I Would Walk 500 Miles

 

I was completely overwhelmed by all the lovely anniversary wishes on my Facebook page from my June 5 post!  My brain is still on pacific time currently!  With the amount of steps we walked over the course of five days, my body is recovering.  

Matt and I knew we wanted to do something special and memorable for our 25th but weren't entirely sure what that was.  We'd thought about Cancun which is always a good time.  Possibly a cruise which is what we'd done on our honeymoon. For our 20th, we visited New York.  We've also been to Chicago, St. Louis, and Boston - a trip to another big city was what I was wanting.  I convinced Matt to take me to LA.  He has been to California before, but it was a quick trip for work.  Plane tickets were booked in February.  If you are planning a trip to LA, be sure to do your research.  I say this because it is HUGE.  Public transportation is awful and simply getting around is not easy.  

 

We had no plans to rent a vehicle, and West Hollywood was really the primary area that I wanted to visit.  It's close to all the touristy things and safe.  I didn't have a large hotel budget but wanted something nice, close, and within walkable distance of most things.  I found the cutest little Hollywood Vibes hotel called Montrose at Beverly Hills.  We checked in early afternoon on Wednesday after ubering from the airport. 

 

 Because it was our anniversary, they upgraded our room (complimentary) to a gorgeous corner suite and showed up with a bottle of champagne.  LOVE!  We felt immediately welcomed.  Everyone at the hotel was super friendly.

 

  The hotel had the best décor!  Outside of our suite, we spent most of our time in the café area and only made our way up to the rooftop pool the first day.  Honestly, I wish our hotel happy hour had taken place poolside.  We never had the energy to swim after long days in LA.

 

CITRUS ON SUNSET::  We were starving after arriving to the hotel but wanted to find something walkable close by.  Citrus received great reviews on Yelp so off we went.  The food was incredible.  I got a chicken wrap and fries.  Matt got a teriyaki chicken plate.  We split a sugar free raspberry Snapple tea that I MUST add to my grocery list in the future.  We walked back to our hotel, exploring a little bit and admiring all the displayed gardens of weeping flowers, cacti, snowbells, succulents, trumpet bushes - it was like walking through a beautifully manicured forest.  I've never seen such - doubtful I ever will again.

 

  

I'm not entirely sure what the building was called that CITRUS was in, but I think it was a mix of businesses and apartments.  There was security on site, but it's fairly easy to find.  The entry way had some cool artistic features that I snapped pictures of.

  

In the area we stayed, you will never see a regular car.  Everyone drives Tesla's or something more bougie than a Tesla - we saw Rivian's McClaren's, Range Rovers, BMW's, Mercedes, Rolls Royce's, Porches, and everything in that genre!  This was a new level of wealth.  The hills are peppered with enormous homes.  At one point, we got online and looked at some for sale (do that in your spare time) - oh my goodness!  Our hotel offered Happy Hour from 5-6PM.  After we rested for a bit, post meal, we headed down and met our server Andrew.  He was the BEST offering lots of restaurant advice and things to do, places to visit, etc.  We'd made plans already to visit The Laugh Factory that night.  

Andrew told us about a Mexican place called Tu Madre -West Hollywood.  Y'all!!!!  TU MADRE:: We'd watched some Youtube LA tips/tricks before we left and I distinctly remember one of the advice givers talking about the Mexican food in LA.  He was right!  This was the best Mexican meal I have ever eaten and might ever eat.  It was amazing.  Don't bother with the margaritas.  I've had better.  The food, however, YES!  I got the crispy fish bowl.  Wish I had one right now!  Matt got a selection of tacos and enjoyed most of them.

 

 

After dinner, like ticks ready to pop, we decided we NEEDED to walk to The Laugh Factory since it wasn't too far.  Comedy is our thing.  In fact, we can't wait for Miles to turn 18 in a few months so we can visit Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville as a family.  

The Wednesday night line up included Kiki Andersen, Dom Irrera, Daphnique Springs, Dane Cook and Whitney Cummings.  After the show, we were ready to crash!  We opted to get an uber back to the hotel instead of walking.

Prior to leaving, I purchased Matt and I two Go City passes loaded with five attractions each which I've numbered below.  We'd done this in Chicago last Spring Break, and it made it easy to see sights at a discounted cost.  Because there are a few things that require advanced booking, I had to make those reservations before we left.  

  

Thursday morning we planned to do the Hollywood Sign hike with a guide.  DIALOG:: Because the day would consist of loads of walking, we started our day off a Dialog Café right up the road from us. I got an acai bowl, and Matt got a Protein Omelet. Back to the hotel real quick to freshen up and take an uber to the Hollywood Sign hike (#1) Bikes and Hike LA and met our guide Chris.  He was expecting a larger group to arrive, but us and a mother/daughter duo from Canada, who spoke very little English, were the only ones.  The entire trip is about four miles, pretty moderate but made me still feel out of shape.  Chris told us about the history of Griffith J. Griffith which you should definitely read about.  The sign used to be Hollywoodland but was changed to Hollywood.  You can find a lot of fun history/stories/vandalism behind the sign online.  One of the more recent, funny stories was from 2017 when a prankster changed the sign to read Hollyweed marking the enactment of loser marijuana laws in LA.  

 

Back to the transportation thing:  it is next to impossible to hike over from the sign to the Griffith Observatory unless you are in excellent shape.  While the observatory is free, and we probably would've enjoyed it, it would've been at least two more uber trips.  

We limited it to one and had our uber take us directly to the Big Red Bus on Hollywood Boulevard.

The Grove was next on our agenda, but in order to get there, we had to hop on our (#2) Big Red Bus LA Tour when activated (thanks Go City) allowed us a 2-day pass. I felt like the bus could've done a better job with LA commentary, but it was "free" transportation which is nice.  It also gave us a birds eye view of the city.  Unfortunately because LA is SO huge, getting anywhere quickly isn't happening.  Once we arrived, we were eager to find somewhere to eat at the Farmer's Market LA which is in front of The Grove.  It's truly impossible to describe the amount of dining options available - wall to wall with everything you can imagine.

 MAGEE'S KITCHEN & FRITZI COOP::  these were our final choices.  I wanted opted for a sliced roast beef and vegetable plate, and Matt went for the Stinger hot buffalo chicken sandwich.  After spend a small fortune on lunch and $8 on two small pieces of chocolate, we walked around the Grove for a little bit.  However, we were pooped from our hike, the sun, and riding the bus for a while so it was short lived.  We made our way back to the Hop On/Hop Off bus stop.  No bus.  We waited a while before deciding to walk back to our place (around two miles, ugh).  Spending money on an uber didn't feel worth it with our place relatively close by.  

Crashed at the hotel from a full day of walking, close to 9-10 miles.  

PRINCE STREET PIZZA:: because it was fairly close by, we decided to grab a slice of pizza for dinner.  It hit the spot.

Friday morning began with a walk to a local Starbucks.  We needed normal before beginning our day.  It's hard to beat a breakfast sandwich, muffin, and cold brew.  South Warren's softball team was also playing early in Lexington so we watched the game online.  Our plans for the day included a trip to Warner Brothers for a studio tour and would conclude with a trip to The Comedy Store.  It was a full day again.  

There are a few movie studio tours in LA, so I can't really compare one to the other.  (#3) Warner Brothers was on our pass and honestly got the best online reviews.  Totally worth it!  

Friends is one of the most memorable Warner Bros icons along with The Big Bang Theory.  We started off the tour walking through a storytelling showcase of the Warner Family and the 100-year history behind the studio. You eventually land in a theater with a WB introduction screening. From there you get a personal guide who takes you on a tour of the studio.

We did the basic tour and thought it was incredible.  Our guide was awesome.  While I can't remember all the specific details, I do remember some tidbits.

The steps into the curio shop in Chinatown on the movie set of Gremlins where Gizmo is purchased.

The iconic upside-down kiss (2002) of Spiderman and Mary Jane happened in this area.

The parking structures where You's Joe Goldberg pushed off Marianne's toxic ex-husband to his death.

  

The Batmobile, Barbie's Car and Harley Quinn's ride.  There was a giant tech conference happening while we were on sight that day.  We weren't able to explore as much, but we still got to see a lot of neat things.

 

 

 I don't recall the movie that featured this yellow car but the other one is from Mad Max.

 Tons and tons of props are made on sight, and there is an entire building devoted to costumes and used props that other companies rent.  We got to visit a sound stage where the new Night Court is being filmed along with seeing lots of set pieces from Abbott Elementary

 

 

 

After the lot tour, you go into another area where which is the action and magic exhibit with recreated sets, costumes, and props.  You can watch videos on sound production and lots of interactive features.

Game of Thrones display.

 

Tons of DC Universe stuff along with Harry Potter.

How you doing?

 

Ellie's costume from The Last of Us and Elvis from the 2022 movie with Austin Butler.

When the tour concluded, we were hungry and wanted to head back to the Walk of Fame and visit some places in that area.  

 

We took an uber to IN & OUT BURGER:: which was completely SLAMMED.  Wall to wall people so I grabbed the first two-seater empty table that I could find.  We later learned it was the second busiest one in LA.  It was my first time.  I wish I could say it was the best burger I'd ever eaten, but it wasn't life changing for me.  It took a while to get our food which I've heard isn't normal for most, and my bun was hard/stale/old.  The fries were decent, nothing special.  Maybe I'll try it again at some point.  I think Freddy's is as good personally. It was an experience though, and everyone in LA was there for lunch.

 

The Hollywood Walk was right up the road.  I'd been making notes about some of the stars I wanted to see.  After browsing through some gift shops, photographing some stars, and taking in all the sites, we headed over to TCL Theatre (#4) on our pass, checking out the new release THE WATCHERS.  Our pass got us a ticket to the show, popcorn, and a drink.  It was a nice way to relax midday.  The theatre is attached to a larger shopping mall called Ovation which was fun to walk around in.  If I had the trip to do all over again, I may have looked at staying at the Loew's hotel.  It was fairly affordable and right in the middle of Hollywood chaos but super close to everything.

 

 

It just made sense to see a movie in Hollywood at one of the most iconic theatres.

 

 

 

Our movie let out just in time for us to catch the last Hop On/Hop Off bus departure.  Thank goodness we didn't have to walk or pay an uber to get us back to our hotel. 

 We passed by The Viper Room multiple times throughout the week.  This is an infamous club once owned by Johnny Depp and the location of River Phoenix's tragic death =(.  I think it's going to be redeveloped soon.

 After chilling at the hotel for a bit, we walked to The Comedy Store since it wasn't too far from our hotel. Because you are required to get two drinks at most comedy clubs, we decided to do dinner there.  Don't waste your money.  The comedy was superb, the food and drinks, not so much.  Our show was in the MAIN room.  Iliza Shlesinger and Caroline Rhea were some of the big names.  I will say that I noticed some of the comics involved the audience more than using stand-up material.  That can be funny, but it got a little old to me.  It is definitely a must-do though if you like comedy.

 

Saturday was a wide open day.  I didn't want to leave LA before visiting Santa Monica.  We started the morning off at Mel's Drive In for breakfast which was redeemable after last night's bar food.  Matt got the avocado toast and poached eggs.  I got some pancakes, eggs, and bacon.  We also wanted to drop in a cute little bookstore that we'd past multiple times walking up down the street throughout the week.

  

There's a pathway that runs down Beverly Drive that we wanted to walk down that leads to Beverly Garden Park.  Each street that runs off the path features a different tree - maple trees on Maple Drive - ash, pine, elm trees.  It's the neatest site.  While walking the path, out of nowhere, we walked right past Weird Al Yankovic.  The park is close to Rodeo Drive which we also wanted to check out.

 

Gigantic Morton Bay Fig Tree

All I can think about when on Rodeo Drive is Pretty Woman.  All the high end stores line the streets and most armed with guards or security limiting the amount of people in the store.  Of course we didn't go in any of them.  There was a loud protestor dressed in a very eccentric costume in front of Louis Vuitton on a megaphone harassing the store front.  It was a sight!  

 

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel.  It's hard for any of us Pretty Woman fans to be on Rodeo Drive and not think about the movie. Eh-hem, you work on commission right?!?!  

From Rodeo, us poor folk took the LA Metro to Santa Monica.  

 I felt completely at home in Santa Monica.  Normal cars, regular people.  We went to Santa Monica Place for lunch at THE CURIOUS PALATE.  The meal was an option on our Go City Pass and our final selection (#5).  It was delicious, and we were able to watch the Spartan softball game online again during our lunch.  I got the Baja fish tacos and fries while Matt got some sort of braised beef dish that was recommended by our waitress.

The Santa Monica pier is a site to see! It was hot and super crowded.  Something I also noticed too, and it's this...there is always somebody in large gatherings determined to be extra annoying!  Rodeo Drive presented the loud protestor, and on the pier, it was this large walking group playing instruments loudly and chanting something.  I'm sure it served some purpose, but for me, it felt like unnecessary noise and was extra irritating.  I'll never understand this about people.  

The state beach at Santa Monica pales in comparison to beaches in the gulf.  The sand is gritty and brown.  The Pacific was ice cold, murky, and not what we're used to in Florida.  People covered every square inch of the beach too.  There were vendors everywhere.  It felt like complete chaos.  We did want to put our toes in the water, so we did and afterwards decided to walk on the opposing side toward Venice Beach. It's a beautiful walk and seemed less crowded the further we got away from Santa Monica.  This was pretty much the last leg of our trip before catching the Metro back to our hotel.  

It was a long day, and we were pooped knowing we'd leave early the next morning to catch our flight.  We decided to skip dinner and eat a few snacks at the hotel.  

By the time we arrived at LAX and got checked in, we were starving.  We split up - Matt grabbing us some breakfast sandwiches from California Pizza Kitchen and me grabbing coffee at The Coffee Bean.  Unfortunately, because we moved our flight up to an earlier time at the last minute, our boarding passes didn't allow us to sit together.  

We had a wonderful trip and hope to return to California at some point.  We're officially BROKE.  Send money!