California 2001

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...After about an hour or so, we arrived in Santa Barbara.  After scouting out the boardwalk, we pulled over and had some breakfast at Sambo's, the only restaurant on the boardwalk.  Santa Barbara is a beautiful town, and we always like to stop in.  We drove then through Malibu, famous for its celebrity homes and beaches, and Santa Monica, before heading into Hollywood.  At about 11:00am, we pulled into the parking lot of Ramada Limited - Hollywood, and dropped off our luggage.  The hotel had been beautifully remodeled, and had a grand presence to it.  We thought our hotel was quite nice, considering the moderate cost and excellent location, although the continental breakfast was far from gourmet...

We drove to the landmark intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and Vine, near the Capitol Records building, and set out on foot to visit the tourist strip of Hollywood Blvd, namely the Walk of Fame.   We walked the boulevard, stopping to take photos near stars of Harrison Ford, Julio Iglesias, and Ingrid Bergman.  We checked out Mann's Chinese Theater, where the footprints and handprints of the stars are cast in cement, and the Egyptian Theater, newly remodeled.  Tourist stands abounded, as did touristy museums, such as the Hollywood Wax Museum, the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, and the Guinness Book of World Records Museum.  We stopped at a coffee stand to get some of Johan's Swedish Coffee, which was just coffee mixed with espresso. We got a map showing homes of the stars and Kicki bought a few souvenirs, and we headed back for the car.

We drove the car down the Sunset Strip, and looked for a good place to go eat that night, down to Santa Monica, and back.  We drove to Beverly Hills and looked a little, before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.   We  took a taxi down to the House of Blues, where we ate an overpriced dinner and had some drinks.  The cover for the disco was $10, so we opted to go walk around and check out the different hot spots on foot instead.  We went to a coffee shop, where we were the only straight people in the place, and to an Irish Pub and Disco.

The next day, we headed up to the Hollywood Sign for some photos, and found several homes of the stars.  All the maps give you is their addresses, so you can drive up and see a huge wooden gate and billions of plants, trees, and flowers, giving the stars complete privacy.   After seeing several gates, we headed for Beverly Hills.  We drove through the town and looked at more stars' gates, and then parked the car and hit the exclusive shopping district of Rodeo Drive on foot.  Some stores were closed for the holiday, others were by appointment only.  Several shops were open, however, including an art gallery, where I was courted as a possible buyer of $40,000 oil paintings.  The owner took me to his office, the private stash, and even offered to take me out back and show me the warehouse.  I politely declined, but it was funny that he walked right by Sandra and her mom without so much as a look, rushing to shake my hand.  I won't let them forget it!

We then headed to Buena Park, home of Knott's Berry Farm and the Movieland Wax Museum.  We had read that the Movieland Wax Museum was the largest in the country and was much better than the Hollywood Wax Museum, so we decided to make the trip down.  It was quite iteresting, and we took lots of photos.  We even made a photo gallery out of them for your viewing!  After the Wax Museum, we took an exit near downtown Los Angeles, so we could take some photos.  It took only seconds for us to realize that we were in south-central L.A. - the hood.  We quickly got back on the freeway and headed for the north end of town.  We drove through the city, mostly barren due to the holiday, and took a couple of wrong turns that landed us in neighborhoods that, from the look of the locals, we were most unwelcome in.   We tried not to look at the people as we drove through, in case they took it the wrong way.

After we had a few not-very-good photos, we headed down the Sunset Strip to see the John Paul Getty museum.  The incredible home of the oil tycoon had been retired as a museum years before, but we found it to be closed.  We headed West to Venice Beach, where the 90° weather had brought out throngs of people.  After nearly a half-hour, we found a parking lot that wasn't totally full, and headed for the beach.  We walked past the canals that gave the city its name, and down the oceanfront boardwalk.  People from all walks of life filled the street, and roller-bladers in bikinis, street performers, and tourists all scrambled for space.  We passed Muscle Beach, and multiple tattoo and bong shops, basketball games, volleyball games, skateparks, roller disco, and Baywatch Patrol, as we strutted along, looking for somewhere to eat lunch.  We found a sidewalk cafe, where the food was reasonable, and quite good, and sat out for a while, just watching people.  Sandra spotted the guy who plays "Tyrone"  from Another World, but I didn't know who that was.

As the day drew to a close, we headed back to our car, and drove into Santa Monica to check out the Promenade...

Click on the arrow above to view page 3 - The Santa Monica Promenade