You close the night out with a stiff cocktail at the The HMS Bounty on Wilshire - a dim, nautical-themed grog shop of the highest order, once a favorite of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.

Strolling home (this is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in the city, after all) you feel happy knowing that despite the changes sweeping this City of Angels, so many gems from the past will also be part of its future—the Normandie among them.