hwood hike + wurstkushicles

although i am a southern california native, i haven't really seen all the landmarks the golden state is known for since i am quite comfy in my suburban sanctuary thankyouverymuch. however, a few weeks ago, i ventured out into the wilderness (albeit cautiously mind you) into the jungle known as hollywood. sad to say, but i've only been once. so when a friend asked if i wanted to do a hike up to the iconic sign, i said sure, why not? starting off at Griffith Park, there is a slight detour that's worth seeing.

give you a hint: duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh

pow! the batcave from the Batman tv show from the '60s with Adam West. The cave was really small though.

it's an easy hike about 3 miles to the top with a mild continuous incline.

the route we went took us behind the sign. the whole thing is actually fenced off and a helicopter makes it rounds regularly to make sure no one tries anything crazy.

for dinner, we went near little tokyo to german sausage and beer joint, wurstkuche. there's always a heated debate on how to correctly pronounce the name. i thought it was wurstkushies while another thought wurstcooch. one of the guys ended up asking the beertender, who said it was vurstkookah. i still like my way of saying it better although it'll change depending on my mood.

it's a pretty simple menu. a whole bunch of different sausages, beer, and belgian fries with homemade dipping sauces. that's it. oh and dessert they have a oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich, which i have yet to try. they have nice glassware for all their beers...which is a pretty extensive selection of both bottled and draft beers, many unknown to me. I tried the Koestritzer Schwarzbier.

for the sausages, i got the bockwurst (veal, pork, & spices) along with the Filipino Marharlika (sweet pork & natural seasonings), both with grilled onions and peppers (one with spicy, one with sweet). both were pretty tasty although i thought the bockwurst had a better snap. they do offer exotic sausages too (take a look at their menu) and on a previous visit, i tried the rattlesnake (but i think it was another type of sausage not rabbit) and found it rather dry. if it was just rattlesnake, i think i would have liked it better so i could learn what that tastes like by itself, but i guess it's either too expensive or it can't stand on it's own? No picture of the fries, but I'd vouch for em. If you want go the extra mile, you can ask them to sprinkle some truffle oil on it. Go ahead and pamper yourself, you deserve it! my only gripe is that both times i've gone they've messed up on my order, but they were quick to fix it. overall, a fun place to relax and knock back a few steins of great beer.