The Riot House (March 8, 2001)

• March 8, 2011
• #ten years gone
• #los angeles
• #sunset strip
• #spinal tap
• #led zeppelin
• #party like a rock star
• #Erik Estrada

[Ten years ago, I moved from Washington, DC to San Diego, CA. I am re-publishing the things I wrote during that move exactly ten years after they happened. Read the intro here.]

I signed my lease yesterday, so am now technically a California resident, even if I won’t actually live here for another week. I’m assuming I can now surf and speak Spanish. Anyway, yesterday we drove to our new place, which I noticed is just over a 4 hour drive from Vegas (this could become a problem). Chip represented me as my attorney as I went through the lease, primarily by looking at the document carefully and saying ”Hmm.. I like what you’ve done here.” 

We rented a car and headed to LA, where we had a room at the Hyatt West Hollywood, which was known as the Hyatt House in the 70’s, and as the “Riot House” by the rock bands of that era. We requested the Led Zeppelin suite, and actually ended up with a reasonable facsimile. We were 10 stories above the fabled Sunset Strip, and our balcony allowed for perfect access to throw furniture out. The bellhop said there were stories about rock stars driving motorcycles into the elevators, but we were under no circumstances allowed to try it.

We met up with a college friend of Chip’s who lived in LA at the hotel bar and planned our evening of partying like rock stars. Jenn called me on my cell phone, and when she found out we were at the hotel bar, she said, “Yeah, more like partying like 30-year-old professionals.”

Undeterred, we attacked the city. We walked over to Dublin’s, which as near as we could tell was the Irish Times of Hollywood, and approached the bouncers who were checking everyone’s ID’s as they went in. “You guys can go on in,” one of them said. *Sigh.* Our main observation from our first ever night on the town in LA is that the waitresses are unbelievably hot. And I bet the waiters could write a mean sitcom if we asked.

Random moment - later on in the night they were playing an episode of CHiPs on a TV by the bar, and one patron was staring at it intently. Chip walked up to him, watched a few seconds of the show, and said, “I remember this episode - it’s the one where Ponch & John help out a motorist!” The guy didn’t react, just kept staring. Must be that Chronic thing that Dr. Dre says they have out here.

This morning, before we headed out to the airport to fly back, we went to the pool on the roof of the Hyatt (that’s Chip in the picture above). Besides having a beautiful view and warm weather, the roof pool was featured at the end of This is Spinal Tap. So, as far as I’m concerned, we were rock stars.

Tonight I will be in Rhode Island. Tomorrow, Jenn graduates from Naval Justice School and then I start driving back this way again. Woo hoo?