A Tourist in Hollywood

Thanks to everyone who stayed tuned! I will answer all those questions as they appear in the posts. :-) I decided that since there was so much from this weekend, I will post it in smaller bits. That way, you don't have to wait as long and it's not as much to read all at once. Kind of like the old serial novels. How exciting! So here is the first installment, A Tourist in Hollywood!

This weekend was great! John came to visit for his first time in LA and I got to play tour guide, which meant I got to see some of my favorite places and some new ones, too. I picked John up from the airport on Friday night and drove him through a little of Manhattan and Hermosa Beaches on the way home. Even though it was in the dark, we enjoyed seeing the beautiful and unique houses.

On Saturday, we began our packed day in good ole Hollyweird, visiting the Hollywood and Highland complex, Chinese theatre, etc.

They had already begun setting up for the premiere of Nancy Drew, which was that afternoon, so unfortunately, we didn't get to be up close to the hand and footprints in cement. But John managed to get a few pictures of John Wayne's and Christopher Walken's squares. John Wayne had amazingly small feet.

Here I am taking a picture of John taking a picture of the Kodak theatre. Which, I just realized is named after a famous photo company whose film we would probably be using to take these pictures if not for digital cameras!

A view of the Hollywood and Highland complex from across the street.

Here I am standing inside the Hollywood and Highland complex.

Luckily it was a clear day, so we could see the famous Hollywood sign really well.

A view of Disney's El Capitan theatre, where they were predictably showing Pirates of the Carribean. There was a guy on stilts in the entrance to the theatre dressed as a pirate and juggling.

While I'm on the subject of pirates, the people dressed as pirates were the most popular characters to take photos with on Hollywood Blvd. (Even though the one guy who was supposed to be Orlando Bloom looked nothing like him.) I'm afraid pirates are going the way of penguins in terms of being overused. Arrrr!

Me with the Hollywood sign in the distance.

As we walked along the sidewalk, I saw this star and had to take a photo. The Lone Ranger was one of my favorite characters as a kid. Hi Ho Silver, away!

Next on the agenda was a trolley tour of some famous Hollywood sights. It was nice to take a break from driving around and have someone else show us the landmarks.

This is John and I sitting in the trolley before the tour started.

We went up to the concert venue, the Hollywood Bowl. As you can see, John Mayer and Ben Folds were playing that night.

I had driven through the parking lot once before on my first tour of LA, but this time, we got to walk up to the ampitheatre. The guide told us that the area where the blue chairs are now, down by the stage, used to be a moat filled with water to prevent people from getting on the stage.

John and I thought these boxes were neat and would be fun to hang out in there watching a concert. Kind of beats cramming in with tons of other people on blankets, like you do at Merriweather Post Pavilion or Nissan Pavilion back home.

This was a cross installed during the Depression to help instill hope in the residents of LA.

The trolley then drove up into a neighborhood right below the Hollywood sign. Once again, it had been a clear day so we had a great view!

Then we drove by a few movie, TV, and radio studios, including the famous Paramount studios with its picturesque gate. We also drove by the lesser-known Raleigh Studios, which apparently produced Saved by the Bell! It was at this point that my camera's memory card stopped working, so luckily John had his camera too and we used that for the rest of the weekend.

We passed by this house being painted neon pink with beige swirlies. Only in Hollywood!

We went by the Pantages theatre, where they are playing Wicked. I'm sure there will be more photos of this later because the interns will be attending Wicked next month!

The famous Capitol Records building.

Thus ends the first installment. The next chapter will find our hero and heroine braving the La Brea tar pits, navigating the wilds of Rodeo Dr., catching some great scenery, and answering the question, "Did I buy this car"? So stay tuned!