Whew what a whirlwind few weeks for me. I left for sunny southern California on Wednesday the 21st. Left BWI at 8:30ish AM and landed at LAX at 12:00 PM. First thing I noticed is that there was NO sun. From what I understand it is always sunny in CA except apparently when I go visit my cousin Cindy.
Our first adventure was to head up the PCH (local speak for the Pacific Coast Highway) to Santa Monica Pier. Which is the end of the famous Route 66.
After a walk on the pier we head back to PCH and found a place at the beach for a bite to eat. Had a wonderful lobster taco and headed off to find more fun stuff things to see. We headed towards Long Beach where Cindy lives. While driving on PCH we found The Adamson House museum.
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| This is an outside tub they used for dog washing. I bet a few human baths were taken there too! |
The family had a tile factory during the early part of the depression BUT was never able to make it through. What beautiful tiles.
After leaving The Adamson House we headed towards Long Beach and Cindy's home. For a good nights sleep.
Day 2 we went looking for stars in Hollywood and oh still no sun......well at least for the first part of the day. We scheduled a tour at Paramount Studio for 1:00 so upon arriving in Hollywood around 10:30 we drove on Hollywood Blvd. for some star watching. None were found that we know of.
After rethinking Hollywood Blvd. and realizing that stars are not going to just be walking down that Blvd. we decided to head to Hollywood Forever Cemetery. This was a beautiful cemetery where all kinds of stars were buried. We saw the graves of Douglas Fairbanks, Hattie McDaniel, Cecil B. DeMill, Alfred Hitchcock and Don Adams. We know Marilyn Monroe was there but could not find her.
Tour time.
The tour of the studio was truly a highlight of my trip. We had a great tour guide that was fun and full of information. The tour actually took about 3 hours and was done but riding in a large golf cart and a bit of walking. We stopped to see the Lucy and Desi studios/complex. They had a entire section where their shows and movies were filmed. We were able to visit the actually set of the show "Community" staring Chevy Chase. The actors were not there but we did get to see them building this seasons set or adding to this set. Also learned a little secret for this season.......although I have not seen the show it was a lot of fun. Next we headed to the New York street set. It really did look like a New York street.......although not as large. There was one memorable picture I took on the New York street.
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| Marble Rye anyone? |
This was one of the best tours of anything I have ever taken. I highly recommend if you get to Hollywood the Paramount studio tour.
Day 3 we were back in Hollywood for the bus tour. This is a great way to see any big city. I have taken these tours in Boston, New York and now Hollywood. You get to see so much on these tours and gives you a great overview of things to do it lasted 2 hours. We arrived back to the starting point and got off the bus and started walking down the walk of stars.
Heading towards Gruamen's Chinese Theater to see the foot and hand prints.
Then we wanted a little down time so we decided to hang with a few friends and relax.
Tired of hanging with our friends we headed to the hills to see the Hollywood sign. Cindy and a few friends had found a way to get close to the sign by going through a neighborhood.......NOT were tourist were supposed to be. But we found it again.
What a beautiful view of the sign.
We got a chance to visit Will Rogers home where a polo tournament was being played.
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| Polo on the Will Rogers estate |
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| Will's home |
On my last day we heading south on PCH going to San Juan Capistrano Mission. This was also a beautiful tour.
In 1812 during a mass there was an earthquake causing the mission to crumble and killing 40 people. The mission was never rebuilt in its original location but to the side leaving the crumbled church as a memorial.
We headed up the coast going towards LAX stopping along the way in a few towns Laguna Beach, Seal Beach and again in Long Beach. The vacation was was winding down and my flight was leaving on time at 11:59 PM. Good bye Cindy and California. This was a great fun trip.
As Always, Lori
