American Adventure 8 - Hazy Hollywood & Independence Day Madness

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Day 20 (4th of July - Independence Day!)

We woke to a beautiful hot sunny day in Hollywood, cooked ourselves breakfast & then headed out into Hollywood on foot. Just around the corner was the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as many old & interesting building housing all kinds of weird & wonderful things (Guinness World Records, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, etc). We made our way over the star-studded footpath to Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held. It was quite a large building, & the Hollywood & Highland structure behind it made the whole place seem quite massive. Next door was Mann’s Chinese Theatre (now Grauman's Chinese Theatre, I think), where we spent a few minutes looking at all of the handprints, footprints & signatures engraved in the ground. The newest ones were in a temporary spot in the middle (these belonged to George Clooney & Matt Damon, who I had seen there on the news just before we left London), with loads more around the outside - I’m not actually sure where they put them all, as there must be far more signatures than space. We walked to the end of the Walk of Fame & then came back over more stars on the other side of the road. There were many other theatres around, as well as old-fashioned cinemas, all showing various things during the day & night. Harry Potter fever was just beginning to hit, as the newest film was having it’s premiere in LA at the Chinese Theatre, just the day after we would be leaving. I did a bit of souvenir shopping, but it was just so hot that we wanted to get out of there, so we headed back to the hotel (thankfully it was such a short distance away) & jumped in the car towards Santa Monica Beach.

On the way I kind of took Vaughan on a tiki-tour, so we could have a look through Beverly Hills, & at some of the nice houses up in the Hollywood Hills. After about an hour we ended up heading down Rodeo Drive, & eventually on towards the beach, & we began the slow crawl along with the other traffic to Santa Monica - what a silly idea to come to the beach on a national holiday when it’s hot! After cruising around for a while, just looking but also hoping for a car park, we ended up down in this short-term parking area which was just what we had been looking for. We jumped out of the car & headed over towards the water. The beach was pretty packed, with loads of lifeguards running around (looking stressed - it was a busy day for them) & all kinds of activities around the place. The water was freezing - I don’t know how there were so many people out there swimming, especially as the sea breeze made the beach far more reasonable in temperature without even getting in the water. The pollution was pretty bad over by the beach (this pollution is mainly caused by cars), & you couldn’t see very far up & down the coastline in either direction - in fact, it was so bad that it actually appeared cloudy, although it wasn’t.

There is a large pier at Santa Monica so we headed off in that direction along the sand, which was quite a pleasant walk (you couldn’t see it very well through the smog, but it was only about 500m away or so). The pier has all kinds of restaurants & kiosks on it, as well as a few carnival rides & general marketplace stuff (people painting your portrait, music, candy floss). It was quite brightly coloured & exciting - lots of fun for the kids. At the far end there were lots of people fishing, & it was fun to look back towards the beach & see all the people swimming, & watch the police helicopters buzzing around trying to keep everyone safe. It was pretty massive, with people absolutely everywhere, being a national holiday. It seemed as if everyone had gone to the beach! After having a bit of a look around we decided to move on, heading slowly back toward the car, this time via the boardwalk near the road at the back of the beach. This was a far more interesting route, & we suddenly found ourselves watching some people do capoeira on a special grass spot, as well as others practicing acrobatic-balancing handstands (including a little girl of about 7). We sat down for a while to watch, & noticed there were also chess games & all other kinds of activities going on around us. In the background we could see swing rings & other physical exercise equipment, which we had seen many times before on TV. Apparently Santa Monica Beach is the original site of ‘Muscle Beach’ (guys pumping iron), but this has now moved south to Venice. Our walk back down the beach was really interesting, with all these things to watch mainly on one side, & the beach on the other.

