Good morning, club hoppers and pseudo-celebs, and welcome to one of the most famous stretches of road anywhere! Today the beans have the great pleasure of traveling down that famous 1 3/4 strip of L.A. asphalt known as Sunset Boulevard. Best known as the "Sunset Strip", Sunset Blvd has been to home to Los Angelino's nighttime fun since the 1930's. Along with the usual boulevard businesses, you'll find legendary joints such as the Viper Room, the House of Blues, the Key Club, the Roxy, and the Chateau Marmont here, all alongside with some of the classiest (cough, cough) billboards you'll see this side of Times Square. The beans were hoping to climb up on one of those billboards for a few minutes of fame, but once they discovered that partial nudity was an apparent requirement for joining in, they decided to keep their can on the ground and leave the spotlight for genuine celebs. (They haven't done enough Pilates training yet to fully show off their metal abs yet.)

Hungry from all that driving around, the beans thought it would be fun to pop in for a bite at a true legend in drive-in dining, Mel's Diner. Mel's has been an institution since 1947, when Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs opened the first location in San Francisco. The chain flourished for a while, but were hurt badly by the arrival of fast food. (Weren't we all?) Still, memories held strong for many fans, including none other than Mr. George Lucas, who used Mel's as the centerpiece of his 1973 movie, "American Graffiti". So Mel's Diner sprang back to life in the mid-80's, thanks to Mel's son, and the location here on Sunset is proof that sometimes great things come out of nostalgia. The beans had a great time at Mel's Diner, but were sorry that a majority of the "American Graffiti" they read on the walls along Sunset was mostly unprintable. For shame!

Finally, what would a night on the Sunset Strip be without a visit to the most famous nightclub in all of El-Lay -- the Whiskey-A-Go-Go (or just "The Whiskey", as us hipster veggies call it...). Yes, it was here inside these famous walls that just about every superstar rock and roll band of the 60's, 70's, and beyond have played, including Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Elton John, Springsteen, and of course their legendary house band, The Doors. The Whiskey will celebrate it's 40th anniversary this year, and I promise you this - the beans will be there. (They've got their leather pants all ready to go!) So the beans had a splendid time on Sunset, and hope all of you out there can make it for an evening (or three) of Southern California party hijinks. Now, where did they leave their dark sunglasses? These street lights are far too bright...