Rain rain go away! - LA Adventures

For day 2, hubby and I jumped on the red line with Starline tours. It starts near Grauman's Chinese Theater, so we walked around just enough to remind ourselves what is there. Hand prints pressed into cement surrounded by the Walk of Fame. This is a very touristy area so we expected a lot of people, you just have to be patient when taking pictures of your favorite star's star or cement dedication slab.

I snagged these two shots from my hubby's Snapchat. Grauman's Chinese Theater.

After wandering a bit we jumped on the bus. The red line takes about 2 hours, so we just stayed on to see the sights and get some insight into the city. It sprinkled on us a bit throughout the day, but we managed to stay on the top, outside of the bus to get the best views. Although we did not take a lot of pictures, we learned about some of the history of the city along with the spots where celebrities can be spotted.

A very rainy/cloudy pic of the Hollywood sign.

A quick drive by the Viper Room, the location of River Phoenix's death, and the liquor store where Guns 'n' Roses used to buy cheap wine were highlights of the tour.

At the end of the tour we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Mel's Drive In. The San Francisco based chain is famous for being featured in the film "American Graffiti" (which was filmed in SF).

Due to lack of planning we did not realize that Griffith Observatory is closed on Mondays and that was supposed to be our next stop. Instead we wandered up the highway towards The Great Wall of Los Angeles. The inspiring mural spans 6 blocks (around 2,700 ft/823 meters) and was sparked by artist Judy Baca in the 1970s. The mural tells the history of California starting with the native people and focusing on the struggles of the minorities throughout the years. This is a bit out of the way but I highly recommend making the drive!

These represent only a small glimpse at the mural. It's huge!

Santa Monica CA - It A-piers to be Raining!

I am out in California for a conference and convinced my hubby to tag along. It does not start until Tuesday (well, technically Wednesday, but my co-workers arrive Tuesday afternoon), so we have had a few days to explore LA and the surrounding area. It is unusually rainy right now. Our flight into Long Beach was slightly delayed due to flooding and huge storm that had started the evening before.

One of my staple moves when traveling is taking the double decker bus tours. Here in LA we chose Starline as they have 5 or 6 different buses throughout the area. [Buy tickets online to save $$$] You can take the green buses along the coast, get on the yellow line through Beverly Hills, or take the red line through Hollywood (just to name our top 3).

Sailboat at Fishman's Village

Sunday was our first full day and since we have a week to explore we got off to a slow start in the morning. We reached the green line around 11 am and were taken 1 stop to Fisherman's Village before the driver was on his break. We walked around a bit just to see the water until the next driver was ready to leave. It is a cute little stop if you have the time to check it out.

Pelicans looking for food around Fisherman's Village

View of the ocean off the pier.

We rode the green line up to Santa Monica Pier and took a look around. There are a lot of street performers that want you to pay for their entertainment and selfie opportunities. Some of them live off their income so do not be shy to hand over some cash, especially if they really are entertaining.

View of the ocean off the pier.

Walk all the way down the pier and gaze into the ocean, watching people play on the beach or swim in the waves. Stop along your walk to grab a bit to eat or peruse the shops and carts along the way. Do not miss a picture with the "End of the Trail" sign for Route 66.

About quarter mile (485 meters) up Colorado Avenue is the 3rd Street Promenade full of shops and eateries (and more street performers). It runs several blocks, up to Wilshire, so hubby and I took our time checking it out.

The remainder of our day was spent riding the yellow line through Beverly Hills. You can get a glimpse of the famous Beverly Hills shield which, according to Starline, you can only see in 5 places. Pictures you take of the shield can only be used for personal use as the city charges for commercial use. The yellow line also passess the famous Rodeo Drive, hubby and I talked about its prominence in the show "Entourage."

Our evening ended at the Killer Shrimp restaurant which makes their own shrimp broth bowl which is absolutely delicious!

Killer Shrimp served with french bread

I also blogged about Santa Monica and 3rd Street Promenade here.

The Sights... Hollywood!

Hollywood Blvd and the Chinese Theater - many celebrities have imprinted hands and feet in cement outside of this theater. As I walked around and saw the famous names laid forever in dried mud, I wondered what it must be like as a current actor to be asked to lay your name beside the greats... I would never feel worthy enough.

Shirley Temple is one of favorite actresses. She was so young and spent many an hour inside bars with her mom and manager, while they discussed her work and pay she would just sit patiently and wait. My great-grandfather was a bartender inside a frequented bar and one day decided to create a special drink just for her, maybe you've heard of the Shirley Temple? When I was young, that too was my drink! So awesome!

Although difficult to see, in the upper left hand side is a sign at Hollywood and Vine. I knew this intersection was famous but could not recall what for, according to Wikipedia it gained fame in the 1920s for being the center of radio and movie-related businesses. Although there is not much there now, you can see that the sidewalk is adorned with Stars as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Hollywood sign - this is about as close as we could get. It sits amoung a beautiful area in the mountains and looks over the city, as seen in the picture below.

