Griffith Observatory & the Hollywood Sign
We wanted to find a great spot to get pictures of the Hollywood sign. Everything online mentioned the Griffith Observatory as having one of the best views. So we set out for the top of the mountain. What all these websites failed to mention was the tremendous number of other people headed there. The parking lot, that was mentioned as convenient, was completely full. Cars were parked a mile down the mountain road! We finally found a spot on the side of the road and started to hike up. It was not enjoyable with a 2 year old. We gave up and went back to the car about 1/2 way up. It gets pretty steep, even on the sidewalk, at times. We drove to the top to turn around and by some miracle he very front spot was open when we got there! We grabbed it. The stars aligned for us in that moment!
So we got back out and headed over to the area to see the Hollywood sign. Well is this is the best view in the city I will tell you not to waste your time. The sign was still very far away and hard to get in the pictures. The views from up there were really neat, you could see down on to the greater L.A. area. My son saw a knock-off Elmo character and kept pointing at him. So my husband brought him over. I warned him that he would want money but my husband ignored me. Yup, just after talking to him he asked for money! It was also very hot the day we were there, in the upper 90s.We're from Florida but this was too much for even us!
So we got back out and headed over to the area to see the Hollywood sign. Well is this is the best view in the city I will tell you not to waste your time. The sign was still very far away and hard to get in the pictures. The views from up there were really neat, you could see down on to the greater L.A. area. My son saw a knock-off Elmo character and kept pointing at him. So my husband brought him over. I warned him that he would want money but my husband ignored me. Yup, just after talking to him he asked for money! It was also very hot the day we were there, in the upper 90s.We're from Florida but this was too much for even us!
Hollywood Blvd & the Walk of Fame
I am typing up these locations in a different order than we actually visited them. Getting to the Hollywood walk of fame was the second thing we did on our first day in L.A. Once we arrived, it took us some time to find parking. A few of the garages were cash / valet only so we skipped those. Finally we found one that was hourly and we could use credit cards. It was located on N Orange Drive and Hollywood Blvd. We didn't do much here other than walk up and down the strip. We did stop in to a few stores to browse, but that was it. It was too hot for us on this day and we didn't last long! There is a lot to do though. Plenty of stores, the Chinese Theater, a mall. I had a packed agenda so we decided to move on to the Griffith Observatory (see above) after this.
Fast & Furious Locations
This was the first thing we did after getting off the ship and picking up the rental car. I planned this one out as a surprise for my husband. We like the Fast and the Furious franchise of movies because we also have a love of cars. You should have seen us in high school,we didn't know each other, we both added things to our cars. So I looked up the address of a few of the more famous locations: Toretto's Market and their house! He had no idea where we were going, but I told him where to turn. When we turned on to the block something clicked and he realized where we were!
 | The Fast and the Furious "house" which was blown up in Furious 7, is located at 724 East Kensington Road in the Echo Park neighborhood. It's right near the Dodger's Stadium. I felt a little silly taking picture in front of a random house, but the people in the neighborhood are used to it!  |
Toretto's Market, AKA Bob's Market is walking distance form the house. The address is 1234 Bellvue Ave. It is on the corner of E Kensington & Bellvue. We bought a few drinks and snacks from the couple working there. I assume they were the owners. We were 50 cents shorts and the lady told us not to worry. We had money in the car so I walked back to the car and gave her a couple bucks simply because she was nice about us being short on the money when we were inside. We noticed that most of the people who stopped in were also taking pictures and therefore were fans of the movies as well!
Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade & Pier
After running around L.A. all day we headed over to Santa Monica. We were staying in the Doubletree a few blocks away from the pier. I was starving at this point and not in a good mood. We checked in, dropped our bags, and then we went to the 3rd Street Promenade and had a heck of a time finding something to eat between lunch and dinner. Blame it on a combo of my indecisiveness, places closed for remodeling, and heat. We settled on Pizza Antica. The food was fine but they served room temperature water and did not provide ice. It wasn't air conditioned. I am used to Florida where everything is in A/C. Not an ideal meal, but it was fine. I don't go on vacation to shop at stores we have at home, so from there we headed to the Santa Monica Pier!
The pier is crowded. Why? Because it's a fun place to be. Restaurants, rides, the beach. I don't know what the local opinion is, but we enjoyed our evening there as tourists.
I had previously bought Groupons for unlimited-ride bands at Pacific Park. We stuck to the little kid rides because our son was the real reason we came to the amusement park on the pier. There were plenty of rides for toddlers (my son rode the air balloons, planes, car, boats, and even went on the ferris wheel with my husband. I am not a fan of heights, so I stayed on the pier and played photographer ;)
California Science Center
On our second day in L.A. I wasn't sure what to do. So we sat in the hotel room that morning looking up fun things for families. I stumbled on the California Science Center and saw that they have a shuttle there. So we said "Why Not?" Well I am so glad we chose to visit. First of all it's completely FREE! Yes, that's right, FREE! The only thing that require money are the IMAX movies and Endeavor (the shuttle). We didn't see an IMAX movie because we have a 2 year old, but we did choose to see the shuttle I think it was $2 per person. Very very reasonable! There is an entire exhibit dedicated to explaining the shuttle program and space. Then in a separate building (not far at all) was the shuttle and it's full mission history.
The museum has two "family" rooms that fill to capacity quickly. It was a shame because we were unable to get in to either one. They looked fabulous and I would encourage anyone spending the day there with little ones, try to get in!
There were habitat rooms with different animals, aquatic tanks, and more. A physics room where people could experiment with different forces. Even an opportunity to ride a bike across a high wire! An all around great museum for little to no cost.
The museum has two "family" rooms that fill to capacity quickly. It was a shame because we were unable to get in to either one. They looked fabulous and I would encourage anyone spending the day there with little ones, try to get in!
There were habitat rooms with different animals, aquatic tanks, and more. A physics room where people could experiment with different forces. Even an opportunity to ride a bike across a high wire! An all around great museum for little to no cost.
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