abk Travel: The LA Files

“Life is not a spectator sport.” – the great Jackie Robinson

We had to wait 2.5 hours for a rental car upon our arrival in LA, but when the gentleman pointed us to a Ford Mustang GT 5.0, all was forgiven.

When we finally left the rental car riff-raff, we had to fight Beyoncé traffic. And Prince Harry traffic.

We went straight to Dodger Stadium from the airport. Dodgers-Braves round one. It was my favorite event from the trip.

I loved the stadium. I loved the vibe. The Braves were great. But the Kobe Bryant drone light show after the game was out of this world.

We checked into our hotel in Burbank around midnight, so we slept in Saturday morning.

On the west coast, college football is on television at 9am. I thought we had slept until noon.

LA Sports Cards was right across the street from our hotel. Half sports, half Pokémon. My son was stoked.

I walked in wearing a Zion jersey. They had that same jersey on the wall. That started the nearly two hour long conversation.

My son had $170 of his own money to spend. He spent all but $9 of that on cards, which he joyfully played with while we watched TCU vs. Colorado on television.

The Hollywood Sign is The Hollywood Sign. I’d seen it before, but it’s just cool.

I drove the Mustang down Sunset Blvd., and it roared like a lion.

Going to The Rose Bowl was all about the stadium. I could care less about UCLA football.

My official order at In N Out Burger is a double-double, spread only, add pickles. Hits the spot every time.

Chicago-style hot dogs beat the socks off of Dodger Dogs. Not even close.

Dodgers-Braves round two was Sunday afternoon. We got down on the field. Banks ran the bases.

When that game was over, we headed over to USC to watch our first WNBA game. So much fun. It was my son’s favorite thing we did.

We both really liked the in-game DJ, DJ Mal-Ski.

When that was over, Messi was playing right down the street. Tickets would have cost me $2,100. I begrudgingly passed.

We went to an old school pizza joint to wash away the pain of not seeing Messi. By all accounts, it worked.

The swimming pool area of our hotel was so picturesque. I can see why so many movies and television shows have filmed there.

I wanted to see the Friends set. Banks wanted to see Harry Potter world. We both wanted to see The Big Bang Theory set.

Anaheim was a very pleasant suburb. The stadium was pleasant. The people were pleasant. But nothing spectacular.

Ohtani injured himself during pregame batting practice, so that was a bummer. So we just watched a normal Angels vs. Orioles game without the star of the show.

I got to make a custom Angels hat with cool patches, so that was dope.

Every stadium we went to had mountains as the backdrop. It was 70 degrees and usually around sunset. My heaven.

I saw more Teslas during these five days than I have seen cumulatively in my life.

We made it to Venice Beach to shoot ball before we had to get on the plane Tuesday. Have no fear, this white man still can’t jump.

Five sporting events. A movie studio tour. Two trips to Hollywood. Two trips to LA Sports Cards. Shooting baskets at the beach.

I feel very confident that this young tradition in its second year could last a lifetime. Every Labor Day weekend.

Sports trip? Surely you know it’s more than that.

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Have a great week.-Benj

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