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.