Days 7 & 8 - Los Angeles and Hollywood

On Tuesday, we slept in a little and took our time to head out of Anaheim and headed up I-5 into Los Angeles.  We were going to spend three nights in LA and booked an AirBnB to spend a little downtime and recharge our batteries.  The AirBnB was phenomenal and just what we needed after week on the road.  We made a quick grocery run to Target and actually got to cook some home cooked meals for a couple of days.  Since there is so much to see in Los Angeles and we did not have a lot of time nor any local knowledge, we decided to book an all-day tour to see as much as we could.  Tammy booked us a tour with www.adayinlatours.com and we had to drive in to Hollywood to be picked up at 8:00.  We got up early, made breakfast and were parked at the Dolby Theater parking deck by 8:00.  The tour was very good and our guide was excellent.  Colin was very knowledgeable and entertaining and we got to see a lot of the sites!

The tour started at the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach.

The World Famous Santa Monica Pier inspired by Coney Island in NYC

Tammy taking in the view of her "Happy Place", the beach

Beach Boys

Tate getting in some work at Muscle Beach

And showing off the progress!

The Chez-Jay Restaurant, a half block from the beach which has been in operation since 1959 where just about every big name in Hollywood has eaten.  Legend has it that the Rat Pack hang out here on Thursday nights to play poker and that Marilyn Monroe and JFK would meet here.

Venice Beach, which at one time had over 60 miles of canals just like Venice, Italy.  Now it has about three miles of canals left, but it is very "artsy" and is a popular place for skateboarders.

Venice Beach is a very eclectic kind of place - graffiti on palm trees is okay!?!

Home of the original Gold's Gym, lifting weights on the beach is a thing there.

Tate really enjoyed the souvenir shops - No, he was not allowed to purchase that hat!

Next we went into Beverly Hills and got to walk up and down Rodeo Drive (pronounced RO-DAY-OH for all you that may be unrefined and unfamiliar)

Yes She Is!

The walk down Rodeo Drive. Lot of Palm Trees.

The Via Rodeo, a cobblestone street that runs up from Rodeo where more high-end shops can be seen.

A custom made Rolls Royce owned by one of the owners of The House of Bjan.  This shop had designed the inauguration suit for every President since Richard Nixon.

Then we went to the Hollywood Farmers Market at the Grove for Lunch.

Then we made the drive up to the Griffith Observatory where we took in the beautiful views of the Los Angeles Skyline and got the best look at the famous Hollywood sign.

The best view of the famous sign that used to say "Hollywoodland"

Downtown Los Angeles

The view from the Observatory

Our tour concluded the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater where the stars put their hands in cement.  Colin pointed out all the cool places along the way and we were very pleased with what we were able to see in such a short amount of time.

One of my favorite actors who was honored in 2006.

To qualify for a star on the walk of fame, someone has to stay "relevant" for 5 years in movies, tv, music, production, or stage.

After a whirlwind tour of Los Angeles, we headed back to our stay to get some rest for the next day when we would go to Dodger Stadium.