating their 100th DDD location visit. "Wow" I thought I am at 68 and I can do that so even though I had a LA cruise coming up, I wanted to get busy and get to my 100th, too.
I was taking a Royal Caribbean cruise out of the Port of Los Angeles and looked at the list and saw two or three places that I could actually get to. It would be my friend Barry's first visit to the West Coast so I wanted to show him the area. Now if you know Barry he is very laid back and when I asked him what he wanted to see while out there the only place he really wanted to see was Pepperdine University in Malibu. We flew out there a day before our friend Jeanne was flying out from Milwaukee and two days before our friend Leslie would be available to meet up with us so I tried to plan something around everyone's travel plans. I called my cousin Christine (sister to my cousin Ralph, who I had visited the year before). She told me that she was busy for most of my trip, but could meet us for dinner the day we arrived and I told her that there was this place in Manhattan Beach, near the hotel we were staying at by LAX, called "The North End Caffe". During the episode Guy had a great time with the chef, who made an appetizer of Hawaiian Pig Egg Rolls and also made his specialty Fettuccine Alfredo. It seems that the chef is a huge fan of Iron Chef Mario Battali. He studied while living in Italy and it showed. Both dishes were delicious. have a great meal and catching up with Christine was a real treat, I don't get to see her all that often so it was just a wonderful night! The next day we headed up the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH to go and visit what is probably the most beautiful college campus and best view of any college bookstore in the world, Pepperdine University, home of the Waves. Before we reached Pepperdine we stopped for lunch at an unusually bright shade of green building that is "Patricks Roadhouse". Patrick's is on the PCH between Santa Monica and Malibu and is popular as a breakfast and lunch joint. The Governator Arnold has his own dish on the menu there. One of the burgers that Guy made on the episode is the Rockefeller Burger, which is a burger topped with sour cream and caviar, the menu said if you have to ask, you can't afford it! I asked ($14.00) and I didn't want to afford it so both Barry and I got the Dijon Plum Burger. This unusal burger was also made on the show and it has dijon mustard and plum jelly, which I must say didn't sound too good, I told the chef that I would get that but I was sort of scared of it! I was amazed, it was delicious and would get it anytime I go there. i got to talk to the owner about the filming and that was enjoyable, too. Now if you are in the Malibu area, visit Pepperdine it is a beautiful campus and has and awesome view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The next morning I told Barry that I was going to this place about 35 miles south of our hotel in the town of Fountain Valley. "Paul's Coffee Shop" is one of the few places that when I saw it on DDD I said "I HAVE TO GO THERE!!!" Paul's is a small place in a strip mall just off the San Diego Freeway (the infamous 405!) in Fountain Valley. It is run by a retired Marine and it decorated in very Patriotic decor and serves all types of food form American Breakfast fare to Korean dishes. The thing that made we want to try this place so much was that they serve Cream Chipped Beef on toast, or SOS as it's known in the Military on the famous (or infamous) metal trays like you see on the show M*A*S*H. There was no question what I would get. It proved to be an inexpensive and filling breakfast. After Jeanne flew in we went to a non-DDD place in downtown LA called "Phillippes". This is the place where the French Dip Sandwich was invented and it was excellent! I have a friend from high school that has moved out to the LA area and I called her to meet for lunch. I met up with Patricia for a great lunch in Venice at my old favorite place "Baby Blues Barbecue", just love that Mac and Cheese! I had a wonderful time catching up with Patricia, her and her family are very special friends to me!
By the way I had a great cruise with fantastic friends and alot of great memories both on the seas and beforehand!
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