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Tuesday, December 31
I don't know if I can remember everywhere we went today. We had a bus tour of LA and Hollywood. But first, breakfast!
After we left the hotel, we drove through downtown and saw a bunch of sights.
These three photos were taken from the bus. The photo on the left has some buildings we saw. The cylindrical one was "blown up" for the movie Independence Day. The center photo show an interesting staircase I spotted. The photo on the right shows some other interesting architecture.
Our one stop downtown was the Disney Concert Hall. It's a wild building! One reason for the stop was a restroom break... Those who visited the restrooms saw very little of the building as the line quickly got very long...
We were told that the builders had to return to the building after it was finished to dull down the sides as the reflected light would raise the temperature in the area to untenable temperatures! Even with the burnishing, it quickly got very, very warm on the sidewalk out in front.
The four photos above show different views of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
These three photos were also taken at the Concert Hall stop. The photo on the left shows another view of the Concert Hall. The center photo shows Kelly and me beside an outdoor restaurant next to the Concert Hall. The photo on the right shows The Broad, a nearby art museum that has a very interesting architecture.
Then everyone got back on the bus for more driving around.
Eventually we arrived at the Graumann's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The walk from the bus parking lot (miniscule with way too many buses in it) to the front of Graumann's took us through the back part of the Dolby Theater (where the Oscar Awards are held) with a short stop at a viewpoint where the Hollywood sign was visible waaaaaaay over there.
The photo on the left above shows the front of the Dolby Theater as the bus inched its way past. The second photo shows the front of the Graumann Chinese Theater as the bus passed in front. The third photo shows some of the Dolby Theater's courtyard as we walked through it. The photo on the right shows some of the outdoor portion of the Dolby's courtyard as we walked through.
The photo on the left shows the Hollywood sign from our vantage point (using the highest telephoto setting at my command). The center photo shows the Hollywood sign as it looked to the naked eye... The photo on the right shows Harrison Ford's star on the Walk of Fame.
We spent some time in front of Graumann's and found some interesting footprints, handprints, and signatures. (Whoopi Goldberg included her braids in the cement, Sonia Henig (misspelled) included her skate blades, George Burns included his cigar!)
The photo on the left shows the handprints and signatures of the main actors in the Avengers cast. The center photo shows Judy Garland's hand and foot prints and signature and is dated 1939 - the same year The Wizard of Oz was released. The photo on the right shows most of the block with the signatures of the Star Trek original series actors. It was impossible to get the entire thing in one frame with my camera...
The photo on the left shows an ornamental panel on the side of the Graummann Chinese Theater.
The photo on the right shows the tower marking the Los Angeles Farmer's Market, our next destination.
So, it was back to the buses for a short drive to the Farmer's Market for lunch and some wandering. The Farmer's Market was founded in 1934 and has operated continuously since. Besides produce, there were several places to eat and some specialty stores.
Since the tour group was spread all over the place, we were given gift certificates to buy lunch (or whatever) with. We had our lunch at the French Crepe - Yum! and got change back from the certificates...
The photo on the left shows the large Christmas tree erected near one of the parking lots at the Farmer's Market. The center photo shows Kelly and me in front of a shop and a double decker bus in the plaza at the Farmer's Market. The photo on the right shows an old water tower at the Farmer's Market rising above the shop umbrellas.
There were a lot of interesting shops in the Farmer's Market. The photo on the left shows a display of honeys. The center photo shows a display case full of pies. The photo on the right shows an ice cream shop that specializes in fancy cones.
The photo on the left shows a tea shop with all kinds of teas on the shelves. The center photo shows one of the sculptures at the Farmer's Market. This one is labeled "Travel Angel". Besides the wildly colored shirt, his wings are covered in maps. The photo on the right shows a double decker bus that was taking people from the Farmer's Market Plaza to the courtyard at The Grove.
We also wandered up to The Grove (near the Farmer's Market), where the LA city Christmas tree is located.
The photo on the left shows an arrangement of succulents for sale in a flower shop just outside of the Farmer's Market.
The photo on the right shows the Los Angeles city Christmas tree with Santa and his reindeer flying high overhead.
The photo on the left shows the busy street (no cars allowed) leading to The Grove with some Christmas decorations hanging overhead. The other two photos show a Chinese dragon guarding the entrance to The Grove. His colorful scales are made of many, many tiny bottles of colored water - the type bottles that we used to get model paint in.
Then it was back on the buses to drive to the La Brea Tar Pits, where we had a much too short visit. We were limited to a 10 minute glimpse only (boooooo).
Along the drive, the guide warned us that a glimpse of Rodeo Drive was coming up, to get cameras ready. As we slowly made our way through the intersection, a city bus pulled up beside us and got in the way - booooooooo
The photo on the left shows the main building for the La Brea Tar Pits. The center photo shows an exhibit of a family of mastodons with one of them caught in the sticky tar. The photo on the right shows the Los Angeles County Museum of Art reflected in the tar pool.
The photo on the left shows a collection of old lamp posts. The story we were told is that someone was given a few old street lamps, then more, then more. Finally, he donated the full collection as an art piece.
So, it was on to the Santa Monica Pier where we stayed for a little over an hour. The photo on the right shows a sign marking the western end of old Route 66. Our buses parked near this sign.
The buses parked beside Palisades Park, so we spent some time shooting the area from there. The photo on the left shows the Santa Monica Pier in the distance. We would wind up crossing the bridge shown and walking over to the Pier. The center photo shows me shooting something while Kelly walks over to join us. The photo on the right shows a telephoto view of the roller coaster at the Pier.
We did make it out to the end of the big pier there shortly before sunset, which was neat.
The three photos above were all taken from the end of the Pier. The photo on the left shows some waves near the pier. The center photo shows Kelly and me with the town behind us. The photo on the right shows some large beach umbrellas that were for sale with the ferris wheel in the background.
The photo to the left shows more of the waves at Santa Monica Pier with the town in the background.
Then we hustled back to Palisades Park, where the buses were parked (we had a time to return limit) and watched the actual sunset from there.
.
.
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The photo on the left shows the sign over the access road for the Santa Monica Pier. We had walked back this way instead of along the beach. The center photo shows the buildings at the end of the pier at Santa Monica. The photo on the right shows the last sunset of the year from Palisades Park, just before we reboarded the buses.
Of course, the best skies appeared while the bus lurched through traffic, so I don't know if anything decent made it to the camera sensor. Probably all blurred..... (They were)
Then it was back to the hotel for a short happy hour, appetizers, and Carl's dessert (it's his birthday). We can't stay up too late tonight as tomorrow starts at 4 am.......
Time for a shower and bed.
We wound up watching the ball drop in NYC on tv (9 pm local time) and fell asleep immediately.