Category: Los Angeles,CA

Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 7: Los Angeles,CA – Hollywood Museum, Trejo’s Coffee And Donuts & The Grove

Kim & Curtis Hale

Hollywood Museum

We just had to do something film related, so we made sure we did just that.

For $15 each, we got 4 floors housing 10,000 artifacts from TV and movies.

The first floor was about Max Factor, both the man himself, the make up and the movie stars that used it.

Hollywood Museum | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 7/10

We then moved to the next floor, which was in the basement, and was all things horror films and a whole section which were the prison cells from the Hannibal Lecter films.

The next floor was all about the animatronic and models used in films. This was the most interesting section in the museum.

The final floor was not overly interesting, though there was a section with the batmobile which spoke all about batman.

There was also a section here which had a lot of old cameras, which was awesome.

Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts

We walked from here just down the road to Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts, which was created by the actor Danny Trejo.

Curtis got a cappucino and we got a doughnut each.

Kim got one with cinnamon sugar filled with ice cream and Curtis’ was lime and sugar, like a margarita, which was great.

Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 10/10

The Grove

We walked from the museum for about 45 minutes and got to our first shopping mall of the day, which was the famous The Grove.

Kim was looking for a few things here, as well as just looking around as it was somewhere you are meant to visit in LA.

We walked around but we didn’t find anything of use, so we left the Grove and walked 20 minutes to the Beverly Center, which we bought Curtis’ shirts in the other day.

Beverly Center

We got to the Beverly Center and weren’t getting too much luck with the shops, until Kim got to Forever21 where she was able to replace her flip-flops and get some clothes she was looking for.

Fatburger

We got hungry, so we stopped off at Fatburger which was a burger place recommend to us.

We each got a medium sized burger and Kim added cheese whilst Curtis added cheese and bacon. Curtis got onion rings as his side and Kim got chilli cheese fries.

Overall, the meal was disappointing. There was too much lettuce, the tomato slice was too thick and caused everything to slice around, the meat wasn’t staying together so crumbled everywhere, so overall it wasn’t great. We just saw that they are apparently rebranding to be called Skinnyburger…Interesting.

Fatburger | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 6/10

Packing

We got home and watched a few videos before taking on the mammoth task of packing. We leave LA by bus tomorrow morning, so we need to be ready.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

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Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 6: Los Angeles,CA – Griddle Cafe Lunch & Evening Drinks

Kim & Curtis Hale

Griddle Cafe Lunch

We slept in a little and then we got a message from our friend, Sep, that he was awake and ready to go! We were meeting Sep for some lunch as we havent seen him in a couple of years.

We first met Sep in Kuala Lumpur as he was staying in the same hostel as us and we spent a few days with him whilst there, so we had to catch up with him whilst we are in his hometown!

We got an Uber to the Griddle Cafe, which we have seen before and they monstrous pancakes.

We had a few conversations with Sep whilst we were there and then we got our food…which was big!

We each got pancakes, Curtis got an espresso and chocolate chip pancake and Kim got a coconut and chocolate pancake.

Curtis’ Pancake

Kim’s Pancake

We each could have done with only half the pancake as it was way too huge!

The Griddle Cafe | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 8/10

We sat here for a while, after being defeated by our food, and then we all headed out for a walk.

Melrose Walk

We walked to Melrose, which has nice streets and hipster stores to walk around, though very expensive!

We were here for a while and then Sep had to go home, so we also took an Uber home, which took a while due to crazy LA traffic.

Relax

We had an afternoon relax, with Curtis watching hockey, and then in the evening we went to the supermarket and got a pizza for dinner.

Drinks

We met Sep and his boyfriend for some drinks in the evening.

We went to a few bars and had some drinks. The first bar we had to enter via a refrigerator door, which was very hipster but awesome at the same time, and then we went to another part of town which was the ‘gay’ area and went to a couple of gay bars. It was pretty fun and we had some drinks but were back by midnight, which was perfect!

It was time for bed once we got home and tomorrow is our final day in LA.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 5: Los Angeles,CA – Mt. Hollywood, Hollywood Sign & Griffith Observatory

Kim & Curtis Hale

Mt. Hollywood

Our goal today was to hike up to the Hollywood sign.