This is the Griffith Observatory. It's a great FREE way to learn a bit about space. The dome to the left contains a high powered telescope that scientists use to observe the sky, day and night. Of couse, it is also the location for many a movie scene. Can you think of your favorite?

For those of you that are fans of Kat Von D, here's a shot of her tatoo parlor, LA Ink. Only minutes from my cousin's apartment, it's not in the best part of town.

This picture did not turn out great, but the top sign is a higway marker for the famous Route 66. In my previous blog post I included a picture of the "End of the Road" in Santa Monica.

Although these are only a few of the sites to see in LA, we managed to cram it into a day and a half. Not too bad! I look forward to returning and being able to spend more time exploring to see the beauty and infamy that's almost at every corner!

Food!!!

Food - it wouldn't be vacation if I didn't talk about it!

There are so many famous places to eat in LA, but we had only so much time. One necessary stop was In-N-Out Burger. These will never move to Colorado because it would be too far to transport their never-frozen meat, so one must consume it when one can. We managed to squeeze into this one during the noon-hour and after fighting our way to a table, wolfed down fresh cut fries and yummy burgers!

As we walked toward Hollywood Blvd., we came across this gem. You may have seen Ron Howard hanging out here in the film American Graffiti (not exactly this location, but you get the point). We had already stuffed ourselves full of In-N-Out so stopping was out of the question, but still a great landmark!

Donut shops were a common site whilst driving around LA. I snapped a picture of this sign while we were stopped at a light, later I found out that it's actually part advertisement for a Neon Sign Museum - it's a shame we didn't have time to look around.

As I mentioned in the previous blog entry we ate at the North End Cafe and Pinkberrys, both mentioned on TV.

We were lucky in that our breakfast was provided by the hotel every morning. This made it easy for 4 of us girls to grab a quick bite and then get ready for the day. On Tuesday we visited Santa Monica and had dinner along the promenade at a great Italian place. The waitress, although nice, was a little overly excited about being in Hollywood and finding out about goings-on around town. She was giddy when my sister explained she had just tried out for The Voice... at least she's enthusiatic.

Wednesday night we treated my cousin to a mexican dinner at a great place on Sunset Blvd. The margaritas were huge and it put us in the mood for swimming!

Along our journey towards Hollywood Blvd., my cousin took us into Yammy's Pizza. Come to find out her roommate is empolyed there and is trying to make it a landmark in LA. They recently installed wood panelling on the front of the counter - sign your name and praise the pizza!!!

Adventures in LA - Days 1 and 2

My sister decided to try out for a reality show called "The Voice" where the producers are looking for talented singers. My sister chose a try-out location of Los Angeles, California. Our adventures began on August 29th. We flew to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) in the afternoon. Our cousin, Jenny, was nice enough to pick us up. I have to admit that LAX is a bit intimidating probably because it's in the middle of the city, whereas Denver's airport is in the middle of nowhere. Immediately I caused us to take a wrong turn because A. I didn't read the directions correctly and B. I was under pressure. Jenny managed to turn the car around and we headed in what we thought to be the correct direction, but the signs weren't matching up to what we knew to be the way, so AGAIN we had to turn around. My mistake in the beginning was actually the right way! Awesome... Finally headed in the right direction we managed to merge onto the highway amoungst other cars headed home for the day. The driving reminded me of living in the UAE and dodging crazy drivers. Jenny fit in perfectly - even though she's only been here for 4 months. Without flaw we found our hotel and checked in.

After getting settled in it was time for dinner. I convinced everyone to check out a place at Manhanttan Beach called the North End Caffe. It was only a 20 minute drive down the highway and we saw an amazing sunset when we arrived (hence the top picture!). The North End Caffe was visited by Guy Fieri of "Diners, DriveIns, and Dives" on the Food Network and he made it sound fantastic. We were a bit disappointed except for the kalua pork egg rolls, so it's great for a quick snack after the beach, but not so much for great food. Oh well, at least we know!

Day 2 in LA brought us to "The Voice" auditions. My sister's check in time was 2 pm, so we hung out at the hotel and allowed her to practice and prepare. Everything was very organized and she was in and out in 2 hours. Although they did not accept her for the show she said she had an amazing experience and met with some very interesting people.

With some of the afternoon and rest of the evening remaining our cousin suggested Santa Monica pier. We drove north and walked along the pier with tourists and beach-goers alike, it was beautiful and amazing!

Santa Monica is also the end of the infamous Highway 66, which 'back in day' was THE highway to travel. It's a classic road that people struggle to help us remember (did you see the movie "Cars?")

We ended the day walking along the promenade and window shopping. We stopped to eat at a little Italian place and then made our way to Pinkberry. I wanted to stop there due to the fact I saw it on a show called "Ugly Americans" just last week. It's just your typical frozen yogurt shoppe but apparently I'm a sucker. It was a great end to a beautiful day! On to more adventures!!!