So, after San Diego, we headed to Los Angeles. We woke up super early on Sunday morning and started our drive north to L.A. Our first stop with visiting our sister church in Long Beach. We found the location and followed the crowds. The service was amazing from the singing to the sermon. We are so grateful we were able to worship with them. After church, we headed to the Aquarium in Long Beach. This was probably our favorite aquarium ever. Having it located directly on the beach, probably pushed it to the top of our list. The exhibits and the animals were beautiful. A lot of the stuff to see was outside and of course the weather was perfect. In one of the pics above, you see Matt and Bill touching the sting rays. It was great. After the aquarium, we went to on a Harbor Boat Cruise. The view was amazing...but the surprise for me was how industrial L.A. is. The piers and the docks were full of boats and carriers and cranes and industry. So much military as well. It went on for miles. After the boat tour, we made a mad dash to Santa Monica Pier. This place was bizaar! This pier was full of restaurants and people selling the most random stuff like words written in chinese art. But we saw this Japanese man make the most realistic clay sculptures of people's faces. It was completely fascinating. We rode the boardwalk rides and ate funnel cakes and listened to the street performers. The beach was beautiful! We also saw the new summer lifeguards in matching bathing suits doing their practice drills. That was pretty cool. We finally decided to find our hotel and check-in. We ordered pizza for delivery and Matt swam in the pool. We slept well that night. Monday morning came early and we hit Hollywood Blvd. This was our day to be a true tourist. As we drove to our first tour, we saw a sign for I-10 East. We had to drive on it and, of course, take a picture. Now why is this significant? Well..cause this was the exact spot that Interstate 10 begins - we were there - exit 1. This same freeway would get us home to Texas (if we were crazy enough to drive it all that way). It goes til it hits Florida. We thought this was pretty cool. Okay...back to our touristy day. We took a walking tour that showed us around Hollywood on foot. We saw the Kodak Theater (where the Academy Awards take place), we saw Grauman's Chinese theater (see pic of all of us together), we saw the Hollywood sign (see the pic of the boys with the sign in the far distance - and no, the boys were not listening to music - the headphones were from the tour guide. We could hear everything he said without having to stay super close - we loved it!) He took us down the Walk of Fame and we saw many stars' names. He took us to the Egytian Theater and so many of the hip Hollywood spots. We heard many stories where famous things took place. It was really really fun. Above is a photo of Bill and the boys on the famous corner of Hollywood and Vine. Just thought that was fun. Our next stop was the hokey Wax Museum. Now that was pretty "weird"...but we just had to go in. Now for a really fun surprise. While we were there, Kyra Sedgwick of "The Closer" was getting her star on the Walk of Fame. I was so excited - why....cause she's married to Kevin Bacon!!! And yes...he was there. I have proof - see the pic above. That's him and we were standing about 20 feet from him - of course there was a huge crowd of people inbetween us, but oh well. Jack managed to get this great picture of him. Thanks, Jack! Then, off to another tour - this one on a double decker bus. It went all around Hollywood. We saw stars' homes and learned a lot about the history of L.A. and Hollywood. It was fun. Again...we had to do it. Okay...after that tour, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to Universal Studios. The crowds were light, so we were able to ride all the rides and catch the Studio Movie Tour. It was fun - we saw a bunch of sets from several movies as well as, from Heroes (Matt's favorite show) and from Desperate Housewives (which was actually filming earlier that day). We grabbed some food at Universal City Walk and bought some chocolate at the Chocolate Loco store (featured on the Food Network) and headed back to our hotel. Whew...we're not done yet! Tuesday was Movie Studio Tour day. We went to Sony Studios first - this was a walking tour and loads of fun. We saw a bunch of sets and saw how they create these big houses with just walls and floors. It was fascinating. We explored the set of Jeopardy and saw their brand new stage for the new season (no pictures allowed). We met the casting director who's been with Jeopardy for over 20 years - crazy!! We grabbed quick bite to eat and headed over to Paramount Studios. This tour was especially fun! We had a great tour guide and he took us around on an 8 seater golf cart thingee...very cool. He told us some funny stories