We first got a Lyft up to the Griffith Observatory, so we could walk from there up to the sign. Once we got there, we notched that the sign was far away, but we had committed to walking it, so that is what we did.

The temperature was about 22°C, so pretty warm, but we were prepared with snacks and drinks we bought earlier today in the supermarket.

We looked at the sign and saw Mt. Hollywood was before the Hollywood sign, so we thought we better go up there first, so we headed up that way.

We saw the view from Mt. Hollywood and then figured out how to get from here to the Hollywood sign.

Hollywood Sign

There were two paths to go and we seemed to choose a fun but difficult route.

We walked across very tiny paths, including across a path with a sheer cliff to one side!

Eventually, we got to Mt. Lee, which is the mountain that the Hollywood sign is on.

We got up there and there wasn’t too many people there, which is good. We got a few good photos there, and had a snack.

Griffith Observatory

We walked down from the Hollywood sign to the Griffith Observatory. Overall, the walk up and back down again took us a few hours and it was a perfect day!

We then spent a couple of hours at the Griffith Observatory, looking at the exhibits and we even watched the large Tesla Coil go off!

We walked around for a little bit and then went to the theatre they had there which shows how they extended the size of the area by going underground and building extra room under there. It was pretty interesting, actually!

As it was getting darker, we headed upstairs to the 12 inch telescope, which has been looked into by more people than any other telescope in the world.

We got here at the perfect time, as they started preparing to open it for people to take a look in it!

We waited around 30 minutes and then it was opened, after the dome itself spun to the correct location and the telescope was configured.

We got in and weren’t able to take photos, but all we saw was a small white spec, which was the star Sirius, which is larger than our sun!

We caught the end of the sunset and then walked away, having had successful day!

Los Feliz Blvd

We walked out of the park as it was easier to get a Lyft from there. We accidentally found Los Feliz Blvd, which is a very rich area, with many a celebrity living there! There were some stunning houses, so we walked down here for a while and just looked at the houses.

We eventually got a Lyft back home and we were so tired and hungry! We had leftovers from yesterday, showered, watched a bit of TV and then slept.

It’s been a busy week so far and we’ve loved it!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 4: Los Angeles,CA – Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills & New Shirts

Kim & Curtis Hale

Lazy Morning

We had a pretty lazy morning today. We have been quite non stop for the last few days, so wanted a bit of time to recover this morning.

We watched some TV whilst we ate breakfast and then peeled ourselves out of bed.

Uber Fun

We booked a ‘shared’ uber, which we had sone on Lyft before but never on Uber. It had said that the driver was collecting someone before us, so it would take 10 minutes to get to us. We waited and waited and then noticed he was getting further and further away! He never came towards us, so we cancelled, which was luckily free, and reported it.

Rodeo Drive

Rodeo Drive is one of those places you’re just meant to go to in LA, so we did just that.

We wandered around looking at the shops which we cannot afford to shop in and we looked at the crazy cars driving up and down the streets.

Beverly Hills

We walked down into the Beverly Hills area as we needed to head that way to get to a shopping centre. There were some beautiful houses and it was a very quiet area. It was nice and peaceful to walk through.

Pretzels & New Shirts

We got to the shopping centre after about 40 minutes of walking and then headed right for the food as we were hungry!

We found a place called Wetzel’s Pretzels, which is a terrific name for a pretzel store!

We got a big soft pretzel and some cinnamon pretzel bits, along with a tasty lemonade.

Wetzel’s Pretzels | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 10/10

We saw a shop near where we were which sold shirts. Curtis needed to buy a couple of shirts, so we went in here to have a look.

We found two shirts and one was on deal, so that was a result! Curtis is now the owner of 2 more shirts.

Uber Home

We got an uber home with a sassy Uber driver, it was definitely not one of the best drives we’ve had!

We got back home and Curtis watched the remainder of the Leafs game and then we went down to the supermarket to get things for dinner.

Dinner

We got pasta and a sauce to go with the remainder of the chicken from the other day. This was a tasty and quick meal!

