ANAHEIM to LOS ANGELES to OXNARD – hooray for Hollywood
Thursday – today we are visiting Los Angeles and Hollywood. We plan on NOT trying to cram everything in as we have done in the past few days so after waking up in room 508 at the Best Western Stovall’s Inn and having a very relaxing breakfast we head on out and are in the City of Angels at the most civilized time of 11am.We have also decided that instead of driving around in the traffic to find what we want to see we will park our chariot near Grauman’s Chinese Theatre – or as it is now called – Mann’s Chinese Theatre. Personally, I will still call it Grauman’s.
We find a car park located practically next door at the Kodak Theatre – the venue for the Academy Awards. It really doesn’t look anything special from the outside – and it certainly is not the glitz and glamour of old Hollywood but we do get to walk down the stairs that the stars walk up when they enter the place.
As soon as we emerge onto Hollywood Boulevarde it is like a scene out of a nightmare film. Chaos abounds and tour guides try to palm off their ‘special’ tours of ‘the stars homes’ and tours of places that no other tour companies take you to (?). We do not care to see where the stars live, neither do we want to see the ‘mystery tours’ that no other tour companies do so we walk past shaking our heads and saying no thank you – no thank you.
After walking up and down Hollywood Boulevarde, looking at all the touristy crap on offer and getting a few photos of the Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame we proceed to Grauman’s to see the hand and footprints of the ‘Real’ stars of Hollywood. Now when I say ‘Real’ stars I mean those that are Legends and deservedly called ‘Stars’ – Gable, Wayne, Bogart, Harlow, Beery, Loy, Astaire -some of the greatest people ever to grace the silver screen.
But in saying that and being a great Harry Potter fan, there is a block with the handprints of Daniel (Harry), Rupert (Ron) and Emma (Hermione). Such a contrast of past and present actors. The front of Grauman’s is relatively small and there are so many people crowded in – it is very hard to take the photos as they continually stand in front of you or stand on the block that you are trying to snap.
The sun casting shadows is no help either as you can see! Thank God for digital cameras – sometimes our patience is tested to the limit but as we do not want to end our day in the Los Angeles gaol we keep our cool and continue to walk around, politely asking people to move.
After snapping quite a few imprints of hands and feet we decide to do the Starline Tour around Hollywood / Los Angeles in a double decker bus so that we can see all the ‘famous’ landmarks.
This company just stands at their allotted space and does not try to grab you by the throat and hijack you – so that has to be a plus and worthy of our money. It is also a tour where you can get on and off the bus as many times as you like so that you can have a walk around the areas you wish to see, although after the hectic pace we have set over the past few days we may decide not to get off at all.
We decide to do the Red Line tour for about $20 per person so a bargain to boot. We get on the bus a bit early so that we can get a good seat up top and at the front so that we are under cover and out of the sun and we can get panoramic vision to take photos of whatever we want without someone’s head popping up at the wrong time.
We sit waiting, waiting for the tour to start and whilst doing so we get a good view of the Roosevelt Hotel – a place that is reportedly haunted by Marilyn Monroe who was a guest in the 1950’s.
We also spy Laurel and Hardy, Captain Jack Sparrow and Darth Vader. Of course not the real ones – but people dressed up as such so that you can – for a small fee – have your photo taken with them.
I will not include any photos of that as it is really crass and a good waste of space but it is amazing to see how many people are willing to part with their money for this ‘honour’.
Something you don’t see everyday is Darth Vader take off his mask, have a chat with Captain Jack and compare light sabres to swords!
Whilst sitting in our bus some vans pull up out the front of the theatre, people hop out and begin putting up ropes and barriers much to the annoyance of those still wandering around down there. They are telling people to leave so that they can prepare for a Premier tonight. How exciting – until we see what the Premier is – Halloween – a Rob Zombie film. No photos of that here either – I am sure that Sid Grauman and his Hollywood entourage is spinning at the thought of that in this beloved theatre.
