Destination: La Descarga

La Descarga
1159 Western Avenue
Hollywood, California 90029
Reservations recommended, call (323) 466-1324 or do it on the site.

Inspiration: Jason Dundas, Aussie actor and travel guru, “I’m here in LA! Where should I go Angie?”  

Actualization:
La Descarga is slang for “go crazy” or “after party”. La Descarga made me La Descarga last night. Who knew Rum could be so fun?

Pete and Maggie. Rum on the tongue

Rumors about the revival of this Rum bar rang true.

1 – Reservation recommended: Make a reservation. I say they are required. Hot spot in LA so right now – required. Sometimes you get a password too! It’s all part of the game. The password for our night was Angie Banicki.

Janae and Aussie Jason Dundas!

2 – Right off the Road: The entrance isn’t easy to spot. It’s next to a random late-night Mexican stand. Thank you Gods of Rum for not letting me partake in the tacos at the end of this night. I guarantee it’ll happen one of the nights…probably if I’d had La Descarga’s Rum concoction “tapping the admiral”.

3 – Random Route: It’s a maze to actually get to the rum. We walked down a long dark hall and arrived to a reception area where we were met by our Cuban hostess who was sitting at a desk. In front of her sat a turntable playing Latin music. She welcomed us, walked around and opened up a wardrobe/time machine.  We peered through to a dark abyss as she pushed aside the hanging Havana shirts and walked us into 1930s Havana.

We loved our booth, right ladies?

Beau and Zalis

4- Rhythmic music from the Mambo band: On the hour (I think hourly is right…cant confirm post Jessica Paster’s Rum Bowl!) the 5 piece mambo band above us performed Congo beats rousing us to order more rum.

5 – Racks of cigars: To escape the hot sticky havana bar, the cigar bar provided us an outdoor haven for tobacco, chat, rambunctiousness and more rum. This is where my romantic affair with Cruzan Blackstrap Rum began. I drank it straight and tried to share it with everyone who came within 5 feet of me…including my favorite comedian who ceases to acknowledge my existence. Aziz.

Aziz! Come Back!

I didn’t try it but apparently they have a specialty with my lover -
Bad Spaniard, a guilty pleasure made with Cruzan Blackstrap Rum, Amaro Averna, sweetened condensed milk, one whole egg yolk and cinnamon

6 – Rows and Rows of Rum: Over 70 different kind of Rum lined the walls behind the bar. We sampled quite a few of the exotic concoctions the mixologists prepared for us. Friends loved the Honey Swizzle but I thought it tasted like Jagermeister. Ladies – fyi I found out the Honey Swizzle has anise it it…so I wasn’t going crazy…or going descarga when I said that.

7 – Red Rum Regret: La Descarga renewed my love of Rum but took me for ransom the next morning. Of course, not without having a “La Descarga” afterparty of our own first.

Angie and Erica...and budlight?

the bud light demons after hours

Realization: I reckon I need to remember to research more of Los Anegles, La Descarga night reminded me there’s really so much more to ravage with my friends. More risks and a little less reality.

YOUR MOMENT:
Some fun rum quotes to inspire you -

“I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?”
William Cowper (English Poet)

“Rum, n. Generically, fiery liquors that produce madness in total abstainers. “
Ambrose Bierce

“If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel”
Robert Louis Stevenson

“There’s naught, no doubt, so much the spirit calms as rum and true religion. “
Lord Byron

Destination: V Australia

Inspiration: V Australia finally takes me home….I changed my flight 4 times before finally heading back to Los Angeles!   I was incredibly lucky to fly in style…First Class since I had worked an event for V last year. A full bar, bed for a seat, and enough movies to fly around the world twice, I was in heaven for my 13 hour trip.

Actualization: BEST OF THE REST: PART 1

I used my flight time to gather moments to share.
Below is a sampling of some inspiring and outrageously fun tips I was dying to experience but couldn’t since I ran out of time and money this trip!

If you go to OZ you should try these and just don’t pick up the Aussie mumble!
Just throw on your sunnies, put on your summer feet and get amongst it. Cheers mate!

Aussie TV Presenter/ Actor, Jason Dundas:
‘Lay under the stars by the rock’
Experience true Australian magic at the Longitude 131 hotel.

Gavin Degraw:
Rent a Subaru and drive the Outback!

TV Host and Model Tyson Beckford:

Go to a lil club called ssssh.

Celebrity Chef Rocco Dispirito:
God I wish I had my own experience to share with you but Australia is still on my to do list as well! Sounds like its gonna be fun no matter what! Oh and I’m a diver, I say try it.  Its a life altering experience.  Australia has legendary reefs for 100′s of miles.  Maybe reconsider?

Producer and Stylist Robin Garvick:
Dinner at North Bondi Italian. (Order the Blood Orange and Vodka)
The markets are incredible on Sat and Sundays
Go to Ruby Rabbit if it is still there, go upstairs. Be sure to check out the bathroom. It’s my favorite place to pee on the planet*

Veev’s Kasey Blaustein:
You have to camp out on Fraiser Island. I went in ’04 with some friends and our car broke down. You have to get your car above a certain point on the beach by a certain time of the day or else water can creep into the car and you’re screwed. Anyways we had to contact the only auto mechanic on the island who was certifiably insane. No joke. We had to go to his house, he yelled at himself, his place was like a scene from Hoarders. He actually grabbed a camera out of my friend’s hand and threw it on the floor when she went to take a picture of it all. He couldn’t fix our car so we had to stay at his house OR sleep outside unprotected to be eaten by dingos. I was very close to sleeping with the dingos. He had scratched out all the faces of women in the magazines in his house and had really dirty utensils and it was straight out of a horror film. We all slept in one bed with his kitchen knives under the pillow.  Needless the say we made it out alive but I had another friend that had a run in with him too and at that point he had a camel living in his back yard. I dare you to find him, give him a visit and even stay a night in his guest house. He’s the only auto mechanic on the island. Good luck and bring pepper spray!

Charley Walters
If you want to go straight to airlie, catch a cheap flight up to Cairns and drive DOWN from there… but first go to another place called “Cape Tribulation” (they call it “cape trib”) which is the most beautiful spot I’ve ever seen in my life (seriously, its where the Daintree Rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef) – either way you will want to fly one way, it takes too long to drive both ways.  You can also take a bus called McGafferty’s which stops at all the best places, and you can get on/get off when ever you choose- as I’m sure you’ve already learned there the attitude is always “no worries” and it seems there are barely any laws!

Realization: As hard as sharing can be, it usually ends up being more rewarding than keeping something for yourself!  Don’t be a monkey – prove me right and go see the wizard behind the curtain of OZ!

Your Moment:
V Australia

Longitude 131 Hotel

Subaru

North Bondi Italian

Veev

McGafferty’s