Only a Nobody Walks in L.A.!
Alright, time to move on with this trip report! So the day after the wedding (Sunday), the wedding parents of the couple treated out of town guests to a lovely brunch at the Four Seasons. Now I have never been to the brunch there, and was I "wow'd." If you ever want to treat yourself to something real special, and there is a Four Seasons where you live, go there for Sunday brunch. Yum...yum...oh and yum again!
After we bid farewell to my parents, the bride and groom, and friends... it was time to move on! As we were in Beverly Hills, we thought we would head on over to the 'Wood... Hollywood that is! For me, it is bittersweet to go back to this area, as I grew up in the hills above it. I used to drive down Hollywood Blvd. every day to get to high school. I never used to walk around the street back when I lived there unless some out of town relative was visiting us on vacation. Not too long ago, Hollywood Blvd. was kinda sketchy. In the last 10-15 years, it has been slowly changing and in the last few years, that change has sped up. So as a former resident, it was fun to come back and play the role of tourist.
DH and I parked the car and walked over to the Chinese Theater area.
It was quite crowded, but still fun to peak at the footprints in the concrete. I was especially happy to come across this concrete block:
I just love ol' Blue Eyes! I am still in awe of just how small people's feet and hands were back in the day...as seen in the concrete prints from the 30's and 40's. Have we just evolved into some huge giants or what? Some of those female stars back then looked like they had size 4 shoes. What will we be like in another 50 years? Moving on..
We walked around the Kodak Theater area. Seems like the bad economy is hitting the mall there kinda bad because there were many empty store fronts. I didn't remember it being like that when I was last in the area a few years ago. We then walked around checking out some of the stars and found two that seemed quite appropriate for an L.A. DIS TR!
Just WHO is the leader of the Club? I digress. So when walking around in the hot California sun, what does one become hungry for?
What I ask? ICE CREAM. And when at the Chinese Theater where does one go for such a treat? Well the Disney Soda Fountain Shop, of course!
We were promptly seated and provided with the menu. There are so many ice cream concoctions to choose from that it took me forever to decide. Finally, I just went with the classic sundae. I mean you can't go wrong with that! DH had a Diet Coke float. My sundae came with mint chip ice cream, and I was surprised when I saw the color of the ice cream was pink, as I am used to the standard green. It was yummy! My DH laughed at me as I took a picture of our treats. I said, "Get used to it, I need it to make the people on the DIS happy!"
He rolled his eyes, in a playful way of course. So here is the first of the foodie pics to come...
Based on descriptions I had read of the restaurant, I thought it would be a lot bigger, so I can now see why some people face some decent waits for a table. Back when I used to go to the El Capitan, the soda fountain was not there. It sure is a nice addition. The servers were really nice and helped me get a preview of the Disney spirit we would experience down in Anaheim.
There is also a small shop that is a part of the overall soda fountain. The offerings are rather meager, but the space is small. As a pin collector, I had to get something to mark my visit so this is what I ended up with:
Here are my thoughts about the Disney Soda Fountain Shop. It is a nice experience if you are already going to be touring Hollywood and/or catching a film at the El Capitan. However, if you are just going there for the sake of the Soda Fountain (i.e. driving up from DLR just for it), than I would not bother. It sure was fun though and helped us beat the heat.
See, the main reason we were in the Hollywood area was to make my DH happy. Like me, he is an avid enthusiast of music. However, he has a much larger obsession with collecting records and such. So every time we make it out to L.A., the trip has to involve a stop at Amoeba records.
I found that picture online for you to see the outside of the store on Sunset Blvd. For those of you who do not know, Amoeba is a very very VERY large record store that actually started in San Fran. A few years ago, they opened another location in Hollywood. In an era where record stores (especially independent ones) are quickly becoming a thing of the past, it is nice to know that there are still some out there that are thriving. Here is just a small glimpse of how big the store is, but it is way bigger than this picture alone. DH took this pic from the 2nd floor.
We spent an hour or two in here perusing all the genres of music and checking out the dvds and such. My husband was in heaven. There aren't many good records stores in South Florida, so he had to get his fill. In fact, a week later we spent some more time at Amoeba.
After contributing to the local economy, we headed over to Santa Monica to meet friends. There are some real nice restaurants and bars on Main Street (bridging Venice and Santa Monica). I recommend checking out this area when visiting L.A. After we enjoyed a few beers and a good meal with friends, we headed towards our hotel. Just as we were about to turn on the street of our hotel, I decided to surprise my hubbie and take home to Manhattan Beach. It was a nice, crisp night with a full moon. A perfect setting for walking down the M.B. Pier and listening to the Pacific waves. This was to be the last real quiet moment of our whole vacation...even though it had still only just begun. At least it was romantic!
Stay tuned...
Next installment will include my review of the Candy Cane Inn, Downtown Disney, and a lovely meal at Napa Rose!