We reached the car as the shadows began to grow long on the sand, & we headed back towards the hotel. On the way we stopped off in downtown, for Vaughan to take a peek inside one of the (bizarrely-shaped) hotels that he had studied at University. I waited in the car as there wasn’t any parking, but he got to take a few photos for me to see, before we headed off again. We had been invited to an Independence Day BBQ by Jeremy’s sister, Heather (as she lives with her husband in Long Beach) & had intended on going out to meet them, but after learning that there may be very few people attending (perhaps just us), we didn’t really want them to have to put on a big BBQ thing just for us, as we are too easygoing for that much hard work! We decided instead to go to Culver City, not far away from where we were staying, for the fireworks at the local high school that we had seen advertised on the Internet. There were loads of people around but we managed to score a car park, got our things together & made it through the school to the football field, where everything was going off for the 4th of July celebrations. There was a band playing rock & roll, with people spread out on the grass having picnics & dancing, loads of kids running around selling raffle tickets, lots of food & drink - it was kind of exciting. We sat up in the stands on one side & ate some hot dogs, while people started up a game with a couple of beach balls, trying to keep them up in the air & sometimes hitting other people in the stands in the back of the head. It was kind of amusing, & everyone seemed to be having a great time. There were a few Independence Day speeches as darkness fell (it was also Culver City’s 90th birthday too, I think), & then the band came back out & more people on the grass in the centre got up to dance. Everyone was just messing around & there was a really great atmosphere - we had bought a few other munchies for the occasion & I was enjoying the ‘Turtle Soup’ ice cream before it melted. The fireworks got off to a late start but they were pretty good. We got to see a couple of different fireworks that we hadn’t seen before (one that exploded to make a cube shape in the air, & the other which made a smiley face, complete with different colours for face, eyes & mouth - really impressive!). When it was over we packed in with the masses & tried to get out the gate. We made it back to the hotel really easily (despite the traffic coming out of the Hollywood Bowl celebrations just down the road from us), & finally crashed out. It had been quite a busy day but we had done & seen a lot. It was interesting to be involved in the Independence Day celebrations, but we didn’t feel too out of place. Nice one LA - thanks for a great day!

Day 21

Today we made another cooked breakfast for ourselves & jumped in the car, heading a short distance north to Warner Brothers Studios, where we had booked a tour. We arrived in time to watch the introductory movie, & then got in these wee carts, & were taken around the front & back lots by our driver (the front lot is for filming outdoor scenes, & the back lot is for filming indoor scenes). The front lot also doubles as a staff car park, so it was funny to see most of the offices looking like they were set in a two-storied roadside motel, so that they can also double as a background for an outdoor set if need be! I was so excited when I got to see the outdoor set for ER, one of my favourite shows - it looked so much smaller than on screen, but we got to learn all kinds of things about how they make the show work. You could also see the rigging for the rain machine up above, as the show is set in Chicago where it rains & snows a lot - they even had a fake entrance & overhead lines for the ‘L’ train next door, where they sometimes shoot scenes. Everything was completely made out of plastic (all the pipes & bricks & everything). It was really interesting & we got to look around lots of other places too, including the outdoor sets for the Gilmore Girls & the OC (I don’t watch them so I’ve not idea what they’re like), & a large street full of fake buildings which have been used in numerous films. The guide explained how they make moulds for the fronts of the buildings, of all kinds of materials (such as brick & stucco), & when they want to street to look different they just call for a different front to be added. The street also had a distinct lack of colours anywhere, any signage or really anything identifiable. When someone is making a film there then they then ‘dress it up’ into the kind of neighbourhood they want for their production. It was really interesting to learn about how they made various productions, & we also got to visit the areas where they make the sets for the films (they have a range of everything you could possibly imagine, for you to pick from for your film - both indoor & outdoor furniture, structures & props). We got to see the General Lee (car from the Dukes of Hazard) as well as the Scooby Doo Mystery Mobile, the Batmobile, & the flying car from Harry Potter among many others. The studio grounds were absolutely huge, taking up something like 11 square blocks - it even has it’s own zipcode! Each back lot set is housed in a giant warehouse, the largest having giant wind & water machines in them, where they filmed stuff like the Perfect Storm. We got to go into one of the smaller studios where we walked around the set for Two & a Half Men. Even that was much smaller than it looks on TV - I don’t know how they manage to make everything look so much bigger, but it was cool to be there. With most shows being on summer hiatus, there wasn’t too much going on (traffic, people), so we had more time to look at everything. We even got to see the Friends set, which has been transported to another building as it’s no longer current. It was pretty fun, & our guide was really knowledgeable - he even had an idea for a kind of sports-related show himself, & was hoping for approval from the powers above. Even most of the guides are aspiring actors or producers - it just goes to show that people will get their foot in the door any way they know how.