Relaxed Evening

We relaxed and watched some TV, followed by a film called When We First Met. This film was better than we both expected and was actually quite funny.

When We First Met

Rating:- 7/10

Tomorrow

Tomorrow should be super fun, but hard work, if we do what we are planning to do.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 3: Los Angeles,CA – Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier & A Comedy Show

Kim & Curtis Hale

Family Chat

We has a 1 – 1.5 hour facetime with Curtis’ family, in which we discussed a whole host of things and just ‘caught up’ in general.

Marina Del Ray

We got ready and then dropped off at Marina Del Ray. We are huge fans of NCIS:LA and had read that the ‘boatshed’ from the show is around this area, so we went looking.

After looking for a bit of time, and coming across a really nice area, we decided to take an e-scooter and head to the opposite side of the marina as we believed the boatshed was on that end.

A Nice Lighthouse In The Area

The Marina Was Pretty

Low and behold, we couldn’t find it, so we gave up and walked to Venice Beach.

Venice Beach

We got to Venice Beach, in terrific weather, and the first port of call was a bite to eat.

As to be expected, there were a lot of expensive places and we stopped in one of them and got pulled pork sliders, which looked good but really weren’t. We didn’t even catch the name of the place we ate, but the food wasn’t that great.

After food, we went for a walk along Venice Beach. We walked for a long while, until we came across Muscle Beach & a skate park.

We spent some time at these places and watched people do their thing. Kim even gave the rope climb a go, which she conquered!

Santa Monica Pier

We walked on from Venice Beach towards Santa Monica pier, where Kim saw a hoop and had to do some tricks on it!

We saw the pier from the beach and then headed up onto it.

The pier really wasn’t that interesting and we had evening plans, so we walked up the road to find a ride back home.

We had to wait a while, but got a ride home and once we got back, we realised that Panda Express was so close, so we got some food from there to save time.

We got the orange chicken again, as well as spicy chicken and Curtis got some wok fired fired shrimp, too!

On the way home, Kim managed to break her flip flops so we had to throw those away and she had to walk home barefooted.

Comedy Show

We ate our food and then had to get ready to go back out again.

In West Hollywood, there is a comedy place called Comedy Store which Kim had seen a few well known names were performing tonight, so we got some tickets! Kim got to dress up and even had shoes at this point in the day.

We stood in line for a while, but eventually got in, got our seats and ordered some drinks.

We Were Very Close To The Stage!

There were a few big names, such as Iliza Shlesinger, Sarah Silverman and Jimmy O. Yang.

We couldn’t film or take photos at all, but believe us when we say it was a pretty hilarious 3 hours! Whilst watching, we got a bottle of wine to share and Curtis got a whiskey. There was a minimum 2 drink limit anyway, so why not!

We got a Lyft home and it was safe to say it was bed time.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 2: Los Angeles,CA – The Last Bookstore, Bradbury Building & Grand Park

Kim & Curtis Hale

St Vincent Ct

After breakfast, we started our day and went to St Vincent Court. This is a single, small street which is modelled after a european street. There are european stores and cafes here. It wasn’t actually as cool as it sounded, but we took a look anyway.

Faux European Street | Los Angeles,CA

Last Bookstore

We walked down the street towards a specific place, but came across the last bookstore. This bookstore, firstly, is huge, and secondly is in an old bank, which looks awesome!

The Vault Door

Whilst here at the bookstore, a lady was looking for her child, who had run off. Luckily, we had seen the child just before, so knew the direction she went and informed the mother. We ended up going the opposite way from the mum and attempting to find the child for her.

Former Bank Bookstore | Los Angeles,CA

Eventually, we found the child and returned her to her mum! This was a tense time, and the dramatic music that was playing at the time didn’t help.

Bradbury Building

Oldest Commercial Building | Los Angeles,CA

Next stop was the Bradbury building. This is the oldest commercial building remaining in Los Angeles and has terrific architecture, as seen from the photos.

Coffee

We stopped for a coffee next door at Blue Bottle Coffee. This place smelled great and the coffee was just as excellent!

