Coolhaus

We were in the mood to get out of the house last night and decided on ice cream. Coolhaus was close by and also open on Sundays. I was excited to learn that their specialty is ice cream sandwiches, as I was always a fan of Diddy Riese from my days in Westwood. It turns out, Coolhaus has been around for awhile. They have a number of food trucks in LA, Austin and New York. The Culver City location is their first store and opened in November. It is located at 8588 Washington Blvd near the Helms Bakery complex. It is easy to miss as there is no actual sign saying "Coolhaus". They instead have a large neon sign in the outline of an ice cream sandwich. I liked the place immediately. The guy and girl behind the counter were super friendly, and more than willing to let us sample many flavors. I tried peanut butter, red velvet cake and something with bacon. They were all delicious, but I opted to go with red velvet which was awesome as it actually had crumbled pieces of red velvet cake mixed in with the ice cream.. As for my cookie, I opted to stay traditional with the oatmeal raisin. Also, very good. My selection was excellent, but I think I will be more adventurous next time. There are some pretty adventurous flavors that include olive, chipotle or balsamic vinegar. I also liked the fact that they were obviously being environmentally conscious, but without being obnoxious about it. The sample spoons were all actual metal spoons that are washed and reused. The ice cream sandwich comes in a small wrapper that is actually edible and just sort of melts in with the sandwich as you eat it (apparently, it is made mostly of potato). Overall, I really like Coolhaus and will definitely go back. I am also happy that something nice has cropped up in that part of the city. There are some stretches there on Washington that have yet to be revitalized. I am hopeful that Coolhaus will be the first of many new shops and restaurants in the area.

A Thousand Words

I was watching TV this afternoon and was excited to see downtown Culver City prominently displayed in the preview for the new Eddie Murphy film, A Thousand Words. The Starbucks inside the Washington Building at 9720 Washington Blvd. appears twice in the preview. Murphy is along side Jack McBrayer (AKA Kenneth from 30 Rock). He is also seen outside Starbucks walking John Witherspoon (AKA the dad from Friday) across the street. The Hull Building and Meralta Plaza are also both clearly visible in the preview.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

One of my favorite workouts in Culver City is the stairs at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook.

The hike takes you up 282 stairs (by my count) to the top of one of the Baldwin Hills.

It is a vigirous work out in a beautiful setting. There is also a path that takes you up and down, if you prefer to skip the stairs. We usually take the stairs up and the trail down and try to get three repitions in for a solid workout. All they way up and down there are great views of downtown LA, Hollywood, West LA and the ocean. Yesterday wasn't too clear, but the views are still pretty good.

It is generally fairly crowded on the weekends. I like to go on a weekday evening in the spring or summer. There is also a free museum at the top of the hill that discusses the history of the area and the surrounding ecology.