After finishing up there we stopped in at the café & then ventured west again to Venice Beach this time. It was already mid afternoon by the time we got sorted out there (we had taken a residential route there instead of the freeway, & it was pretty slow), so we just parked the car & went for a wander. Venice Beach is completely different from Santa Monica - it’s a lot grittier (the people, not the sand), & more people of different ethnicities seemed to hang out there (& less family groups) , although it was still a popular spot for anyone, especially as it was the high season & people were still on holiday (many people had the day off work today as well). There were quite a few street performers there, & on the opposite side of the boardwalk this time were loads of small stores & restaurants - there was also a lot of graffiti & art work around, including an official graffiti area where people could legally come & spray their (organised) art work daily during certain hours, where their work might only remain for a day (or two during the weekend), but was there for all to see - you could even spray paint the trees & rubbish bins in this area! There were a few more homeless people down at Venice, some of them acting crazy & yelling out at people as they went by. It’s just as popular as Santa Monica, but for different reasons. There are many small one-way streets behind all the shops, with beach housing close by (Santa Monica had more luxurious housing, & it was a bit further away from the beach because of the large car parks). There were plenty of basketball courts off the boardwalk, as well as the new Muscle Beach - a small outdoor gym on the sand, where there were a few guys pumping iron for all to see. The surf wasn’t too bad in this area (although the water was freezing) so there were a lot of people out with their boards there, unlike further up the beach where the whitewash makes it impossible to surf. The difference between these beaches (not so much the beaches themselves, but the people that hang out there & the environment) was quite obvious, despite their close proximity to one another (they are right next to each other with no real boundary between them). We decided to head back as it was starting to cool down - quite noticeable near the water - shame about the pollution there also.

We got back in the car & ventured back towards Hollywood. It was pretty much dinnertime so we stopped off at the Farmer’s Market, not too far from where we were staying. I remember being there several times before, but it is much bigger these days, with a boutique street now constructed behind it, & a large wholefoods supermarket next door - it was a busy place. The original Farmers Market mainly seemed to include fruit & vegetable vendors, as well as many food kiosks. The main section of this market is under cover, & with so many things to choose from it can be quite an exciting place. Vaughan really enjoyed looking around all the various areas, & a jazz band was busy setting up in one corner for a small summer concert. We ended up getting dinner at a Brazilian BBQ buffet - all kinds of meats & salads you can dish up yourself, followed by the BBQ area where you can pick which kind/style of meat you would like (there are about 10 to choose from), & they carve it for you right there, from these huge kebab skewers of fresh meat hanging over a big BBQ pit at the side. We knew we were on to a good thing when we noticed that about half the people in Farmer’s Market were queuing for this one place. Such good food - Vaughan talked about it for the rest of the holiday! After we finished eating we headed off for a quick look around the newer boutique area at the back - it had been made into an old fashioned street & shopping area, but didn’t hold our attention for too long, although it was very charming & seemed popular with the locals.

We headed back to the hotel with full bellies, but were kind of looking for something else to do (sort of - we were in two minds whether to just relax or maybe go out & do something more). We ended up walking just around the corner back to Mann’s Chinese Theatre, where we went to see a film (‘1408’) which was pretty good. The cinemas looked as if they had had a recent refit & were quite impressive. It was even warm inside, making a nice change from the usual fridge-atmosphere of NZ & UK cinemas. We were both quite impressed, & it was really nice to walk through the lower section of the Hollywood & Highland complex on our (short) walk back to the hotel. I hadn’t been sure about whether we should stay in Hollywood, or perhaps out by the beach when I was initially booking our accommodation, but it seemed to be working out well for us as we were able to walk to a lot of the sights (& convenience stores across the street). Although we had not really ventured much further than the beach or Hollywood itself, we were enjoying being in Los Angeles a lot.

Day 22

Today we had a whole day free to do whatever we wanted - we hadn’t yet been down to Long Beach, or anywhere along the coast south of Venice, & we also hadn’t been up the coast road or to any amusement parks or to the massive Griffith Park up by the Hollywood sign, so we had plenty of activities to choose from. I thought it would be really nice for Vaughan to get to pick what he wanted to do, since I had planned most of the rest of the trip (although I had him in mind when picking stuff, of course). Vaughan couldn’t make up his mind between a nice drive up the coast road, or Six Flags Magic Mountain. In the end, Magic Mountain won because we had a 2-4-1 voucher, & we headed north out of the city to the San Fernando Valley where the large roller coaster park is located. It was a beautiful day & after getting lost for an hour we finally made it to the park, a little later than we would have liked as the entrance lines were long & it was incredibly hot by then. Never mind - after about an hour in the line we finally made it into the park. We were begging for water rides so we certainly had a few options in that department. Magic Mountain has a large water theme park attached to the side of it, which was more popular with the (sensible) locals - the rides, slides & pools looked like so much fun! In the roller coaster section (we just had tickets for this part - not the actual water park itself) we first stopped at the log ride (Logger’s Leap, I think it’s called) which was kind of fun in an old fashioned way - we got a bit wet & felt a bit better after spending so long lined up in the sun previously. From there we used our expresses passes to go on a new ride nearby called Tatsu - it was certainly a gut wrencher: attached at the top, your legs hung down into thin air, then were also locked in place before your seats flipped forwards so you were actually facing the ground (like you were flying), before proceeding around a massive course of twists & turns. I used to really like roller coasters but have become less & less confident about them in the last couple of years - I tend to do better on the ones that are attached at the bottom, not the top, so I wasn’t a happy camper, but managed to get through the ride OK. Vaughan really enjoyed himself, which was the main thing. After Tatsu we needed a more sedate ride, & picked another water ride within a few minutes walking distance, as it was just so hot (the park was actually quite large so you could easily spend all day walking around or standing in line without actually going on anything - hence our express passes). We ventured on to Roaring Rapids, where you sit on seating arranged inside huge inner tubes. The water was flying all over the place & many people got quite wet, including both Vaughan & I who were absolutely saturated - no worries, it was so hot that we were grateful! It was heaps of fun with everyone screaming & shouting as the water hit them.

