Travel to LA and Our City Tour

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After finally getting out of work a half hour later than expected, I realized I had much more work to do at home. We still had to go to the dry cleaner, store, pack, and clean up the house a bit. We planned to leave for the airport about 2:30pm, but it ended up taking us until 3:30. Mind you, that's 30 minutes after Kristi's parents arrived to pick us up. One problem was that her suitcase was overweight and she had to take out some shoes and books to get it down under 50 lbs. Not sure how we're going to get an souvenirs home, as my suitcase is getting close to 50, too.

The airport was pretty quiet so checking in was a breeze. The plane was a few minutes late, but nothing like the Europe trip. Chicago was a zoo, but we needed to grab some food. They apparently don't offer snacks on United flights. Luckily, there was a panini joint right next to our gate and we boarded our plane with them in had.

We got to LAX and waited and waited for a taxi. We needed a van since the four of us each had luggage and a Prius just wouldn't cut it. Michele was waiting outside for us when we pulled in. John was still sleeping from when they got there in the afternoon. Did I mention it's after 10pm? We were all pretty hungry once we got to the Crowne near the LA Harbor so we ordered some food from Phillie B's. It was a really cheesy pizza and a turkey sub, which were both pretty good.

We decided on a private tour from LA Insider Tours. The guide was planning on picking us up at 7:30am so we all got around and headed downstairs. John decided 15 hours was enough sleep by a very precise calculation involving a slide rule and the gravitational pull on the earth or something and joined us. Luckily, the hotel let us do late checkout so we could leave the luggage in the room. The driver's name was Kevin and he was a guy just a little younger than Kristi and I probably. After a little harassment from John, we were on our way. We all loaded in the van and headed out. Since San Pedro (where our hotel is) is right next to all of the docks but far from the actual attractions, it took about 20 minutes of freeway driving to get to our first sites. Speaking of freeway, we drove down the one where O.J. Simpson had his "slow speed chase" when I was a kid. Off to the right of that was where Candy Spelling bought two floors of condos to make her "smaller" home after Aaron Spelling passed away. Just around the block was the building used for Nakatomi Plaza in the first Die Hard movie! Poor Hans Gruber...

Kevin started us out in Bel Air to see some famous houses. Of course, I had to ask about the Fresh Prince's house. Apparently, the house for the head on shot for the opening scenes is not really in Bel Air, but he did show us one that was used as Uncle Phil's house for all of the other outside staging shots. We also got to see the mansion that the head of Formula One racing bought for his daughter as a wedding gift...a cool $85 million. The houses are really quite traditional looking; that is, what of them you can see that's not blocked by hedges and walls. There are a lot of Spanish, French, and Tuscan styles, even in new houses that are built. Which, by the way, happens only after tearing down the house that was there previously. There is no more land available here so the property is bought and the structures all demolished before putting up a new one. Frank Sinatra alone tore down seven. It's sort of sad because in any other city there are preservation societies. The house where the Beatles and Elvis met? Demolished. The house where the Rat Pack met? Smashed.

The same thing is true in Beverly Hills. It seems that there are more current stars living here, though. We saw Ellen DeGeneres and Portia Derossi's pad that they bought for $40 million. Not far from there are the Playboy Mansion, Nicolas Cage's old house, the Reagan's estate, the house Michael Jackson died in, and even Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez's house. All of them have security signs out front that boast about either armed patrols, armed response, or attack dogs! I wonder if they are shelties?

We also came across Johnny Carson's house that they made him stay in while filming episodes. He hated it. His favorite house was in Malibu, which isn't that far from LA unless there's an accident or other holdup. There are only a couple roads in and out of Malibu and the studio wouldn't let him take the chance of being late. His wife sold it for $44 million after he passed away. A couple of other fun ones were the house in which Paris Hilton grew up, Jackie Chan's, and where Ozzy Osborn's family lived when filming the MTV show. Remember him throwing the ham at the neighbor's house??

I did learn two other interesting tidbits. First, Beverly Hills has silver-painted fire hydrants to set themselves apart. Second, actors and celebrities are not usually the richest folks in the area. The businessmen behind the scenes are really the ones that make most of the money and to which most of these houses belong. Foreign investors have also become a very large clientele, too. Wealthy Russians, Chinese, and Middle Easterners have been buying here a lot lately. A Shah actually spent $500 thousand to plant a couple of trees because his house was slightly visible coming around a bend in the road next to it.

