Living Like the Stars

I’m sorry for the delay in my posts...things got increasingly busy as we stayed out later and later every night and so I had no time to write. However, now I have time to tell all about our road trip to Los Angeles!

We started the day very early in order to get to LA by about 10am (it was about an hour and a half away from our Laguna Beach resort!) and made only one stop for a quick breakfast at Starbucks. Once we arrived into the city vicinity, we went straight for the most iconic attraction offered: The Hollywood Sign. 

The famous Hollywood sign!

The Hollywood sign is such a famous attraction in LA, but it's actually quite comical how people flock from all over the world just to see a bunch of huge white letters on the side of a mountain! I suppose its part of our culture. The park we were at to see the sign was called Griffith Park and had a large observatory at the top of the mountain. We drove all the way to the top to where the observatory was to get a better view of the Hollywood sign and Hollywood nestled in the hills beneath it. Around the other side of the observatory, away from the Hollywood sign, we could see the entire city of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills stretched out before us. It was a gorgeous day, so we could see the mountains and the sea in the distance. It was quite a beautiful view from every angle from the observatory.

Zaynee and I in front of the Hollywood sign

In front of the teeeeeeeny Hollywood sign

After taking an absurd amount of photos of the Hollywood sign, which was far enough in the distance that it looked tiny in our pictures, we down drove through the hilly park and out to Hollywood Boulevard. We parked on a side street and walked to the famous road. It was lined with palm trees and people handing out flyers advertising tours of the outside of celebrity homes in Beverly Hills. They were quite irritating, and continuously pestered us to buy tour tickets. At times, they were downright rude to us. Needless to say, we did not end up going on a tour that would allow us to see just the gated exterior of where celebrities lived. Celebrities are just people anyway! Instead, we walked up and down the street and passed people in character costumes asking for money if we took a photo of them. I was surprised that the area was so grungy; it was as dirty as parts of New York City. The rest of California seemed to be pristine! Obviously it didn't transfer to the big city as much. 

Hollywood Blvd.

All along the sidewalks were stars embedded in the ground with the names of famous performers, producers, movies, and artists. We were on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Following the stars, we made it to the Chinese Theater, where a number of movie premieres apparently occur. The exterior of the theater looked extremely old and a little dirty, but was definitely in the style of ancient Chinese buildings, with intricate designs and a roof that curled out at the edges.

Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles

Exterior of the Chinese Theater

In front of the theater, there were hand and foot imprints as well as messages from stars in the concrete. We saw Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Arnold Schwartzenegger, and many more. Zaynee, Hanaa, and I became incredibly excited when we found the imprints of the stars of Harry Potter!!

Zaynee and I behind the imprints of the stars of the Harry Potter films!

We had a quick lunch and made our way back down Hollywood Blvd. to our car to move on through Los Angeles. We passed by Sunset Blvd. and headed up into Beverly Hills to take a look at some of the most expensive real estate in the world! It was unfortunate that Mom, Hanaa, and I didn’t manage to see any of the houses from our favorite Bravo television show, Million Dollar Listing. Unfortunately, large hedges, trees, and gates hid most of the houses. Going on that celebrity house tour would have been pointless…we wouldn't have seen anything except lovely foliage!

Our next stop after the quick expedition through Beverly Hills was the infamous Rodeo Drive. It was fashion paradise--there were designer stores one after the other with gorgeous window displays. In addition, the entire road was decked with palm trees and completely spotless—a complete change from Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset Blvd! It was so beautiful, especially on such a sunny day. We went into Juicy Couture and Ralph Lauren (thanks to the beautiful window displays!) before once again hopping in the car to head to Santa Monica beach and pier to watch the sunset over the waves. 

The famous Rodeo Drive!

Mom and Hanaa on Rodeo Drive

The minute we got to the pier, Hanaa noticed that the amusement park was the same one in the Hannah Montana movie, so we admittedly got a little excited about that. The beach, however, was also lovely, with the traditional California palm trees, soft sand, and large waves. We watched the sunset while dipping our feet into the cool water and then headed down past Venice Beach to find somewhere to eat.

Santa Monica pier and amusement park

Sunset at Santa Monica Beach

Palm trees, sunset, and amusement park

Mom has become very proficient with the iPhone app, Yelp, and found an organic Mediterranean restaurant for dinner, called Turquoise. It was some of the tastiest food we’ve had on the vacation, and it was healthy as well! The portions were great, the food tasted delicious, the server and owner (husband and wife) were very cheery, and the atmosphere was very tranquil, especially with the turquoise accents and lighting. Even the bathrooms were pretty! All in all, I’d say it was a very successful meal that everyone enjoyed before we returned back to our resort for the night.

Exterior of the restaurant Turquoise in Redondo Beach, CA