Off to explore L.A. Today. Spots included the Griffith Observatory, Chinese Theater, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, West Hollywood, and Santa Monica at the end of the road. Much of it was a driving tour but we did spend a couple of hours at the observatory. We drove Rodeo Drive and Beverly hills in the dark to take in the amazing holiday lights and ostentatious homes. I found Hollywood to be dirty and full of tourists, hawkers, and homeless. Not the Hollywood of dreamers.
At the Griffith Observatory we went to the 35-minute Signs of Life show in the Planetarium. Wow! Just wow! It felt like we were on a ride; a wild ride through the Universe. It was even a little dizzying. I had to close my eyes a couple of times. It was a show that really gets you thinking about life on other planets based on what scientists have found. I have no doubt there is life out there in other galaxies and universes.
The observatory is located in Griffith Park, the largest urban-wilderness municipal park (4,210 acres) in the U.S. It's was also the home of P-22, the famous mountain lion who beat the odds to navigate himself here and live successfully (except for finding a mate) for most f his life. He was 12 years old when he was euthanized after being hit by a car and declining health. It's also where the famous Hollywood sign lives. The park is riddled with hiking trails, bridle paths, and fire roads to explore. The park includes the Greek Theater, L.A. Zoo, Autry Museum of the American West, Bronson Caves (1960s Batman Cave entrance) and more.
This was so much fun! As we walked toward these I exclaimed "look angel wings", and just as I said that I saw a guy taking a photo of someone in front of them. That photographer was wearing the identical Batman t-shirt my son was cremated with. Audrey and I looked at each other, our jaws dropped a bit, and we smiled. That t-shirt shows up in the most random places to remind me I'm being watched over.
The Grauman's Chinese Theater was built with a partnership lead by Sid Grauman. Since 1927 the theater has hosted some of the most prominent red carpet movie premieres. This is where the stars come to watch movie releases! Since I was going to be in L.A., I wanted to check out the Forecourt of the Stars- full of hand and footprints, hoofprints and hair prints, gun prints and Harry Potter wand prints, eyeglass and leg prints, Marilyn Monroe's earring and even a facial profile from 1927 to the present; nearly 200. I only took photos of about half. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is all over the sidewalks around here but I wanted to see the real prints of real people.
It was such fun to wander and see prints dating back nearly 100 years! The first ones were done in 1927 by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. And to see the prints and signatures of stars that I admire was pretty exciting. Once we were done here, off we went on a car tour of the other areas.
