Los Angeles and Drive, Part 1

Los Angeles and Drive, Part 1

Thursday we were up bright and early to catch our pickup for the Los Angeles city tour. But first, the moon-set over the Pacific was a beautiful sight just before it became full.

Being in a city this size, it certainly doesn't make sense trying to find your way from one point of interest to the next on your own, and then not knowing much about them once you get there. So we booked a tour through the hotel.

Once we got going, our driver started us off in mid-town LA at the Staples Centre. Known as the home of many Los Angeles sports teams, it is also right next door to the Ricoh Theatre, where the Emmy Awards will be handed out at the end of next week. So, of course, part of the roadway was blocked off for red carpet and viewing stand preparations. We did, however, get to the main entrance of the centre and looked at the statues of a number of well-known LA sports figures, including the 'Great One'.

               

     

Wayne Gretzky, whose presence in LA helped
'build' the Staples Centre.

             

Back in the bus, we continued our drive around - in surprisingly light traffic - and saw the following sights:

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gheary

Olvera Street, the oldest part of LA

               Paramount Studios, and across the street, Raleigh Studios, where shows like 'Castle' are shot

 

               La Brea Tar Pits

Since this was a 6 hour tour, there was an hour's lunch stop included. This was at the Los Angeles Farmers' Market and the Grove Shopping Plaza. The farmers' market has vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, meats and fish, and has others specializing in baked goods, salads, ice cream, and whatever kind of prepared food you can imagine. Norm had a beef brisket sandwich from a local BBQ place, and the rest of us bought our lunches at the local seafood spot. The tuna salad was excellent!

After lunch we continued on up into the Hollywood Hills to a sushi restaurant overlooking the city - and the Hollywood sign.

        

    

              

And then it was back down to The Chinese Theatre (formerly Grauman's Chinese) to take a look at the Hollywood Walk of Fame - or a small part of it at least - and the handprints in the sidewalk in front of the theatre entrance.

         

              And of course, since the Dolby (formerly the Kodak) Theatre is right around the block, we all got to walk down, and up, the fancy staircase that the stars use to get to the theatre on Oscar night!! Too bad Monica didn't bring the velvet skirt with the short train, or she could have checked out the guide's story that the steps were made wider than normal to accommodate the long dresses the ladies wear for the Academy Awards Ceremony.

        Then it was off to Rodeo Drive and the final stop on the tour. Once more, just like the first time, we didn't even go into any stores. If you don't normally shop in the high end boutique-y type places at home, they're just that much more expensive in the high rent district of Beverly Hills. We were wondering how some of the stores manage to stay in business - opulent windows, sales staff dressed to the hilt, security staff at the door, and NO customers inside. Maybe they all come out after hours when there aren't any tourists to goggle at them....

               

              

A small 'plaza' of shops just off Rodeo Drive itself

Once we were ready for dinner, we went back to the Sonoma Wine Garden for a pre-dinner drink, and then wandered over to The Lobster for our meal. This is the restaurant we had been to on our first trip to Santa Monica in 2005, right at the top of the Santa Monica Pier. The food and the service were every bit as good as we remembered!

               
              

Larry and Norm both started with clam chowder -
thick and delicious!!

              

Barb and her lobster ravioli

              

And for a really decadent dessert -  warm chocolate pudding
with caramel corn!

To top the evening off, we followed the advice of the waitress at the wine bar and walked up to the Shangri La Hotel. It has a rooftop bar that overlooks the ocean and the pier and has a very nice view and ambiance. We were getting tired by this point and didn't stay long, but here's a picture of the view:

On Friday morning, we started our day with breakfast at a French crepe restaurant at 3rd Street, then loaded up the van and started on our way. And from our first sightseeing stop:

We got our own 'Malibu Barbie'!!!

We drove from the Pacific Coast Highway up through Malibu Canyon to reconnect with Highway 101, the main highway route to San Francisco. The really interesting part of the coastal highway trip is from San Luis Obispo north to Monterey, which we will be doing tomorrow, so we decided to take the quicker route for this stretch of the drive.

It was quite funny; we started the day driving in overcast conditions with a high mist so thick that you couldn't see the tops of the hills; we turned away from the coast, drove through a short tunnel, and we thought we'd been teleported to another place altogether! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the temperature went up about 10 degrees. And it stayed that way for the rest of the drive.

We stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch - imagine that, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara in the same day!! - and drove through miles and miles of vineyards before finally reaching the Apple Farm Inn at about 4:00.

 

 

 

The Water Wheel at the Apple Farm Inn

 

 

Covered verandah walkway between some of the rooms.
Flowers everywhere!

The inn's lobby. Quaint and homey.

  

Our room - gas fireplace, big bathroom and sitting area. Too bad
we weren't staying more than one night!

For dinner, we found a very good restaurant in town called Chiopinot, a play on chioppino, an Italian style fish and seafood soup, and, obviously, pinot grapes. The place wasn't very busy when we got there at 6:00, but by the time we left at 8:30 it was really hopping! Not an open table and the bar was full, too! It seemed like a place with a huge local following, especially since their wine corkage policy was: your first 4 bottles are free, then they charged $10 a bottle for more than that. And a lot of people were bringing their own wines with them!

Part of our oyster appetizer; the rest was Oysters Rockefeller.
Yummy!

              
    

Fresh - really fresh - salmon entree. The restaurant owner's
brother is a fisherman in the Pismo Beach area
and sends part of his daily catch to the restaurant.

  

 And once we were finished with that, we headed back to the barn, or should we say farm, to relax a bit and get the blog post up. Looking forward to tomorrow's drive! Keep your fingers crossed that we get clear weather and not the foggy coastline we started today with...