He came in Saturday night and we welcomed him with a big steak dinner. You can guess who gets the props for that...thanks for cooking for us Benner! We had steak, asparagus and potatoes. Some of the potatoes were purple. I like purple potatoes. Ray had a bit of an annoying flight due to crying babies which we can relate to, but thankfully he made it here safely.
On Sunday Ray woke up first and brought us Starbucks coffee (that jet lag worked to our benefit) which little did we know would be a tradition for the week. Thanks Ray! Coffee makes me happy.
We started off the day with a hike at Griffith park and then fish tacos for lunch in Los Feliz.
Father and son. Doesn't Ray look so LA in those shades?
Father and son bond over throwing rocks.
Then we went to Malibu and stumbled on the Malibu invitation surfing contest. Those guys make it look easy. The waves were great that day. As big Benner and little Benner went for a walk along the beach, I took a cat nap on the beach and then we went to Beachcomber restaurant for dinner.
Here we are on the Malibu Pier. It was a beautiful day.
A table with a view and good company to boot.
One big happy post dinner Benner. :)
My friend Katie had reccommended the place and what a great spot. It's walking distance from my fav stretch of Malibu beach and the waves crash literally beneath you. There is a big glass panel offering picturequse views of the ocean. We so enjoyed it! Ray treated us for our anniversary and it was delish. Cheers!
On Monday Mike and I had to go back to work, but Ray entertained himself with trips to Venice beach and swimming at our pool. He makes friends with strangers everywhere he goes, its pretty funny. Kids in our apartment building that he met in the pool are asking where "the big whale" went, strangers at the Hollywood Bowl gave him beer, and we're sure there are some guys at a Venice Beach bar who miss Ray Benner from Narberth. He's always cracking jokes, making us laugh and our apartment is pretty quiet now that he (and his big loud cough) are gone. Rhianwen is missing the coffee that effortlessly made it's way into her hand before work each morning. Ray happened to be here the week that we had a murder in the neighborhood and potential bomb scare (both tied to the same event) and we slept a little easier knowing the big dude in the living room was with us.
Anyways, on to more highlights from the week:
Monday night, Ray and Mike hit the Phillies/Dodger game for some father son baseball watching. The Phillies lost but it was nice for Benner to enjoy the game with someone rooting for the right team! And Ray agrees with us that Dodger dogs (the official team hot dog) are totally overrated. It's refreshing to have some Philly perspective around.
Tuesday night we took Ray to Hugos Tacos, one of our favorite places in LA and then watched some of the early material of the show Mike has been working on. The animation isn't finished yet, but we all laughed heartily and it was cool for Rhianwen and Ray to see what Mike has been working on these past 9 months. I can't tell you guys how much you will enjoy this show when it comes out in January!
Wednesday night, Ray took us to see Herbie Hancock at the Hollywood Bowl. Ray got us in the mood by playing Watermelon Man - one of his favorite songs from high school - on Youtube. What we didn't know is that it was Herbie's 70th birthday that night, so there were special guest appearances all throughout the night. It was a great show and Herbie is one talented guy. It was a cool multil cultural experience with musicians from various genres and countries came together to jam. I particularly enjoyed the dancers and when the crazy annoying girl sitting behind me left early. Ray applauded and I sighed a sigh of relief.
Our camera isn't great but this shows the venue.
Thursday night we got sushi, tried to go bowling and ended up crusing in Ray's rented Dodge Charger. Benner enjoyed driving a car with actual pickup and Ray enjoyed having a chauffer. I enjoyed sitting in the backseat and hearing Ray's philosophies on family, work, politics and life. It mostly boils down to: "Be liquid and don't owe anyone anything." We agree!
Thanks for coming Ray!
