This past Friday, I flew to Los Angeles to spend the long Labor Day weekend with Carmen. Her friend Chris, who was at the U.S. Open in New York over the weekend, invited us to stay at his beautiful house in Manhattan Beach while he was away. Carmen's friend Keya joined us that evening and we burned the midnight oil drinking all of Chris' champaign and discussing all of the taboo conversation topics (i.e Sex, Politics, & Religion).
Saturday morning, Carmen and I took a long drive up the coast. We basically shot up north to Malibu via the Pacific Coast Highway. While there, we decided to hit Moonshadow, a very cool restaurant/lounge located right on the PCH. This is also where Mel Gibson reportedly got tanked a couple of weeks ago when he decided to get his anti-Semitism on (Jack Ass).
Later that evening, Carmen, her friend Kelly, and I rented a town car and enjoyed an evening of drinks and dinner at the Viceroy in Santa Monica. This lifestyle hotel boasts one of the sexiest atmospheres I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. We closed the evening out with a visit to the Willshire and Holly's West in Westwood. Out of these two lounges, I would only recommend the Willshire. Holly's West, a new club to hit the LA scene, had only to offer bad hip hop music and a tacky crowd. In retrospect, Carmen and I regretted not closing the evening out at Viceroy.
The agenda on Sunday morning included a nice walk to Hermosa Beach. Keya and her boyfriend Eric joined us for breakfast and then the four of us did a quick walk through of Fiesta Hermosa Beach Fair.....which was a bit surreal. Carmen and I where to spend Sunday night in LA with our friend Jackie. She has a beautiful condo located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. I had not seen Jackie, and Carmen for that matter, since our trip to St. Maarten earlier this summer. Needless to say, it was good to have everyone back together again, even if it was only for one night. Keya and Kelly drove in to join the three of us for dinner at Asia de Cuba in the Mondrian Hotel. Once again, I had the pleasure of enjoying a spectacular venue that hit a home run on both the atmosphere and the cuisine. Indeed, Skybar boasts one of the most spectacular views overlooking downtown LA and West Hollywood. 
After dinner we crossed Sunset Blvd to grab cocktails at Katana, a place well known for its sushi and its lounge scene.
This was the first time that I had the opportunity to visit LA for pleasure and to experience all that the city had to offer. To be honest, before this trip I held a un-informed bias against LA. The only other time I had been there was 5-6 years ago for business. This limited me to the area between downtown LA and the convention center. Needless to say, this offered the most limited view of what the city, and its surrounding area, had to offer. There is no doubt that I have changed my additude. I absolutely loved the three days I spent there. I found the weather beautiful, the sights spectacular, and the scene outrageous. Most importantly, I enjoyed catching up with dear friends and making several new ones. I look forward to the next opportunity to go back.
The first thing we decided to do late Sunday morning was to hit the Sugar Shack for some yummy breakfast. This is a little place located in Campton, NH that personifies New England breakfast joint. Blueberry French Toast, Rasberry Stuffed French Toast, and Egg Scrambels were the order of the day.
After breakfast, we decided to take drive through a section of the White Mountains, via Route 302 East,
which passes through Bretton Woods Resort and the Eisenhower Memorial
Wayside Park. This is one of my favorite things to do when visiting NH. 
Once we got to Bretton Woods, we decided to stop and check out the historic White Mountain Hotel. After exploring the grounds, our next order of business was to grab a drink and enjoy watching the snow fall from the hotel's spacious parlor. Now I need to spend some time detailing the drinks we enjoyed:
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