So as I mentioned, I just got back the other day from a rather spur-of-the-moment trip to Los Angeles. And because it feels dumb to tiptoe around the subject, and I respect most of you, I went down there to meet a girl. A girl I’ve been talking to online for quite a while, and who I had a really great time with. If you want more details, no offense, but you’re pretty much gonna have to be someone I know in real life.

The trip was great, though. Somewhere along the line it turned into “Let’s chase down some of the most amazing food we can find”, and oh my God did we ever. After one fruitless attempt, we managed to track down The Grilled Cheese Truck in Hollywood. This is one of those cool hip new food trucks that drives around Southern California and advertises pretty much solely via Twitter. Looking back, deciding to find that truck may have been the best decision I have ever made. Why? Because we both got the Cheesy Mac & Rib pictured here. Yes, that is a grilled cheese sandwich with macaroni & cheese, barbecued pork, and caramelized onions. I cried a little bit too.

A couple of nights later we made our way to Umami Urban, the newest Umami Burger location. Umami Burger was designed around the concept of umami, the “fifth taste” that our taste buds can perceive. It’s completely distinct from something being sweet, or salty, or bitter, and the end result is a burger unlike any I’ve ever had in my life. It was juicy, and meaty, with an indescribable mouthfeel. I really hope they expand up to SF sometime soon. Oh, and my date had a pumpkin pie martini with her burger. Yes, you read that right.

And somewhere in between all those were a few trips to In & Out (required for any LA trip), some amazing homemade lasagna and cheesecake, and several gallons of delicious iced Starbucks refreshments.

We also got us some serious muhfuggin culture. Spent a day at The Getty checking out how rich people lived in the 1700’s and climbing up and down some very poorly designed staircases. Also went to the LA County Museum Of Art and saw some very cool exhibits of Jeff Koons’ sculptures (including the one you’re probably familiar with) and Andy Warhol’s art (including, again, the one you’re probably familiar with).

And oddly enough, actually saw some honest to God celebrities. At one point we were walking down Sunset and passed by a vegan restaurant. We joked about a couple of people we saw inside, saying they looked like Gene Simmons and Yahoo Serious. On our way back, we passed the restaurant again and “Yahoo” was gone, but sitting at his table? Yeah, that was Hal Sparks. I sorta felt bad for him that he couldn’t enjoy cheese.

But we were on our way to the Grilled Cheese Truck, so we didn’t waste time feeling bad for him when we had our own dairy wonders awaiting us. The truck was parked in front of Meltdown Comics. We had been waiting in line for just a few minutes when hey, yeah, Zach Braff just walked into that comic book store.

What we realized was that the celebrities we were seeing were gradually getting nerdier and more feminine. So of course, Sarah Silverman or the like would be next.

We didn’t see Sarah, but when we went to the Farmers’ Market for lunch the next day and saw Andy Dick, my theory still felt valid.

So yeah. Fantastic trip. Also saw one really really good movie and one REALLY shitty one. If you’re reading this and you’re the person I went down there to visit (I realize this doesn’t apply to most of you): I had a great time. Thanks for it. Can’t wait to do it again.