Finally the driver gets in and starts the bus and we are away. This is our plan of attack : down Hollywood Boulevarde past the ‘Guitar Centre’ to the Chateau Marmont Hotel. This Hotel is reportedly the hotel referred to in the Eagles song ‘Hotel California’.
Onto Sunset Strip, (keeping an eye out for 77 but no such luck); onto Santa Monica Boulevarde, left onto Rodeo Drive with its palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze and into Beverly Hills. Huge disappointment – we do not see anyone famous but we get to see where they shop – Cartier’s, Armani etc. I can feel my Visa card jumping around in search of some exercise but I ignore the feeling to jump off the bus yelling ‘charge it!’.
Sadly it is now that I must mention the only down side of this trip – the driver is not the best – stop – start – stop and all with very jerky movements.
The traffic is unbelievable and how people manage to drive in it and live is beyond me – still I suppose it’s what you get used to. Travelling past the Four Seasons Hotel where Elton John stayed before he bought a mansion here we head down Beverly Boulevarde and onto Wilshire Boulevarde where we see the Beverly Wilshire – the hotel out of Pretty Woman – and then it’s past the La Brea Tar Pits – home to many a mammoth’s remains (and a memory out of the Walt Disney Zorro series).
Past the Larry Flint building which is IMHO a rather nasty looking modern black glass building with its only saving grace – a statue of John Wayne out the front which, of course, we manage to miss! The commentary is about 2 minutes behind what we are actually going to see. Next it is the Farmer’s Market and it’s famous (?) clock tower and back onto Beverly Boulevarde heading towards Melrose Avenue and Paramount Studios. These studios were the home to Ed Sullivan and now are home to many other famous shows.
Finally we see in the distance the Hollywood sign – and of course as we get closer our trusty driver has another attack of the jerks. Thank goodness we get to stop at numerous red lights – it is the only chance we get of taking some good photos.
Unfortunately around the hill the smog is unbelievable but we snap away regardless. Towards the end of our tour we go past the Hollywood Forever Memorial Park where many of the Stars now Rest in Peace. I would love to come back to Los Angeles and spend a few days here as one day is definitely not enough to experience the history of this city.
Arriving back at our starting point – Grauman’s – we thank the driver but do not tip and head off to collect our car which hopefully still has all our belongings stashed inside!
Kylie really wants to find the Viper Room – we had gone past it on the bus but due to the commentary being out of sync with what we were actually seeing – and it was so quick – a blink and it was gone! We get out the map and try and find it. Tyler is driving and when we see the awning out front we tell him to stop – yes we know it is a No Stopping area – so after he sort of stops we jump out – race up the street and he continues to drive ever so slowly to catch up with us.
When we take our photos we jump back in the car and no harm done. The Viper Room was once owned by Johnny Depp and was the nightclub where River Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993. Yes, rather morbid but a Hollywood landmark nonetheless and I am glad that Kylie got to take her photos.
After finding our way through the traffic we see the Beverly Hills sign that we also jerked past during the tour so Tyler slows down once again and a quick snap out the window and I am happy. It is now Tyler’s turn to be pleased as he wants to visit Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, a place that has lots of comic books and memorabilia and is really not a secret due to the amount of people in the store.
Today we searched out some point of interest for everyone and that has to be good. On our journey out of LA we pass Culver City – Santa Monica and Malibu. Unfortunately we don’t get to stop at Santa Monica Pier or Mother Bu because of the traffic and lack of parking so they are put on the ever growing list for the next in depth visit.
Our place of residence for tonight is the Channel Islands Inn & Suites at Oxnard. This is halfway between LA and our next stop Santa Barbara. It is a nice looking hotel and our room is clean and comfortable so we are happy. Time to do a spot of washing so after we put our clothes in the machine I decide to return to the room for some catch up time as Tyler stands guard over the clothes until they are finished.
Highlight of the day : Grauman’s Chinese Theatre