California Vacation: Part 2

The final 2 1/2 days of our trip were pretty jam packed.  There is really so much to see in the L.A. area.

Saturday morning we rented bicycles and rode along the beach strip.  It was really one of the highlights of the trip for me (and of course, no pics).  It was just so beautiful, amazing people watching, and I was doing something somewhat athletic with my husband.  Can't beat that!

Afterwards we headed right into L.A. to see the La Brea Tar Pits.  Guy had been dying to see them.  Me?  It was ok, but I could appreciate how excited Guy was.  Basically the tar pits were formed tens of thousands of years ago and over time the bones of animals trapped in them have been preserved.  

Our next stop was definitely more my style... Rodeo Drive.  Ha!  Actually just finding a parking spot was pretty fun - we parked right in the middle of one of the surrounding neighborhoods and walked a few blocks to get to the shopping.  Those houses are insane!  And, of course, so is the shopping.  So out of my price range it isn't even funny.  

We were pretty tired afterwards to we headed back to Redondo Beach for a little R & R.  Right before sunset we walked over to the marina and beach for a gorgeous walk.  

I would live in California in a heartbeat.

Sunday morning we headed to Hollywood.  It sort of reminds me of a scaled down Las Vegas - a very commercialized strip filled with some interesting characters and plenty of tourists.  We did get a private tour of Grauman's Chinese Theatre which was awesome!  It was neat to hear it's history and learn all the insider stories of the big Hollywood Premiers.

Marilyn Monroe's Vanity

Next up we did some celebrity home sightings.  Of course you really can't see much - they have fences and huge bushes to give privacy but it was kind of neat.  Our favorite one was actually the Playboy mansion.  All you could see was the very top of house, but you could hear all of the animal noises.  It sounded just like a zoo!

Our next stop was a tour at Paramount Studios, another highlight for me.  We learned SO much about the movie business, production, and some actor secrets.  While we were there we saw some of the cast of Glee while they were filming.

We then meandered on to 3rd and Fairfax, where the famous Farmer's Market and "Grove" is.  It was definitely foodie heaven!

Finally we ended our day with one of the coolest things I have ever done - a drive through the Hollywood Hills at night.  The infamous Mulholland Drive is absolutely breathtaking!

Did I mention that we had rented a convertible for the trip?  Worth. Every. Penny.  It really added to the trip and was a blast to ride around in. Doesn't Guy look so cute?  :)

I can't even describe to you how beautiful this drive was.  

The next morning it was time to head home.  Before leaving we took one last long walk around the beach and boardwalk areas.  We saw seals swimming along the boats, had a homeless man playing practical jokes on us, and admired the beach for one last time.

Honestly this was one of the best vacations ever.  It was so good for us to get away and spend time JUST US and explore an area that neither one of us and had ever been to.  I am dying to go on another trip!

A Pile of Things to Do

I have a million things I should be doing.  Even on my blog I am wayyy behind.  I need to finish up our California Trip post, write about Easter, Dear Beckett, on and on.  But what am I spending my time doing?  Making videos.  :)  This was my first time to create a "photo video fusion" using just my DSLR.  It was fun.  And now that I have done it, pretty easy!  It took about 2 hours in all, but next time it should take a lot less.  I think the video is too long to post here, but I have put it on youtube.  Let me know if it works!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUixTdCcpJo

California Vacation... Part 1

Ahhhh, is there anything better than vacation?  I LOVE to travel, especially with Guy.  And while we both have been very fortunate to make multiple trips each year, we actually haven't had a vacation (that's more than a weekend getaway) that is JUST the two of us in years.  Crazy!  So we were way overdue.  But before I begin I should say that I basically had 3 cameras with me - my big DSLR, the trusty iPhone, and my cheapie point and shoot that I never use.  And look what I happened to find on the point and shoot?  Beckett on the beach!!  I guess I never downloaded them. There weren't too many pictures from our Florida trip last summer, but looking through them on vacation sure made me miss him more!  And he has grown SO much.  Yikes.

Anyhow, back to vay-cay.  We were fortunate to have Gigi and Thunder come to our house and watch B.  I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all, so we didn't worry one bit about him!  

Guy and I are good vacationers.  We headed to the airport and made a b-line for the Blue Mesa bar for pre-flight cocktails.  

We made it safe and sound into Santa Ana then drove about an hour or so to Redondo Beach.  I couldn't wait to drop off our bags and look around!

Guy was a little more excited about tasting the local seafood (and more beverages!).

Guy's Aunt Cindy and Uncle John live near where we were staying, so we met up for dinner.

And actually we picked out our dinner.  It was alive, and then it was not.  Really I was not ok with this.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Venice Beach.  We walked the entire beach line to Santa Monica.  There's nothing better than having your toes in the sand!

The distance between Santa Monica and Venice Beach isn't that far.  It probably took us an hour and a half or so.  Here's what the Santa Monica Pier looks like.  

We looked around and ate at the Mexican restaurant at the end of the pier.  Again, we did our best to be good vacationers and had several afternoon drinks.  

The best part of our meal was the people watching.  Californians are the best for this.  This Dad and "super baby" had me cracking up.  Not sure I have seen a baby ride around like this before.

Afterwards we FINALLY took a ride on the ferris wheel.

Poor Guy, it was not his favorite activity.  Hahaha, he seriously was queasy and nervous!  But check out the view.  Heaven for me.

He was pretty happy for that experience to be over.  After touching solid ground we slowly walked back towards Venice Beach.  

Here is the carousel that was in the Sting with Paul Newman.

Let me just tell you, Venice Beach is nuts.  Really.  It is just a congregation of the strangest weirdos you have never seen in your life.  I pretty much just had my head on a swivel and stared.  And stared.  Basically it is one long sidewalk that runs the beach and all sorts of people have set up little "shops" for their art, cardboard boxes for the homeless (yes, really), panhandling for drugs (openly), music, and more.

One of the highlights was getting to see the Venice Beach Freakshow (they have a series on AMC).  They definitely advertised correctly - it was freaky. Sword swallowing, fire breathing, meat hook through the face, two headed animals, midgets, hairy people - check, check, check.

Our other favorite Venice Beach attraction was muscle beach.  They have these swings that people get on and do all sorts of acrobatics.  It's like a show in and of itself.  Pretty amazing!

Later that afternoon we drove back to the hotel and rested up.  I don't have pictures, but we drove out to  Sunset Boulevard to watch a comedy show at the Comedy Store.  What a fun night!  We laughed SO hard.  Since then we have even seen quite a few of the comedians on TV.  And what's really nuts is that we actually didn't get back to our hotel until 2:00 am, which would be 4:00 am central time.  Oh what crazy kids we are!

More details on our vacation are coming soon.