Summer Vacation Day 1 - Hollywood

Last summer what was suppose to be a short trip to Los Angeles, ended in a five night exploration of the city and surrounding areas. Our main purpose was to check out a few museums that Little One had really been wanting to see.

From there it grew into following the stars on Hollywood Blvd to Disneyland, to the beach, to Downtown and of course to the Museums.
In the end we had a great time, and learned you don't have to travel far from home to have a memorable vacation.
Over the next few days I will share our vacation with you, perhaps it will inspire you to plan your next great getaway!

Little One loves to dance, so this was a must. I think it might have been a mistake at first. In the end, I loved just seeing the pink toes...very appropriate.

Inside the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

We tried to tour the Kodak Theatre but they were filled up for the day. I am really glad we did this instead, it was just beautiful. We had the standard tour and the history was interesting. The interior is a beautiful dark red and gold, and we learned this place has held up under fairly large sized California earthquakes!






Outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Beautiful old Hollywood Architecture

I wanted to capture the stonework on this building.

This was an adventure and a whole blog post on it's own! Let's just say, we wanted to see the pool...and we did. We also saw many, many scantly clad bodies. We later learned it is a hangout for some of the young Hollywood elite...and probably a few not-so-elite. As we walked around the pool, which did by the way look like a scene from a movie. In shorts and T-shirts we looked like we were dressed for the winter! Little One said, "I didn't see anyone famous." I am sure she did...but who could tell? Skin and sunglasses all look the same!

And...it was very beautiful. Incredible architecture, luxurious sofas and curtains in the lobby and home to the first Academy Awards.

This was fun, growing up in California...I had never actually seen the Walk of Fame or the impressions outside the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Little One took pictures next to some of her grandparent's favorite stars and we e-mailed them on the spot. Technology can be fun!
Some of those included, John Wayne, Sophia Loren and of course Marilyn Monroe. By the way, she didn't know who any of them were!!! But, she did know this one.

A trip down Hollywood Boulevard isn't complete without a visit to a junkie souvenir shop. Need an Oscar? Want an Oscar? This is the place.

The Hollywood Sign - on a nice clear L.A. day. Just kidding, actually it probably was a clear day!

Hollywood and Highland Shopping Area. We didn't see any movie stars...but we did see a few interesting characters. And just because we like to document our explorations we did snap a couple of pictures. But in keeping with the PG rating of this post...I can't show you. Use your imagination, fishnets, high heels, garter belt, almost long enough T-shirt. Can ya see it?

Okay, I have to admit that my family has preoccupation with the Travel Channel's food shows. So whenever they are showing a place close to home, we write down the info. On this trip we had 3 places to visit or rather eat at. Here was the first one...Pink's Famous Hot Dogs.

Did they measure up? You bet, it was the first time I bit into a hot dog and it snapped. Delicious!

Hope you enjoyed our day in Hollywood, tomorrow we are off to Disneyland and Downtown!