After a quick walk towards some rides at the other end of the park (& a ride on Gold Rush, an old runaway train type ride), we made it to Colossus - an old-fashioned wooden roller coaster. I enjoyed the ride quite a lot but it was really bumpy riding over all the old wooden slats. After Tatsu, even Gold Rush & Colossus seemed to make my stomach churn, so I flopped down in the shade on the grass & had a drink & a snooze while Vaughan continued on the roller coasters nearby. It was really pleasant on the grass as it was in a bit of a quiet area, & I could just people-watch for a while. Vaughan went on a large roller coaster called Scream, & then went again just because the line was short. He came out all excited from that & then went on Goliath, another large roller coaster (although I don’t think this one went upside down) in the same corner of the park. He came off that ride looking more than a little green, so we decided that we had had enough & headed towards the exit. On the way out we quickly had another go on the log ride for a short cool down, & we finally made it back to (the incredibly hot) car, before heading off back to the hotel - nice!

After we got back we had a look around the Hollywood & Highland complex for a while, & finally saw the Hollywood sign, which had eluded us all trip - trust us to finally find a great view of it from the complex that was right next to our hotel all that time! We were wandering around sussing out where we might like to eat, but didn’t really find anything there that really struck us, so we ended up at Mel’s Diner, a great 50’s burger joint just down the road which was heaps of fun. The last night of our USA trip drawing to a close, we made sure we ordered all kinds of drinks, mains & desserts, & ended up eating ourselves silly!

Day 23

Time to head home - we dropped the rental car at the airport (poor thing!) & made it to the terminal in time for Vaughan’s lunchtime flight out to New York & then Heathrow in the evening. My flight to Auckland wasn’t until 9:30pm so I had about a million hours to kill at an airport that didn’t seem to have anything apart from a Starbucks (which I am kind of anti about because it’s so expensive there). I managed to finish the book I had (a Michael Crichton thing about an air crash - not a sensible read since I’m afraid of flying) & bought a new one by Stephen King, using the Starbucks couches like my own for as long as possible. I had been meant to meet with Jeremy’s Mum while I was waiting at the airport, but she had her dates mixed up & thought I was flying out 2 days later. It was nice to be included in things with their family though so I appreciated the offer. After a while (5 hours) I was able to check in & made it through to the departure gate, eventually leaving about 45 minutes late on the plane (I’ve been waiting all day already so what’s another 45 minutes!?). Unfortunately this delay caused me to miss my connection in Auckland, so I spent even longer waiting at the airport there, before I finally made it to Nelson. It was fantastic to see my Mum, but the weather was miserable & I just about froze to death after 5 minutes - lucky I had my new jacket from Chicago then! I told you that shopping pays off!

Vaughan has managed to score himself a room at a workmates house, close to his office, so travel is a bit less in the mornings. It’s a bit of a boys flat so I am sure he will have a fantastic time! Let’s hope I can get myself sorted out soon enough - I look forward to seeing my Dad when he returns home from working overseas in a couple of weeks, & will move back to Christchurch after spending some time with my parents. I miss everyone heaps (London friends/Christchurch friends/everyone), so I hope to keep in touch with you all, or catch up soon (& thanks to all of you who helped make it something special). So that’s it - another summer of madness & mayhem, brought to you by Toni (& Vaughan). Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, & if you’re still with me then thank you for reading, as always. I can go & pass out now, the blog is DONE……

xxxx

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