Blue Bottle Coffee | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 9/10

Little Tokyo

From here, we took a little walk to Little Tokyo, well, at least part of it. It really did feel like Japan, but it also wasn’t all that exciting, unfortunately.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

We left little Tokyo a little disappointed, but walked further onto the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which is looks incredible.

Grand Park

Just down the road from here was the Grand Park, which has a fancy name, and we were walking through here to get to city hall, which is a beautiful, tall, building.

City Hall Is The Pointed Building In The Back

We noticed a large amount of noise and then realised it was singing. We continued further and saw a lot of people, before we then realised thst Bernie Sanders was going to be talking shortly, so the place was packed out to see him! Unfortunately, this meant we were unable to see up close, or go inside, city hall.

LA City Hall | Los Angeles,CA

Chinatown

Chinatown was next on the agenda, as it should be seen everywhere. Honestly, it was pretty disappointing. There was little to see and few restaurants, most of the stores there were ‘tat’ shops, which was a shame.

Home

We got an Uber back home and Kim relaxed whilst Curtis watched the Leafs game. We also planned what we wanted to do for the evening.

Dinner

We went to the supermarket to grab some dinner. We wanted to get something easy but without having to eat out, so we got a caesar salad and a roasted chicken and ate that…a lot of it!

Film At The Chinese Theatre

We decided on the cinema, late on in the evening.

We went to watch Five Feet Apart, which was an incredibly emotional film, making the pair of us cry, but it was also a great film. We would highly recommend.

Five Feet Apart

Rating:- 9/10

Another great thing about this was having a whole cinema screen to ourselves!

We got out of the movie at 00:30 and walked down to Hollywood Blvd and waited for our Uber.

We are so tired, but had an amazing day!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Los Angeles,CA

Place 76 – Day 1: Los Angeles, CA 🇺🇸 – Hollywood Blvd, Tatsu Ramen & Lime Scooters

Kim & Curtis Hale

San Francisco > LA

We were up around 05:00 to get ready to get to the airport.

Our flight was at 09:05, so we had to be there for 07:00. Once we were ready, we left in an Uber to the airport.

We arrived at the airport at a good time to get our bag checked and head through security, which was our biggest line we’ve been through yet.

We got on the flight right at the end, with just 3 minutes left, as we didn’t hear them call our section to board!

We got onto the plane but the plane had to wait a while before it tok off, but then we were on our way.

We only got our free drinks with about 5 minutes to drink them, so Curtis only had 3 mouthfuls of insanely hot coffee before it had to be thrown away for landing.

Arriving In LA

Once landing, we had to wait for 30 minutes for a plane to move, but eventually we got off the plane.

Our bag was first off, so we grabbed that and waited for our Uber.

Our Uber ride was interesting… the driver stopped to use the toilet and then got a little lost, but we got there eventually.

We met our host, who doesn’t live at the apartment, so we have it all to ourselves. She was lovely and showed us where things are.

We headed to the supermarket to grab some things as well as get some breakfast as we hadn’t eaten all day! We grabbed a subway for breakfast as it was easier and then we came back, got a bit refreshed and then went out again.

Hollywood Blvd

We didn’t want to do anything too taxing as we were very tired, so we got an Uber down to Hollywood Blvd. Our driver was amazingly friendly and chatty and gave us some tips.

We just walked along the Hollywood hall of fame and saw all the stars. There were a lot of people, but it was a good, easy thing to do for a couple of hours and obviously it was something that has to be done in LA.

Tatsu Ramen

We walked for 30 minutes to a ramen place, which is a chain, call Tatsu Ramen.

We got a ramen each, Kim with chicken and Curtis with pork. We have heard this place is amazing, so we had to try it!

The food was pretty good, but there was a lot of it.

Tatsu Ramen | Los Angeles,CA

Rating:- 9/10

Lime Scooters

We didn’t want to Uber back, but a walk was too far, so we got a lime scooter each.

This costed us about $6 each, so was a little more than an Uber would have been, but we’d have been in traffic for a while, too.

We had amazing fun on the scooters…they go crazy fast! It took us about 30 minutes to get back.

TV

We watched the last of the Madeleine McCann documentary and some other TV and then went to bed. We have a fun plan for tomorrow, too.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale