Just in case you were wondering, the trip home to Georgia was uneventful and on time. The heat and humidity in Atlanta didn't take long to zap the last little bit of energy from us.
All in all I considered the trip a smashing success and I had a wonderful time. I'm pretty sure Crimson enjoyed it as well. While it is pretty easy to say Crimson enjoyed Venice Beach the best, it isn't as easy for me to pick my highlight. I'd probably have to go with the "journey". Although long and taxing at times, the sights along the way were well worth it. Everything from giraffes in San Diego, crazies on Venice Beach, and friends in San Francisco contributed to a great trip.
If I did it again, I wouldn't change much. Perhaps I'd cancel Santa Monica for a longer stay at Venice Beach. I might cancel the trip to Monterrey aquarium. Maybe add a day to San Francisco or LA to see a bit more. However, the reality is I couldn't have asked for a much better trip.
If you made it this far reading the blog, thank you. The words flowed pretty quick but it was a bit of work. Fortunately, it was a labor of love.
See you after my next journey.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
California Trip - Day 12 - San Francisco Part 2
After a long day we needed the extra rest so I decided to let our last day in California set its own pace.
The first thing we were trying to do was get to Alcatraz. I thought that getting on a boat on standby would be near impossible when tickets had been sold out about 10 days in advance. However, we were able to get on the 11:30 boat despite arriving at 11:20. As a bonus, the weather was quite a bit nicer than when we were originally scheduled to go.
Crimson and I both liked the tour. The fact that the audio tour is narrated by former guards and inmates makes it even more interesting. When we'd seen everything we wanted to see, we were just in time to catch a boat back to the mainland.
We wanted to have lunch at In n Out Burger since I'd heard it was one of the best fast food restaurants without a location in Atlanta. However, first we stopped by Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Obviously Crimson was hungry or just didn't care because unlike Venice Beach she was in a hurry to get on with it.
In n Out Burger was good but not great although certainly one of our most reasonably priced meals on the trip. For dessert, it was of to Ghiradelli Square to load up any extra space we had in our travel bags with chocolate!
One more stop before an official end to our tourism. We (or I) had to see the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alamaeda. It's one of the best collections of pinball machines that are playable in the country. I promised Crimson to keep the visit relatively short and kept my word by staying only 90 minutes. We had fun playing a lot of games I've never played before. On this day, Crimson was the better player than me.
This night we stayed near the hotel as our flight left at 7AM the next morning. It took us awhile to find somewhere to eat but when we did we hit the jackpot. Big Joe's Cafe had great diner style food, huge portions and very reasonable prices.
The first thing we were trying to do was get to Alcatraz. I thought that getting on a boat on standby would be near impossible when tickets had been sold out about 10 days in advance. However, we were able to get on the 11:30 boat despite arriving at 11:20. As a bonus, the weather was quite a bit nicer than when we were originally scheduled to go.
Crimson and I both liked the tour. The fact that the audio tour is narrated by former guards and inmates makes it even more interesting. When we'd seen everything we wanted to see, we were just in time to catch a boat back to the mainland.
We wanted to have lunch at In n Out Burger since I'd heard it was one of the best fast food restaurants without a location in Atlanta. However, first we stopped by Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Obviously Crimson was hungry or just didn't care because unlike Venice Beach she was in a hurry to get on with it.
In n Out Burger was good but not great although certainly one of our most reasonably priced meals on the trip. For dessert, it was of to Ghiradelli Square to load up any extra space we had in our travel bags with chocolate!
One more stop before an official end to our tourism. We (or I) had to see the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alamaeda. It's one of the best collections of pinball machines that are playable in the country. I promised Crimson to keep the visit relatively short and kept my word by staying only 90 minutes. We had fun playing a lot of games I've never played before. On this day, Crimson was the better player than me.
This night we stayed near the hotel as our flight left at 7AM the next morning. It took us awhile to find somewhere to eat but when we did we hit the jackpot. Big Joe's Cafe had great diner style food, huge portions and very reasonable prices.
Califronia Trip - Day 11 - Beyond San Francisco
Since I didn't have time to drive to Seattle or even Portland, I did want to see something a little beyond San Francisco. Today was that day. As usual, things started off cool and foggy.
The first stop was a walk across a section of the Golden Gate Bridge. If Crimson was scared, I couldn't tell because she was huddled up inside her coat trying to keep warm.
From there it was on to Point Bonita for more vistas. It turned out Crimson enjoyed walking around the old battery at Fort Barry. The haunting quality of the sight had her a bit on edge but she had fun climbing around and exploring.
We had lunch at Muir Beach overlook where the clouds surrounded us. From there it was up the coast seeking more beautiful spots among the twisting turns of the road. This journey took a good deal of time and patience and when we finally reached our final destination, Salt Point State Park, I thought we'd come for nothing. I couldn't see much of anything interesting from the road.
We parked and starting walking towards the coast. Here, we found the rock formations I had seen and Crimson had a good time climbing around on them. It had actually warmed up a bit and it was great to be out of the car for awhile before the long and twisty drive back to San Francisco.
We went to have dinner with John and Svengi despite me almost canceling due to exhaustion. I'm glad we went as we had a fabulous time with them. A late night but well worth it to have some home cooked food and good company.
The first stop was a walk across a section of the Golden Gate Bridge. If Crimson was scared, I couldn't tell because she was huddled up inside her coat trying to keep warm.
From there it was on to Point Bonita for more vistas. It turned out Crimson enjoyed walking around the old battery at Fort Barry. The haunting quality of the sight had her a bit on edge but she had fun climbing around and exploring.
We had lunch at Muir Beach overlook where the clouds surrounded us. From there it was up the coast seeking more beautiful spots among the twisting turns of the road. This journey took a good deal of time and patience and when we finally reached our final destination, Salt Point State Park, I thought we'd come for nothing. I couldn't see much of anything interesting from the road.
We parked and starting walking towards the coast. Here, we found the rock formations I had seen and Crimson had a good time climbing around on them. It had actually warmed up a bit and it was great to be out of the car for awhile before the long and twisty drive back to San Francisco.
We went to have dinner with John and Svengi despite me almost canceling due to exhaustion. I'm glad we went as we had a fabulous time with them. A late night but well worth it to have some home cooked food and good company.
California Trip - Day 10 - San Francisco Part 1
San Francisco is normally pretty cool this time of year but 10 degrees cooler on this particular day. We briefly check out the almost vacant Ocean Beach before finding the Camera Obscura closed. No huge problem, as it is still a nice place to take some pictures.
From there it is on to Crissy Field and a walk towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Facing a stiff breeze in our face, we work our way there, then quickly head back.
I mention to Crimson that the Exploratorium is just around the corner and she shows interest. When planning the trip she didn't seem interested so I really hadn't budgeted any time for it. When went in anyway and to see it.
We were both thoroughly impressed. This was easily the best science museum I had ever seen with hundreds of interactive exhibits. We spent about and hour and a half in there and easily could have spend another hour or two. Great place for kids and adults.
For lunch we met up with an old friend, John and his wife, Svengi. We got to enjoy some quick Chinese food before our scheduled trip to Alcatraz. We made plans to hook up with them for dinner the next night.
We were cutting it close to make our boat to Alcatraz. Unfortunately, the GPS chose this moment to route me on a less than ideal path. We got stuck behind slow bus after slow bus on the heavily traveled Market Street. We found a parking spot and race to the pier only to see our boat pulling away. We'd missed it by less the 5 minutes. Were we given standby tickets and hoped to use them in two days.
So, we checked out the ferry plaza and took some pictures of the city skyline from Pier 14 before heading to our hotel in Union Square. Dinner on this night was at the Cheesecake Factory on the top floor of Macy's. A little cold outside but the food was good.
From there it is on to Crissy Field and a walk towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Facing a stiff breeze in our face, we work our way there, then quickly head back.
I mention to Crimson that the Exploratorium is just around the corner and she shows interest. When planning the trip she didn't seem interested so I really hadn't budgeted any time for it. When went in anyway and to see it.
We were both thoroughly impressed. This was easily the best science museum I had ever seen with hundreds of interactive exhibits. We spent about and hour and a half in there and easily could have spend another hour or two. Great place for kids and adults.
For lunch we met up with an old friend, John and his wife, Svengi. We got to enjoy some quick Chinese food before our scheduled trip to Alcatraz. We made plans to hook up with them for dinner the next night.
We were cutting it close to make our boat to Alcatraz. Unfortunately, the GPS chose this moment to route me on a less than ideal path. We got stuck behind slow bus after slow bus on the heavily traveled Market Street. We found a parking spot and race to the pier only to see our boat pulling away. We'd missed it by less the 5 minutes. Were we given standby tickets and hoped to use them in two days.
So, we checked out the ferry plaza and took some pictures of the city skyline from Pier 14 before heading to our hotel in Union Square. Dinner on this night was at the Cheesecake Factory on the top floor of Macy's. A little cold outside but the food was good.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
California Trip - Day 9 - Castle, Seals and Big Sur
First stop on the long day was the famous Hearst Castle just 2 minutes from our hotel. Just as impressive as the castle itself is the huge chunk of land surrounding it. It was a bus ride up into the clouds to reach the castle and it got cooler as we ascended. The guided tour was informative although a little dull. Both Crimson and I had more fun walking around unguided after the segment. The pool was truly impressive and we couldn't help but wonder if the employees had a bash there once or twice a year.
Next stop was Piedras Blancas and the elephant seals. Crimson had been asking me for days when we would see them and this was our first shot with the exception of a lone seal on our kayaking trip in La Jolla. These were big beasts but fairly distant and not very active.
What stood between us and the next major city was Big Sur. A beautiful section of coastal California where mountains meet the ocean with only a small strip of road in between. It was tough to stay focused on the road with all the pretty sights before my eyes. There were numerous delays for one lane roads and some construction but there were also opportunities to pull aside and snap some pics.
We stopped to view California's only coastal waterfall and were underwhelmed by its size. It looked like a garden hose to me. I think I was spoiled by the hundreds of falls in Iceland.
We finally reached Monterey after 3PM quite hungry. So, before hitting the aquarium we stopped stop for food at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. We made quick work of the aquarium since both of us seen much of the same before.
We had more fun watching the seals in their somewhat natural environment under the pier in Santa Cruz. Crimson couldn't get enough of it and probably would have slept with seals if I let her.
When I though we were done with twisty turning roads, I got one more taste with Devil's Slide next to our hotel stop in Pacifica, very close to San Francisco. The hotel was brand new and pizza delivery to the room was a perfect end to a long day.
Friday, July 22, 2011
California Trip - Day 8 - Santa Barbara & Wall of Gum
We awoke to the coolest weather of the trip with temps hovering mid to upper 50s for good part of the day. The "June Swoon" (fog that typically covers the California coastline during most of the summer) was in full affect. Crimson struggled with the cold a little more than me but kept refusing opportunities to purchase some warmer gear. I guess staying in style has its price.
This day was probably the shortest and least active of all our days. This was fairly intentional as the days surrounding it were packed to the gills.
First off was Santa Barbara. I think this site would have been a bit nicer had the weather been warmer. We checked out the beach front and harbor, ate Fish & Chips at the pier and did a little walking around town. We went up to the top of the tower of the really nice courthouse for a good view of the red tile rooftops.
One of the stranger events was our experience with the bus. First we had trouble deciphering which bus was going where. When I asked for assistance the driver told us his bus would take us downtown. We got on and ended up on the other side of town at "the end of the line". When I mentioned our prior discussion to the driver he said, "I don't remember talking to you". It wasn't as if hours had passed or a lot of passengers had confused him. It had been about 10 minutes and only 5 passengers including us. We eventually got pointed in the right direction and had a good laugh.
Next up was a stop I was really looking for to. Three miles from Guadalupe are the largest coastal dunes in the U.S. Unfortunately, when we got there, access was closed on Monday & Tuesday. Oh well, everything can't go perfect.
From there it was to another swinging pedestrian bridge in Arroyo Grande originally built in 1875. Just as the last in San Diego, Crimson would have none of it. I don't know what the obsession was with bridges on this trip. Maybe I was gearing up for the Golden Gate. Maybe it was the equivalent of waterfalls in Iceland?
Up next was San Luis Obispo. Given our desire to keep this day short, we had only one stop in mind, Bubblegum Alley. A pictures is worth thousand words or maybe just one?
A brief stop at the cold windy shores of Morro Boy was it before settling down at our hotel in San Simeon. Due to limited choices and convenience it was Mexican dinner again. It was decent but after that we'd had enough Mexican for the trip.
This day was probably the shortest and least active of all our days. This was fairly intentional as the days surrounding it were packed to the gills.
First off was Santa Barbara. I think this site would have been a bit nicer had the weather been warmer. We checked out the beach front and harbor, ate Fish & Chips at the pier and did a little walking around town. We went up to the top of the tower of the really nice courthouse for a good view of the red tile rooftops.
One of the stranger events was our experience with the bus. First we had trouble deciphering which bus was going where. When I asked for assistance the driver told us his bus would take us downtown. We got on and ended up on the other side of town at "the end of the line". When I mentioned our prior discussion to the driver he said, "I don't remember talking to you". It wasn't as if hours had passed or a lot of passengers had confused him. It had been about 10 minutes and only 5 passengers including us. We eventually got pointed in the right direction and had a good laugh.
Next up was a stop I was really looking for to. Three miles from Guadalupe are the largest coastal dunes in the U.S. Unfortunately, when we got there, access was closed on Monday & Tuesday. Oh well, everything can't go perfect.
From there it was to another swinging pedestrian bridge in Arroyo Grande originally built in 1875. Just as the last in San Diego, Crimson would have none of it. I don't know what the obsession was with bridges on this trip. Maybe I was gearing up for the Golden Gate. Maybe it was the equivalent of waterfalls in Iceland?
Up next was San Luis Obispo. Given our desire to keep this day short, we had only one stop in mind, Bubblegum Alley. A pictures is worth thousand words or maybe just one?
A brief stop at the cold windy shores of Morro Boy was it before settling down at our hotel in San Simeon. Due to limited choices and convenience it was Mexican dinner again. It was decent but after that we'd had enough Mexican for the trip.
California Trip - Day 7 - Six Flags Magic Mountain
This was one day I knew Crimson was looking forward to. She's a roller coaster enthusiast, making this the perfect park for her. With 18 coasters total, it's the most in the world.
Since the park didn't open until 10:30 and we were staying right next to it, we actually go a bit more sleep than usual. We were going to need it for this nice long hot day. Now that we were inland, the temps spiked up to 90F but at least the humidity wasn't as high as home. A 5 minute shuttle ride from the hotel to the park saved us $15 parking.
It was a great day to go. The lines were very short except for a couple allowing us to ride everything we wanted to. Unfortunately, the world's tallest, fastest and longest flying coaster, Tatsu wasn't working all day.
Our favorites were probably X2 & Deja Vu (wish they still had it here):
At 5:30 we had pretty much covered everything we want to see and set off back to the coast and our hotel in Ventura. This particular hotel was easily the worse of the bunch. We did find some decent Mexican food right across the street where one of the patrons was a genuine Hell's Angel.
Since the park didn't open until 10:30 and we were staying right next to it, we actually go a bit more sleep than usual. We were going to need it for this nice long hot day. Now that we were inland, the temps spiked up to 90F but at least the humidity wasn't as high as home. A 5 minute shuttle ride from the hotel to the park saved us $15 parking.
It was a great day to go. The lines were very short except for a couple allowing us to ride everything we wanted to. Unfortunately, the world's tallest, fastest and longest flying coaster, Tatsu wasn't working all day.
Our favorites were probably X2 & Deja Vu (wish they still had it here):
At 5:30 we had pretty much covered everything we want to see and set off back to the coast and our hotel in Ventura. This particular hotel was easily the worse of the bunch. We did find some decent Mexican food right across the street where one of the patrons was a genuine Hell's Angel.
California Trip - Day 6 - LA Beaches
If we were going to see some of the L.A. beaches, on a weekend no less, we'd have to pick a choose carefully and get a somewhat early start. We were starting to get a little tired of the slim pickings for breakfast at the hotel and started eating our breakfast groceries instead. Pop-tarts, muffins and cereal bars filled the whole until lunchtime.
First, we took a route most would overlook, hugging the coast through Palos Verdes instead of cutting across it. I'm glad we did because it was a beautiful section.
From there is was on to Venice Beach. Knowing it was going to be swamped, I grabbed parking at the first lot I could find close to the boardwalk. It cost $17 but was much better than walking a mile to and from the car.
A quick look at the canals left Crimson unimpressed and we made our way to the boardwalk. We watched several street performers (both good and bad), looked at peoples arts & crafts, gazed into many shops, people watched and had a nice lunch at a street cafe. We stayed longer than I originally expected and Crimson didn't want to leave. In fact, she kept mentioning that she wanted to return at various points during our trip. This worried me a bit. It was the festival atmosphere that seemed to draw her to it.
From there it was on to Santa Monica. Fortunately, there were parking garages around this area because the placed was jammed packed. Tons of people in and around the water. I found the place a bit underwhelming and would have spent the time at Venice Beach had I known it. With the next day set for Six Flags Magic Mountain, the tiny coaster wasn't much of a thought.
Next up was the journey to Malibu. We stopped along PCH when we spotted a parking spot to take a quick look at a public beach access and then went to Malibu Bluffs Park for some nice views. Crimson was exhausted and asleep from this point on as I drove through to Oxnard and back inland towards our hotel in Valencia next to Six Flags. I actually found the trip from Malibu to Oxnard to Valencia more scenic than the one from Santa Monica to Malibu although some of the houses around Malibu were incredible.
Upon reaching the hotel, I had work to do as we'd reached the midway point of our trip and we were running out of clean clothes. We ordered some pretty good, albeit expensive, room service, watched some Sunday night TV and did laundry.
First, we took a route most would overlook, hugging the coast through Palos Verdes instead of cutting across it. I'm glad we did because it was a beautiful section.
From there is was on to Venice Beach. Knowing it was going to be swamped, I grabbed parking at the first lot I could find close to the boardwalk. It cost $17 but was much better than walking a mile to and from the car.
A quick look at the canals left Crimson unimpressed and we made our way to the boardwalk. We watched several street performers (both good and bad), looked at peoples arts & crafts, gazed into many shops, people watched and had a nice lunch at a street cafe. We stayed longer than I originally expected and Crimson didn't want to leave. In fact, she kept mentioning that she wanted to return at various points during our trip. This worried me a bit. It was the festival atmosphere that seemed to draw her to it.
From there it was on to Santa Monica. Fortunately, there were parking garages around this area because the placed was jammed packed. Tons of people in and around the water. I found the place a bit underwhelming and would have spent the time at Venice Beach had I known it. With the next day set for Six Flags Magic Mountain, the tiny coaster wasn't much of a thought.
Next up was the journey to Malibu. We stopped along PCH when we spotted a parking spot to take a quick look at a public beach access and then went to Malibu Bluffs Park for some nice views. Crimson was exhausted and asleep from this point on as I drove through to Oxnard and back inland towards our hotel in Valencia next to Six Flags. I actually found the trip from Malibu to Oxnard to Valencia more scenic than the one from Santa Monica to Malibu although some of the houses around Malibu were incredible.
Upon reaching the hotel, I had work to do as we'd reached the midway point of our trip and we were running out of clean clothes. We ordered some pretty good, albeit expensive, room service, watched some Sunday night TV and did laundry.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
California Trip - Day 5 - O.C. Beaches / Weird Al
I got the sense that Crimson was a little disappointed by the mall viewing of the Hollywood sign so we made a quick detour to Griffith Park Observatory. The view was a little better and near the best you'll get without some hiking, which was the last thing Crimson wanted to do. The bonus was we had a nice view of the L.A. skyline as well. As usual, the skyline was covered in a sickening smog.
Next up was a visit to Rodeo Drive. Since Crimson had been warned before hand that the budget didn't permit any shopping, the visit was pretty quick. Just a nice walk up and down a couple of blocks.
Now it was time to return to the coast. I was determined to see most of it so we headed back to almost where we left off starting a Dana Point. We worked out way North with the intention of seeing many beaches. I quickly realized this would be impossible due to traffic and parking issues.
Our first stop was Laguna Beach but we had to park about a mile away and walk to it. Crimson got to watch some people playing volleyball and critique them and I got to snap a few pics.
Next up was Newport Beach and the Balboa Peninsula. Despite it being pretty late in the day it took a long time to get out to the tip and find some parking. But the time was worth it as we got to watch some people risk body surfing at the "Wedge". It wasn't exactly warm (about 70 degrees) so Crimson and I had little interest in getting in the water.
We skipped a couple of the beach stops I had planned as our time was running out. We got to our hotel in Long Beach with only 10 minutes to spare before we needed to head back South to Costa Mesa for a Weird Al Yankovich concert at the Pacific Amphitheater.
I was thoroughly impressed by the venue. It was quite bit big (I read 16,000) and was 90% full. That was a lot more people than I expected. With no opening act, Al's performance went on for 2 hours and 15 minutes. He did a bunch of quick costume changes while showing Al TV interviews on the big screen, including one with my favorite, Robert Plant.
His material covered a lot of his career and played most of the crowd favorites including My Bologna, Eat It, Fat, Yoda, Smells Like Nirvana, Amish Paradise, The Saga Begins, Couch Potato, White & Nerdy (With Crimson singing loudly), Canadian Idiot, Perform This Way (in huge peacock outfit), TMZ and Craigslist (loved his impression of Jim Morrison). It was a great performance and a nice end to a long day.
Next up was a visit to Rodeo Drive. Since Crimson had been warned before hand that the budget didn't permit any shopping, the visit was pretty quick. Just a nice walk up and down a couple of blocks.
Now it was time to return to the coast. I was determined to see most of it so we headed back to almost where we left off starting a Dana Point. We worked out way North with the intention of seeing many beaches. I quickly realized this would be impossible due to traffic and parking issues.
Our first stop was Laguna Beach but we had to park about a mile away and walk to it. Crimson got to watch some people playing volleyball and critique them and I got to snap a few pics.
Next up was Newport Beach and the Balboa Peninsula. Despite it being pretty late in the day it took a long time to get out to the tip and find some parking. But the time was worth it as we got to watch some people risk body surfing at the "Wedge". It wasn't exactly warm (about 70 degrees) so Crimson and I had little interest in getting in the water.
We skipped a couple of the beach stops I had planned as our time was running out. We got to our hotel in Long Beach with only 10 minutes to spare before we needed to head back South to Costa Mesa for a Weird Al Yankovich concert at the Pacific Amphitheater.
I was thoroughly impressed by the venue. It was quite bit big (I read 16,000) and was 90% full. That was a lot more people than I expected. With no opening act, Al's performance went on for 2 hours and 15 minutes. He did a bunch of quick costume changes while showing Al TV interviews on the big screen, including one with my favorite, Robert Plant.
His material covered a lot of his career and played most of the crowd favorites including My Bologna, Eat It, Fat, Yoda, Smells Like Nirvana, Amish Paradise, The Saga Begins, Couch Potato, White & Nerdy (With Crimson singing loudly), Canadian Idiot, Perform This Way (in huge peacock outfit), TMZ and Craigslist (loved his impression of Jim Morrison). It was a great performance and a nice end to a long day.
California Trip - Day 4 - Hollywood
We actually got to sleep in a bit because we weren't about to head out into the thick of rush hour traffic in LA.
The first stop was a tour of Warner Bros Studio. This was a two hour tram guided tour of many locations on the Warner Bros lot. Lots of neat insight provided by the guide and we saw a lot of historic sites. However, since almost all filming is on hiatus during July we didn't get to catch anyone live.
We did get to have nice look at the preserved Friends Central Perk set where I snuck this picture that I wasn't supposed to get. I was quickly told to get back behind the couch after taking it. Such a rebel.
My other highlight was seeing the Kash and Grab set from one of my favorite shows, Shameless. It didn't mean anything to anyone else on the tram, but at least I recognized it. We saw the studio for Big Bang Theory but most of it was undercover at the moment. Finally, there was a wardrobe and prop museum that was filled with 50% Harry Potter stuff.
We didn't have much time before our next event so we grab some grub out of the car and started the short walk to wait for Jay Leno. Initially I was a bit concerned about getting there in time since they intentionally overbook it. Fortunately, we were as numbers 154 & 155. We got in and got some very nice seats straight back from the monologue spot. As we had heard, it was freezing in there, but it was a great experience. Jay does a good job of welcoming and talking to the audience before the show and it was fun despite some less than interesting guests (Kathie Lee & Hoda, Sig Henson and Ashton Shepard). The highlight was probably a guest spot by William Shatner.
After taping we set out for the heart of Hollywood and the tourist traps. We saw the Walk of Fame, Chinese Theater and caught our first glimpse of the Hollywood sign the the Hollywood & Highland Mall.
We had fun at Madame Tussaud's Was Museum mingling with the wax stars. They are so lifelike it is a bit creepy. One time Crimson even mistook a live person for a wax statue. We struggled a bit to find some decent food but eventually did at the Boulevard Tavern.
We ended the busy day at our hotel in the center of West Hollywood.
The first stop was a tour of Warner Bros Studio. This was a two hour tram guided tour of many locations on the Warner Bros lot. Lots of neat insight provided by the guide and we saw a lot of historic sites. However, since almost all filming is on hiatus during July we didn't get to catch anyone live.
We did get to have nice look at the preserved Friends Central Perk set where I snuck this picture that I wasn't supposed to get. I was quickly told to get back behind the couch after taking it. Such a rebel.
My other highlight was seeing the Kash and Grab set from one of my favorite shows, Shameless. It didn't mean anything to anyone else on the tram, but at least I recognized it. We saw the studio for Big Bang Theory but most of it was undercover at the moment. Finally, there was a wardrobe and prop museum that was filled with 50% Harry Potter stuff.
We didn't have much time before our next event so we grab some grub out of the car and started the short walk to wait for Jay Leno. Initially I was a bit concerned about getting there in time since they intentionally overbook it. Fortunately, we were as numbers 154 & 155. We got in and got some very nice seats straight back from the monologue spot. As we had heard, it was freezing in there, but it was a great experience. Jay does a good job of welcoming and talking to the audience before the show and it was fun despite some less than interesting guests (Kathie Lee & Hoda, Sig Henson and Ashton Shepard). The highlight was probably a guest spot by William Shatner.
After taping we set out for the heart of Hollywood and the tourist traps. We saw the Walk of Fame, Chinese Theater and caught our first glimpse of the Hollywood sign the the Hollywood & Highland Mall.
We had fun at Madame Tussaud's Was Museum mingling with the wax stars. They are so lifelike it is a bit creepy. One time Crimson even mistook a live person for a wax statue. We struggled a bit to find some decent food but eventually did at the Boulevard Tavern.
We ended the busy day at our hotel in the center of West Hollywood.
California Trip - Day 3 - La Jolla and Departure North
Another big activity on tap early, so it was breakfast from the grocery store in our hotel room before departing for La Jolla Cove in Northern San Diego. Elise, Sam, Crimson and I were going to spend a couple hours on a kayaking and snorkeling tour.
The first challenge was finding a place to park. This would be a recurring theme for much of our trip. It's like the state of California always figured people would walk to the beach.
The cove was beautiful and water nice although quite cold. It was a good thing we had wet suits otherwise we couldn't have handled the 2 hours in and on top of the water. The kayaking was a good workout and the team of Crimson / Mark worked well together. The snorkeling was less impressive than most of my other attempts with zero appearances of the hyped leopard sharks. The highlight was our swim into the caves.
We built up quite a hunger and headed to the La Jolla Cheese Shop for some massive sandwiches. The food was great but the service pretty slow. They did have a nice selection of hard to find candies and drinks.
We headed back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to Mom, Elise and Sam as they were returning to Phoenix that afternoon. We were headed North because our next day was a busy one in Hollywood.
On our way North we stopped at Torrey Pines Glider port hoping to catch a glimpse of some hangliders. Although we didn't see any, the site was quite beautiful and people were having some fun with remote control gliders.
We got our first taste of traffic as we reached the Southern edge of Orange County. Our hotel stop was in San Clemente. A nice quite hotel that thrilled Crimson simply because it had more TV channels. Pizza at the local Stuft Pizza became a bit weird when one of the employees cranked the volume on the only TV to maximum level and walked away.
The first challenge was finding a place to park. This would be a recurring theme for much of our trip. It's like the state of California always figured people would walk to the beach.
The cove was beautiful and water nice although quite cold. It was a good thing we had wet suits otherwise we couldn't have handled the 2 hours in and on top of the water. The kayaking was a good workout and the team of Crimson / Mark worked well together. The snorkeling was less impressive than most of my other attempts with zero appearances of the hyped leopard sharks. The highlight was our swim into the caves.
We built up quite a hunger and headed to the La Jolla Cheese Shop for some massive sandwiches. The food was great but the service pretty slow. They did have a nice selection of hard to find candies and drinks.
We headed back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to Mom, Elise and Sam as they were returning to Phoenix that afternoon. We were headed North because our next day was a busy one in Hollywood.
On our way North we stopped at Torrey Pines Glider port hoping to catch a glimpse of some hangliders. Although we didn't see any, the site was quite beautiful and people were having some fun with remote control gliders.
We got our first taste of traffic as we reached the Southern edge of Orange County. Our hotel stop was in San Clemente. A nice quite hotel that thrilled Crimson simply because it had more TV channels. Pizza at the local Stuft Pizza became a bit weird when one of the employees cranked the volume on the only TV to maximum level and walked away.
California Trip - Day 2 - San Diego Zoo and more
Still on Atlanta time, I awoke pretty early. Since Crimson was still asleep I decided to take a walk and some pics in Embarcadero Park behind the hotel.
Instead of opting for the outrageously expensive $23 hotel breakfast buffet, we went around the corner to Café 222, a great decision. Excellent eats at a very reasonable price. From there it was off to the San Diego Zoo and more animals.
We started out taking a bus tour of the grounds. It's a 40 minute guided tour that allows you to see a lot of the park although not that close to the animals. The wait for the bus was a bit longer than I had hoped but it was a relaxing way to see a lot.
From there it was on foot to explore the zoo. It certainly lived up to its billing as the one of the world's best. The zoo is huge and the collection impressive. Many of the habitats are quite well done. We saw a lot but still only covered about 2/3rds before most of our group was too tired to continue. My highlight of the day had to be watching 4 or 5 people jump just because a lion raised its head behind the glass.
Mom, Elise and Sam were ready to head back to the hotel but I wanted to keep sightseeing and Crimson opted to go with me. Our first stop were two old bridges in the area. First was the 375 foot long Spruce Street suspension bridge built in 1912. When we got within a couple steps of it we realized Crimson had found a limit. There was no way she was going to cross it. I ran across, snapped a few pics and we moved on to the next bridge. This one was the Quince Street wooden trestle bridge built in 1905. However, there was no crossing this bridge as a section of it had broken away. Perhaps Crimson was on to something.
Next we headed out to Point Loma for some great views back at downtown San Diego and even a glance at Mexico. Checking out Ocean Beach and its amusement park on the way back turned into a bit of a mystery that was finally solved when a quick trip to the Internet revealed the amusement park had been closed for years.
For dinner, the crew headed to Old Town and some authentic Mexican food at the Old Town Mexican Cafe. The wait was long and food only average but the company was good. Sam picked up a Mexican wrestling mask that he was determined to wear everywhere.
California Trip - Day 1 - Air Travel & San Diego
We woke up bright and early around 5:00AM for an 8:00AM flight. Things didn't get off to the best start as I somehow missed the exit to I-85 despite the fact that I've taken this route literally hundreds of times heading downtown. We recovered though to make it to the airport in time and our flights were on time as well.
A mix up at the car rental office had me renamed to "Deion" for a bit but in the end saved me a day rental of rentals fees and the cost of a tank of gas. We quickly headed out to our first destination, San Zoo Safari park.
This park is a subsidiary of the San Diego Zoo but at a different location. It's a huge open space which houses a lot of animals in wide expansive habitats. It was really neat seeing giraffes roam relatively free across the "plains". We took a guided safari tour that gave us a close look at the grounds and animals. Expensive, but worth it.
After the Safari we went back to our hotel and met up with Mom, Elise and Sam. The San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina had beuatiful views of the city and the harbor. We ate dinner at the hotel and then drove quickly to Coronado to check out the sunset at the world famous Del Coronado Hotel and eat some ice cream.
A mix up at the car rental office had me renamed to "Deion" for a bit but in the end saved me a day rental of rentals fees and the cost of a tank of gas. We quickly headed out to our first destination, San Zoo Safari park.
This park is a subsidiary of the San Diego Zoo but at a different location. It's a huge open space which houses a lot of animals in wide expansive habitats. It was really neat seeing giraffes roam relatively free across the "plains". We took a guided safari tour that gave us a close look at the grounds and animals. Expensive, but worth it.
After the Safari we went back to our hotel and met up with Mom, Elise and Sam. The San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina had beuatiful views of the city and the harbor. We ate dinner at the hotel and then drove quickly to Coronado to check out the sunset at the world famous Del Coronado Hotel and eat some ice cream.
California Trip - Prologue
Crimson and I are finally back from out two week trip to California and I figured I'd share more than a bit about the trip with all my friends and family. Before diving into the day to day details, some background.
I've been thinking about a Western coastal trip for a couple years. I was really interested in driving up the coast, seeing a lot of beautiful scenary and checking out the interesting sights in between. I knew Crimson was very interested in seeing Hollywood and would be thrilled at visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park and it world-leading 18 roller coasters.
I rarely travel without researching a LOT, undoutably too much. When I travel I like to keep busy, not sit around a hotel, by the pool or on the beach. I save that for Barbados. Crimson is pretty much the same way. So, I bought a couple of books, scoured the Internet and made extensive use of Google Maps.
I quickly realized my dream of traveling from San Diego to Seattle was not a possibility with only two weeks to work with. So, I amended the trip to simply San Diego to San Francisco with a day journey North of Frisco.
However, things weren't exactly linear for us as we'd be making detours inland to Hollywood and Six Flags. Since we wanted to see Leno and tour a studio, a weekend date in Hollywood was out of the question. Doing Six Flags on a weekday was also desirable. After struggling with this a bit, I found a rough itinerary that would work. Next up was an attempt to coordinate so that Mom, Sis and her sons could meet us in San Diego. We worked that out although Seth couldn't make the trip due to baseball.
With a rough idea in mind, I started working on specifics. Reservations for hotels in 10 different cities were made, 150 locations and way points were added to the GPS, lists of sites/activities were typed up, tickets for popular activities were purchased and about 50 maps were printed. It took me weeks to put together and organize but it was well worth every minute because it helped us maximize our time and see a LOT.
The last step was to get to the two us packed and ready for the trip. Our early departure from the house meant we'd probably be tired before we even started.
Coming up will be blog entries describing each day of the trip and including a couple photos from each day. The remaining pictures will be available shortly.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Epilogue
I've been thinking about a Western coastal trip for a couple years. I was really interested in driving up the coast, seeing a lot of beautiful scenary and checking out the interesting sights in between. I knew Crimson was very interested in seeing Hollywood and would be thrilled at visiting Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park and it world-leading 18 roller coasters.
I rarely travel without researching a LOT, undoutably too much. When I travel I like to keep busy, not sit around a hotel, by the pool or on the beach. I save that for Barbados. Crimson is pretty much the same way. So, I bought a couple of books, scoured the Internet and made extensive use of Google Maps.
I quickly realized my dream of traveling from San Diego to Seattle was not a possibility with only two weeks to work with. So, I amended the trip to simply San Diego to San Francisco with a day journey North of Frisco.
However, things weren't exactly linear for us as we'd be making detours inland to Hollywood and Six Flags. Since we wanted to see Leno and tour a studio, a weekend date in Hollywood was out of the question. Doing Six Flags on a weekday was also desirable. After struggling with this a bit, I found a rough itinerary that would work. Next up was an attempt to coordinate so that Mom, Sis and her sons could meet us in San Diego. We worked that out although Seth couldn't make the trip due to baseball.
With a rough idea in mind, I started working on specifics. Reservations for hotels in 10 different cities were made, 150 locations and way points were added to the GPS, lists of sites/activities were typed up, tickets for popular activities were purchased and about 50 maps were printed. It took me weeks to put together and organize but it was well worth every minute because it helped us maximize our time and see a LOT.
The last step was to get to the two us packed and ready for the trip. Our early departure from the house meant we'd probably be tired before we even started.
Coming up will be blog entries describing each day of the trip and including a couple photos from each day. The remaining pictures will be available shortly.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Epilogue
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