It has arrived. The cannabis culture’s version of Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s all ‘rolled’ into one. 4/20 is a celebration of all things marijuana, and considering the positive shift in mainstream attitudes and sweeping reform we’ve seen this past year all across the country, it seems this 4/20 warrants an unprecedented amount of celebratory activities.
Observing this holiday can be as simple waking up and taking some draws from your favorite vaporizer, lighting up a specially rolled braided joint at exactly 4:20, or spending the entire day in a self-induced haze wallowing in all of your favorite self-indulgences. I prefer to stay lifted on this, the holiest of holy days, while taking full advantage of a city which tends to cater more than most to the lifestyle of a bud smoker. Follow me on an adventure around Los Angeles to my favorite smoke spots, eateries and hangouts for what could be considered by many as the ultimate 4/20.
9:00 AM – WAKE AND BAKE AND BAKE AND BAKE
While many people will set their alarms for 4:20 AM on the dot and wake up for a special morning session, I just can’t bring myself to wake up that early. However, once nine rolls around, I’m ready to face the day and get it started off right. Since there’s literally nothing worse in this world than running out of weed on 4/20, I made sure to fully stock up on my favorite strains over the weekend: Girl Scout Cookies, Platinum Bubba, LA Confidential, Purple Trainwreck and OG. I prefer to start the day off with a sativa and a balloon bag, so I packed up my Herbalizer full of Trainwreck and took my first rips of the day.
As this is far from my first rodeo, I made sure to stock up on breakfast provisions the night before. A meal fit for a king is the only way to get this day started. Chorizo, turkey bacon, breakfast sausage, avocado, onions, peppers, cheese, eggs and hot sauce all on a buttery, flaky croissant with peanut butter toast on the side. I took my meal along with some Platinum Bubba out to the front yard to enjoy the sunshine. After clearing my plate and taking a few draws from my Arizer Air, it was time to embark on a little excursion.
11:00 AM – THEY SEE ME ROLLIN’…
For me, there’s no way better way to spend a sunny day in LA than taking a stony bike ride. I packed up my backpack and hopped on my trusty Pure Fix to one of my favorite destinations, The Strand bike path that runs along the beach from Redondo up to the Pacific Palisades. I catch the trail in Venice and head north through Santa Monica. The boardwalk is lively and abuzz with 4/20 energy. The pipe shops and ‘doctors’ offices are full of bud enthusiasts and the smell of kush is heavy in the air. After about 30 minutes of biking the golden coast, I had reached the end of the path.
Before I headed back though, I found a nice little cropping of rocks overlooking the Pacific and broke out one of my favorite portable vapes, the Magic Flight Launch Box. Taking in all my surroundings a fully appreciating the natural beauty around me, a perma-smile quickly became blasted on my face. I continued riding all the way down to Hermosa before heading back to Venice. I was feeling phenomenal and ready for lunch.
1:00 PM – ON THE SAUCY WINGS OF ANGELS
When it came time for a midday meal, it was taking me longer than usual to weigh my plentiful options. Should I go with a Double Double and Animal Style Fries from In-N-Out? A pork belly banh-mi from Mendocino Farms? What about a super-monster BBQ burrito from Freebirds? This was not a decision to be taken lightly. It seemed my entire life was preparing me for this very moment in time, lunch on 4/20. The only way I was going to be able to make a decision of this magnitude was with a little help from my friends.
After hooking up the whip attachment to my Herbalizer and packing that bad boy full of some glimmering green LA Confidential, the answer came to me - I was headed to Hollywood for arguably the best buffalo wings in town, Big Wangs. The twenty-five minute car ride gave me plenty of time to rip my Arizer Air, which can conveniently be used while plugged into its car charger. Thirty-six garlic buffalo and lemon pepper wings later, my stomach was satisfied and I was ready to head home for another important 4/20 ritual, a nap.
5:00 PM – CINEMA IN STYLE
After a well deserved rest, I invited over some friends who were just getting off work. After all, holidays are best spent with friends and loved ones. Once they arrived, we took some time to get our heads in the right place. I packed every vaporizer, bong and bubbler I had and passed them around the circle.
After bouncing around some ideas of where we should go, I remembered I’ve been meaning to see the movie ‘Chappie’ for weeks now but haven’t yet gotten around to it. Now seemed a good a time as any, and what better place to see a movie than in the unparalleled comfort of the AMC Dine-In Theater in Marina Del Rey. This is the only place I’ll go to catch a flick. This theater features super-plush fulling leather recliners and offer a menu filled with stoner-delights and a full bar, all of which will be brought right to your chair while you take in the movie. I was still pretty full from lunch, but I couldn’t resist ordering myself some peach cobbler and a Guinness. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
8:00 PM – CUBANOS AND MEZCAL
Thus far, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect 4/20, and now it was time to put the proverbial icing on the cake. My friends and I were able to overcome the temptations of overpriced theater food and were ready to gorge at one of our favorite local restaurants, Sunny Spot, which serves up the tastiest Caribbean inspired cuisine in the city.
This seemed like the perfect way to close out our evening, as founder Roy Choi is a notorious chronic connoisseur and produces some of the most mouth-watering dishes around, experimenting with all sorts of tropical ingredients. It’s the kind of food I would make super-baked at 3 AM after getting home from the bar, if I was a king of the culinary arts. Our table was soon filled with plated of tempura fried shrimp, oxtail pasta, cuban tortas, pork belly, jerk chicken, yucca fries and two-fisted burgers. Libations soon followed, and my group toasted to the good life.
11:00 PM – STAR TREK FOR THE WIN
With full stomachs and smiles on our faces, we arrived back to my house for one last session. It seemed only appropriate to close out the night with the Herbalizer and some OG. After shooting the shit and recapping the day, my friends left and the holiday was nearly over. I jumped into my Tempurpedic mattress (It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up). I fired up Netflix and put on my favorite episode of Star Trek: TNG.
While 4/20 had come to a close, I thought to myself “Why can’t every day be 4/20?” I guess the simple answer is you’d be 300 pounds and broke if you indulged like this all the time. But once a year, on that magical day in mid Spring, all things are possible through the power of the green goddess. With that, I set a course at warp 8 to next April 20th. Engage.