about older stars. We saw the sets of lots of shows that were familiar to Bill and me from our childhood and teen years. Pretty fun. But, the best part of the tour was seeing one of our favorite shows actually being filmed - "Monk". The shows' star, Tony Shaloob, was right there (well across the street and sort of behind a building), but he was there. They were filming a scene where he was rearranging some flowers that were not straight - we saw it done about 4 times. We saw the "extras" and all the people that are involved in the process. The boys really thought this was cool! (so did Bill and me!) After the tour was over...we went through the Guiness World Records museum and ate dinner at Greco's Pizza. I had the lasagna...it was pretty tasty. You'd think our day was over, but no! We had one more thing to do - watch a movie at the famous El Capitan Theater right on Hollywood Blvd. This place was over-the-top! Absolutely beautiful from outside to inside. This theater is owned by Disney and only shows one Disney or Pixar movie at a time. So, we saw "Up" in 3D. Above is a photo of Matt and me with our 3D glasses on. It was the best movie theater experience in my life (well...it should be at $16 a ticket!) But...before the show, there is a man who plays the organ - it was beautiful and very entertaining. He does a 30 minute performance (well you get there early enough to get good seats). After that, the curtain opens and the previews start - you think the movie is about to begin, but it doesn't...there is a live singing and dancing show with actors and all the Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc.) It was so fun! The movie finally started and it was so good! I just loved this memory...so much fun! Okay...now back to our hotel and a good nights sleep. Wednesday morning comes and it's time to pack our stuff. We ate a big breakfast at Denny's and headed over to the Page Museum where the La Brea Tarpits are. This place is so cool (and stinky). They are still getting bones and fossils out of this pit today. It's a working museum where actual digs and reconstruction was going on. The boys loved it. Our L.A. vacation was over now and we headed northeast up to Yosemite National Park. That's where the next 3 days will take place. I'll post about it later. If you're still reading this, then you are truly my friend. Thanks for traveling with us on my blog. See you soon!
So, after San Diego, we headed to Los Angeles. We woke up super early on Sunday morning and started our drive north to L.A. Our first stop with visiting our sister church in Long Beach. We found the location and followed the crowds. The service was amazing from the singing to the sermon. We are so grateful we were able to worship with them. After church, we headed to the Aquarium in Long Beach. This was probably our favorite aquarium ever. Having it located directly on the beach, probably pushed it to the top of our list. The exhibits and the animals were beautiful. A lot of the stuff to see was outside and of course the weather was perfect. In one of the pics above, you see Matt and Bill touching the sting rays. It was great. After the aquarium, we went to on a Harbor Boat Cruise. The view was amazing...but the surprise for me was how industrial L.A. is. The piers and the docks were full of boats and carriers and cranes and industry. So much military as well. It went on for miles. After the boat tour, we made a mad dash to Santa Monica Pier. This place was bizaar! This pier was full of restaurants and people selling the most random stuff like words written in chinese art. But we saw this Japanese man make the most realistic clay sculptures of people's faces. It was completely fascinating. We rode the boardwalk rides and ate funnel cakes and listened to the street performers. The beach was beautiful! We also saw the new summer lifeguards in matching bathing suits doing their practice drills. That was pretty cool. We finally decided to find our hotel and check-in. We ordered pizza for delivery and Matt swam in the pool. We slept well that night. Monday morning came early and we hit Hollywood Blvd. This was our day to be a true tourist. As we drove to our first tour, we saw a sign for I-10 East. We had to drive on it and, of course, take a picture. Now why is this significant? Well..cause this was the exact spot that Interstate 10 begins - we were there - exit 1. This same freeway would get us home to Texas (if we were crazy enough to drive it all that way). It goes til it hits Florida. We thought this was pretty cool. Okay...back to our touristy day. We took a walking tour that showed us around Hollywood on foot. We saw the Kodak Theater (where the Academy Awards take place), we saw Grauman's Chinese theater (see pic of all of us together), we saw the Hollywood sign (see the pic of the boys with the sign in the far distance - and no, the boys were not listening to music - the headphones were from the tour guide. We could hear everything he said without having to stay super close - we loved it!) He took us down the Walk of Fame and we saw many stars' names. He took us to the Egytian Theater and so many of the hip Hollywood spots. We heard many stories where famous things took place. It was really really fun. Above is a photo of Bill and the boys on the famous corner of Hollywood and Vine. Just thought that was fun. Our next stop was the hokey Wax Museum. Now that was pretty "weird"...but we just had to go in. Now for a really fun surprise. While we were there, Kyra Sedgwick of "The Closer" was getting her star on the Walk of Fame. I was so excited - why....cause she's married to Kevin Bacon!!! And yes...he was there. I have proof - see the pic above. That's him and we were standing about 20 feet from him - of course there was a huge crowd of people inbetween us, but oh well. Jack managed to get this great picture of him. Thanks, Jack! Then, off to another tour - this one on a double decker bus. It went all around Hollywood. We saw stars' homes and learned a lot about the history of L.A. and Hollywood. It was fun. Again...we had to do it. Okay...after that tour, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to Universal Studios. The crowds were light, so we were able to ride all the rides and catch the Studio Movie Tour. It was fun - we saw a bunch of sets from several movies as well as, from Heroes (Matt's favorite show) and from Desperate Housewives (which was actually filming earlier that day). We grabbed some food at Universal City Walk and bought some chocolate at the Chocolate Loco store (featured on the Food Network) and headed back to our hotel. Whew...we're not done yet! Tuesday was Movie Studio Tour day. We went to Sony Studios first - this was a walking tour and loads of fun. We saw a bunch of sets and saw how they create these big houses with just walls and floors. It was fascinating. We explored the set of Jeopardy and saw their brand new stage for the new season (no pictures allowed). We met the casting director who's been with Jeopardy for over 20 years - crazy!! We grabbed quick bite to eat and headed over to Paramount Studios. This tour was especially fun! We had a great tour guide and he took us around on an 8 seater golf cart thingee...very cool. He told us some funny stories about older stars. We saw the sets of lots of shows that were familiar to Bill and me from our childhood and teen years. Pretty fun. But, the best part of the tour was seeing one of our favorite shows actually being filmed - "Monk". The shows' star, Tony Shaloob, was right there (well across the street and sort of behind a building), but he was there. They were filming a scene where he was rearranging some flowers that were not straight - we saw it done about 4 times. We saw the "extras" and all the people that are involved in the process. The boys really thought this was cool! (so did Bill and me!) After the tour was over...we went through the Guiness World Records museum and ate dinner at Greco's Pizza. I had the lasagna...it was pretty tasty. You'd think our day was over, but no! We had one more thing to do - watch a movie at the famous El Capitan Theater right on Hollywood Blvd. This place was over-the-top! Absolutely beautiful from outside to inside. This theater is owned by Disney and only shows one Disney or Pixar movie at a time. So, we saw "Up" in 3D. Above is a photo of Matt and me with our 3D glasses on. It was the best movie theater experience in my life (well...it should be at $16 a ticket!) But...before the show, there is a man who plays the organ - it was beautiful and very entertaining. He does a 30 minute performance (well you get there early enough to get good seats). After that, the curtain opens and the previews start - you think the movie is about to begin, but it doesn't...there is a live singing and dancing show with actors and all the Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc.) It was so fun! The movie finally started and it was so good! I just loved this memory...so much fun! Okay...now back to our hotel and a good nights sleep. Wednesday morning comes and it's time to pack our stuff. We ate a big breakfast at Denny's and headed over to the Page Museum where the La Brea Tarpits are. This place is so cool (and stinky). They are still getting bones and fossils out of this pit today. It's a working museum where actual digs and reconstruction was going on. The boys loved it. Our L.A. vacation was over now and we headed northeast up to Yosemite National Park. That's where the next 3 days will take place. I'll post about it later. If you're still reading this, then you are truly my friend. Thanks for traveling with us on my blog. See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment