I Wanna Glide Down Over Mulholland, a.k.a. California Dreamin' Part 4

***For part 3, visit: http://kenandmckenna.blogspot.com/2009/03/bette-davis-eyes-saturday-in-la.html***


After a thrilling and very klassy evening drinking wine in our hotel following our excursion through Universal Studios, we retired for the evening and woke bright and early Sunday morning for our last day in Los Angeles. We began the day with a walk over to the Hollywood and Highland area, stopping along the way for sustenance at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Hollywood Boulevard. I would highly recommend their vanilla latte if anyone cares.

Next, we walked along the Walk of Fame towards the two attractions we planned to hit that day - the Kodak Theater tour, and a bus tour of stars' homes. On the way, we passed a long line of children waiting to get in to the Jonas Brothers movie at the El Capitan theater.

We went to the bus tour company to get our tickets for the tour. We chose LA City Tours (http://www.lacitytours.com/) because they offered the very attractive option of ending our tour at the airport for a small additional fee. The very helpful receptionist booked us on a tour leaving at 1:00, which would drop us at the airport around 5:00. However, in order to do that they had to pick up our luggage that morning around 10:45, so Taryn returned to the hotel to meet them while I secured the tickets for our Kodak Theater tour.
That left me alone in the Kodak Theater/Hollywood and Highland area. As you well know, when I am left alone without a book, I tend to take pictures of random things, like the fountain in the courtyard of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center,
the atrium of the Kodak Theater entrance,

and flowers left over from the previous week's Oscar ceremony.

Also, people dressed in costume wander around in front of the Kodak Theater, allowing people to take pictures with them for a price. I discovered that if you stand on the balcony of the theater and look down towards the street, you can take their picture without them noticing. This is how I captured Captain Jack Sparrow texting on what must have been an antique, Colonial-era cellular phone.

It was also during this time that I noticed the Magnificent Multiplying Batmen outside of the theater. First there was one,

then two,

and then a third appeared.
Soon the Joker came by the number went back down to one.


By this time, Taryn had returned and we wandered around the Kodak Theater atrium while we waited for our tour to start at 11:30. The area was decorated with the names of all of the past Best Picture Oscar winners. We walked up the same stairs that celebrities climb,
and met our tour at the entrance to the Kodak Theater.
We weren't allowed to take pictures on the tour (although don't think that some foreign tourists didn't try and get brutally rebuffed by our tour guide!), but they did give every member of the tour a postcard depicting the view from the stage.

This was extra awesome because, as we were the first day of tours since the Oscars and they hadn't yet started setting up for the next event, we got to walk across the stage! We even got to see the backstage area, including a bathroom that we're pretty sure Hugh Jackman probably used. Or at least, people who got to meet Hugh Jackman.


After the Kodak tour, we ate a quick lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the third floor of the shopping center. A vast improvement over the El Pollo Loco meal on our first day!


Our bus tour was scheduled to depart at 1:00, so we walked across the street to the departure site and boarded the bus with a number of other tourists. Some of them had been touring all morning and were taking a break at the Walk of Fame; others had just joined the tour for the afternoon. We set off towards the Hollywood Bowl,

and over to Mulholland Drive.
We stopped at a lookout point for more pictures, including many of the Hollywood Sign,
as well as a few celebrity houses, including this one that is owned by Ron Howard (although I believe his brother lives there now).
We reboarded the bus and set off up the rest of the mountain. We passed some pretty cool celebrity houses on our way around, including Britney Spears's old house,
Jack Nicholson's house and precariously balanced tennis courts,
and Julia Roberts' fugly striped house.
We also drove through Bel Air, where we saw the house shown in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

and the gate of Elton John's house.
Next, the tour took us through Beverly Hills,
and to Rodeo Drive.
It was here that we saw the shop where they were mean to Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman...as Romy and Michele said, we never get tired of making fun of that movie, and we too are so happy when they finally let her shop.
Finally, we drove along the Sunset Strip to get back to Hollywood, passing such landmarks as the Viper Room

and the Whisky-a-go-go, where Meg Ryan used to be a waitress.
After we returned to the Walk of Fame, the bus took us on a different type of tour - a tour of area hotels on the way to the airport. Fun! I'll let Taryn finish the story with the airport saga, as her trip back was far more complicated than mine...any complaints I have about it pale in comparison to hers! Let's just say that I made it back on time (although not without stress and flight delays!), where she was not so lucky. Stay tuned to The Adventures of Ken and McKenna for details!

***for part 4, visit http://kenandmckenna.blogspot.com/2009/03/bette-davis-eyes-sunday-in-la.html***

Hooray for Hollywood!, a.k.a. California Dreamin', Day 2c

***for part 2b, visit: http://leahgia.blogspot.com/2009/03/california-dreamin-day-2b.html***


After we returned to Hollywood from Warner Brothers, we were starving and went in search of sustenance, which brought us to Mel's Drive-In, which is apparently a Hollywood institution.

It didn't appear to be much of a drive-in anymore, but the inside was decorated like a '50s diner, and was super cool. And they had curly fries, which were awesome (even though only one of us got the curly fries she ordered).

Next, we wandered outside to explore the streets of Hollywood. We ran into Mickey Mouse outside of the El Capitan theater,

saw the Roosevelt Hotel, which is where the first Academy Awards ceremony was held,

and set out to explore the Walk of Fame. We didn't see the whole thing - it's quite long, and also extends into areas that neither of us wanted to go due to their disgustingness, but we did see a few pretty awesome stars. We gave Lionel Richie a thumbs-up,

I stood with Lucille 2's star (but don't worry, I didn't get vertigo, nor did I hit on my best friend's son at a charity auction),

Taryn stood with the star of The King,

I stood with Magnum,

and Taryn stood with Alexis Carrington's star, since she was at the spa and had to miss our trip.

We also stopped by Grauman's Chinese Theater to visit stars' foot- and handprints.

I saw Jane Russell's hands (because while Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as Wonder Woman says, Brunettes Have More Fun!).

Taryn saw Meryl Streep's feet, which was rather foreshadowing of the awesomeness we'd see at Universal the next day.

I learned that Matt Damon has very big feet.

Taryn stood in the footprints of Little Ronny Howard,

and I visited R2D2's wheelprints.

We finished up our exploration with a couple of shots of the Hollywood Sign, as viewed from the back of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center.

After exploring Hollywood Boulevard, we returned to the hotel so we could get ready for dinner. My brother's friend David 2, who lives in Huntington Beach, had offered to come meet us for dinner, and given that he is a Seinfeld fan and therefore more awesome than my own brother, we readily agreed. He picked us up at our hotel (which we think kind of frightened him...and for good reason, the thing reeked of incense), and we met his brother and his brother's girlfriend at an Italian restaurant a bit west of where we were staying. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant, because dinner was fantastic. We sat outside in a lovely garden area, and both had the lobster risotto, which was amazing.

After dinner, we retired to the hotel for the evening to rest up for our busy Saturday of touring Universal Studios. Stay tuned to The Adventures of Ken and McKenna for the story!

***for part 3, visit: http://kenandmckenna.blogspot.com/2009/03/bette-davis-eyes-saturday-in-la.html***

Just For Fun We Run Around The Warner Movie Lot, a.k.a. California Dreamin', Day 2b

***For part 1 and 2a, visit: http://leahgia.blogspot.com/2009/03/california-dreamin-days-1-and-2a.html***

After we left NBC Studios on Friday morning, it was a short walk to Warner Brothers Studios across the street for what was probably one of the best tours we took all weekend.Warner Brothers was a bit more decorated than NBC - upon arrival, we were greeted by a sign:

as well as statues of famous WB characters:

As it was later in the day, the line for this tour was a bit longer, and we ended up having to wait awhile for our group to start. Luckily, their waiting area was rather interesting. The gift shop was there, and a number of costumes from WB movies were displayed around the perimiter of the room.

They also had something even more exciting - the world's greatest gelato, for which they were handing out coupons.

After enjoying our gelato, we set out on the tour. Our tour guide, Thom, was quite informative if a bit theatrical. He looked like a cross between Chris Farley and Jason Bateman.

Thom drove our tram all over the Warner Brothers lot, starting at this super cool museum. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was easily one of the best parts of the tour. It was full of various props and costumes from WB movies, including ones so recent as Music and Lyrics, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and my personal favorite, The Dark Knight - they had a Batsuit, masks that the Joker's henchmen had worn, and a few other things that had been in close proximity to Christian Bale. They also had an entire floor devoted to Harry Potter stuff that was fantastic. Like I said, they wouldn't let us take pictures inside, but I did get one of the outside as we drove away.

Next, the tram took us past the Warner Brothers water tower, which is where they locked Yakko, Wakko and Dot. But they broke loose, and then vamoosed, and now you know the plot!

We went to the WB backlot, where a number of building facades are set up to create the illusion of city streets. Thom pointed out the location where the upside-down kiss between Spiderman and Mary Jane took place,and we also saw the City Hall building that Batman and Robin used to drive up to in every episode of the Batman TV show,

the corner where the tires were stolen off of the Griswolds' car in one of the National Lampoon Vacation movies,

and the theater featured in The Way We Were.

We also saw a number of sites that had been featured on Friends, including the park where Phoebe and Rachel went running,

and the alcove where Rachel and Monica hid when they were watching Jean-Claude vanDamme film Outbreak 2.

We also saw a few places from Gilmore Girls, including Rory's study tree,

what was once Luke's Diner,

and various streets that used to be Stars Hollow.

Also in Stars Hollow was the park where Jerry, Elaine, Kramer and George saw someone being mugged in the Seinfeld series finale.

Another highlight was seeing the outside sets for ER, including the ambulance bay,

the parking lot used as a helipad (Helicopters: 2, Romano: 0),

and the fake El train where Carol Hathaway almost had her twins.

After seeing the outside sets, they took us to a couple of soundstages where things were on display. We weren't allowed to photograph the sets that we saw (including The Mentalist), but they did allow pictures in a few special storage areas set up for tours. We saw a number of vehicles that had been used in WB movies, including the old Batmobile,

Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine,

the Weasleys' car after it got whomped by the Whomping Willow in the Harry Potter movies,

and the new Batmobile.

We also saw this vehicle, which was used in the upcoming film Watchmen, and was pretty much just a giant advertisement for everyone on the tour.

One of the last places we stopped, and also one of the coolest, was a storage area where they had recreated the Central Perk set from Friends. Usually when a show ends, they redistribute the props as needed amongst other shows; however, they decided to keep the Central Perk props available for tour groups. They wouldn't let us sit down (although the obnoxious foreign guy in our group seemed to think that that rule didn't apply to him, and promptly got yelled at by Thom), but the pictures are still pretty cool.

After the tour, we got a cab back to Hollywood. It took quite awhile for the stupid cab to come get us, so we just hung around:

***For day 2c, visit: http://leahgia.blogspot.com/2009/03/california-dreamin-day-2c.html***