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We landed in LAX around 2:30 with our flight to Auckland scheduled to depart at 11:50PM. We had decided that we would rather break the trip up with a long break as opposed to cutting our layover too close. Our frequent flyer awards didn't offer any middle ground. We rented a car to drive over to Manhattan Beach, walk around a bit and grab some dinner. This seemed like a simple enough plan.
Manhattan Beach is only about 15 minutes from LAX. We parked and headed down the hill a couple of blocks to the beach. The wind was really kicking and despite it being a holiday weekend there were only a smattering of folks on the beach. There is a small aquarium and cafe at the end of the pier, so we forged toward the circular building. The wind must have been coming off the water at 50 miles an hour. It felt strong enough to blow Theo into the surf which was churning like a washing machine around the pier. Needless to say, no surfers were out today!
We did a quick stroll around the circular building that housed the aquarium and went in to check it
Mann's Chinese Theater
Geddy in front of the iconic Hollywood landmark. out. It was a quaint little place that was fairly crowded with folks like us seeking shelter from the wind.
We decided to head back the car and come up with a Plan B. It was just too windy to do much. On the way to the car we did see a parade of bicyclist dressed up in an odd lot of costumes heading into a tavern: A guy dressed in a white gown with a faux pregnant belly and an arrow pointing to it with the caption "Savior Within", several members from the cast of the Flintstones, Roman warriors, generic togas, etc. While Suzy took Theo to the bathroom, I waited with Geddy & Ivy at the end of the pier a guy with an accordion was engaged in an inspired version of Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". At least it was inspired to him. I threatened to join him (and it wouldn't have taken much encouragement!) but the mere suggestion of me singing in public left the older two cowering in the shadows. Maybe next time...
We ended up doing a quick web search to see if the iconic In N Out Burger had
vegetarian offerings. Grilled cheese and "Veggie Burgers" (which were bread with melted cheese and a bun with cheese & hamburger condiments, respectively). Close enough, so we gave it a whirl. Not bad. For the record, I didn't order a Veggie Burger Animal Style and it just would have seemed like a paradox.
On a whim, we decided to go the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The place was an absolute zoo, crammed with tourists and entrepreneurs dressed like a smorgasbord of movie characters hoping to get a dollar or two for a picture with a tourist. This cast included an overweight Jason from Friday the 13th fame and fortune, Buzz & Woody (Buzz was a bit chunky but was taller than Woody who was missing his hat, so they didn't gel well as a pair), a woman dressed up as Chucky (Child's Play), a full assortment of Superheros: a tiny Batman, a Transformer who Geddy thought must have bought his costume from Walmart, a couple of Spiderman-wanabees, etc.
Of course we were focused on doing what most everyone else was surely there for: finding the star awarded to Rush last year. After a couple different web searches, we found
Rush's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Ivy, Theo and Geddy pay their respects to Rush! it! In all truth, while we were taking our pictures of it, several others stopped to check it out and photograph it as well.
The flight was delayed about a half an hour and fortunately wasn't but half full. We had our seats arranged so that we had two groups of four seats which occupied the middle section of the plane and a pair on the side. All things considered, the flight went pretty well. Leaving LA at midnight left morning chasing us most of the night. The sunlight finally caught us just past the International Date Line. Flying to New Zealand at this hour resulted in us leaving at night and arriving in the morning...just the morning of the day after tomorrow! So we left on the night of the 29th and we will arrive on the morning of the 31st.
We're getting a minivan, a GPS and we've got 29 days in New Zealand. Game on!
By: Jon
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