Rodeo drive was next. In all actuality, people don't really shop here much anymore. It's always been a symbol of 'making it' in the fashion world, but now that's all it is. Luckily, they jack up the prices in the other stores enough to support these leases. All the big players are here: Cartier, Tiffany's, Prada, etc. One I had never heard of before was Bijan, a suit maker that caters to the rich, famous, and/or powerful. A sitting fee is $1,500. Some suits even have bulletproof linings! From there we drove up the Sunset Strip. At the risk of sounding like a nerd, I recognize this place. I know where to turn for the observatory and what is coming up ahead. How could I know this? OH, that's right...GTA V was set in LA. I have driven these streets on missions in one of the best video games ever! Kevin said that he's heard that before...from 12 year olds. Ha, well let me tell you something, Kev...I'm not the only nearly-thirty year old that loves that game!

We parked on a side street and worked our way over to Grauman's Chinese Theatre. You know the one. It's the big pagoda-looking thing next to all the stars' hand and footprints in the cement. We saw Richard Gere (Terry's favorite), Shirley Temple, Judy Garland, and even the cast of Twilight and Harry Potter. We did some shopping at a store that was having a very special one day only sale that Kevin informed us had this sale every day for the last year and a half. We still got a couple things that we figured were still a good deal. Next, we went to the Dolby Theatre, which hosts the Academy Awards. On the pillars that line the walkway, you can see every movie from the last several decades that won the film of the year category (Bull Durham, Gigi, Casablanca, etc.). We walked down the very stairs that only nominees are allowed to tread. Heading back to the van, I mentioned to Kevin that Rodney would die if he say Shania Twain's star but it was quite a ways away at this point. We headed to In-And-Out Burger to get some of these famous, west coast treats and before we knew it, there we were. Shania Twain's star was just outside the van. Rodney headed off to get his picture, although, not before spilling some burger on his crisp, white shirt. Crap.

Passing the bar Jim Belushi, Robert DeNiro, and Robin Williams hung out in the night of Belushi's overdose, we drove towards the Hollywood sign. Apparently, it used to say Hollywoodland, which was an advertisement for the housing development that was on the hill. For some reason, the residents didn't want to be associated with the development anymore and collectively demolished the 'land'. The city was going to tear down the sign due to numerous vandalizations. The alarm system to protect it was going to be over $100 thousand, of which the city was not about to foot the bill. Good ol' Hugh Heffner staged a celebrity auction and raised more than enough to help care for the famous landmark's future. We accessed the sign from a residential neighborhood that isn't open to the public. Kevin advised us to be very considerate of the residents, as it is private, restricted access. We met up with another tour group from the same company taking pictures. Turns out they are going on the Crown Princess, too! They were from North Dakota dontcha know? We grabbed some pictures of couples and then the group, Rodney hiding behind people to shield his shirt from view.

The next stop was Griffith Observatory. Long ago, it played a significant role in astronomical research; however, it is now a museum, incredible city vantage point, and a memorable Charlie's Angles fight staging ground (Demi and Cameron, shame on your for forgetting). Terry got left behind during the tour, not noticing that everyone moved to the inside of the building...we got in trouble. We headed back to grab our luggage and get to the ship.

The shuttle from the hotel drove us the five minutes to the pier. Luggage unloaded, we started the check-in process. Everything was smooth sailing until this incredibly rude worker started screaming at everyone about how there are more lines yada yada. I kindly informed him that I sincerely hope the rest of Princess employees weren't as awful as he was. 😊.

We didn't do much the rest of the night, just grabbed some dinner, toured the ship a bit, read, and fell asleep. Jet lag wreaked havoc on most of the group.

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Photos

Roosevelt Hotel Pool
Kevin took us 'behind the scenes' at the Roosevelt. This pool has seen many of the Entourage party.

Judy Garland
Apparently, most actors used to be small. This helped them fit in the frame better and it's also easier to make them look bigger, rather than make a tall one look shorter. Judy G. was no exception. Kristi looks like an amazon in comparison to her!

Richard Gere
Terry's all-time favorite hunk.

Harry Potter
The whole cast made it for this!

Dolby Theatre
This is right next to Grauman's and shows all of the Academy award winners for best film down the lighted pillars. Those are the stairs that only the nominees can ascend before the award show.

Jimmy Kimmel Live
JKL films right across the street from the Dolby Theatre.

Griffith Observatory
This building is one of the best spots for panoramic views of the city. Also, it plays a very good host to the Demi and Cameron fight scene in Charlie's Angels.