It’s 6:30 AM on Sunday morning. It’s the first morning since we left a week ago that we aren’t rushing out the door to the next stop on our tour. It gives me a bit more time to recap our day in LA … and to soak up the incredible location we’re in right now.
Yesterday, we were out of our room at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas before 6AM. Cruised from the fifteenth floor to the lobby and took the four mile walk through the casino to the parking deck. Okay, it wasn’t four miles. But it was a long hike that snaked through the casino—a smattering of all-night gamblers seeking one more payout … or standing with a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, swaying, tapping the video poker machine in hopes of hitting an inside straight on the draw of that last card.
I was much happier that at 6AM we were grabbing coffee at the exit and getting on the road to Los Angeles to see Holly and Brendan.
What a great day it was. We got to their place in Hollywood … snaking into the hills amongst the palm trees and incredible homes … on a perfect day. Seventy degrees, not a cloud in the sky, a strong breeze coming in off the Pacific just beyond downtown—which you can see in the distance from their window.
They took us had lunch at a very cool, very LA restaurant on Vermont Avenue. Sat out side and talked for a long time about our trip … about all the stuff going on with Holly and Brendan. They are both so cool, and so wonderful. And Liam, well, he is the happiest, most relaxed, laid back little boy I’ve ever encountered. We were out and about in Hollywood for ten hours and he didn’t squawk once. Amazing.
After lunch we went up to the Griffith Observatory, which is practically in Holly and Brendan’s back yard and has a jaw-dropping view of LA. We spent a lot of time there went through every exhibit and stayed for the planetarium show. I’ll never turn down an offer to go to a planetarium.
From there we went on a tour (all six of us in Brendan’s SUV, Brendan and me in front; Laura, Max, and Liam in the center; and Holly—a true trooper—in the back) of the Hollywood Hills seeing famous (and infamous) houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, locations where the old Hollywood studios were in the silent film era, and the houses where Walt Disney got his start. (There was so much more than all this, but for now that’s all my feeble brain can muster.)
After that we cruised through the ridiculous LA traffic and drove down Hollywood Boulevard. Thank goodness Brendan was driving. A true expert at getting around the packed Los Angeles streets.
The night ended with dinner at 10PM at a place Holly and Brendan love called the Tam.
It was so great to see Holly and Brendan (and Liam, too)! They were so welcoming, so enthusiastic, gave up their whole day for us, and made us feel so much at home with them. We love you!
And Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there!
Song of the day: California Dreaming’ by The Momas & The Popas.
Another beautiful place so glad you got to see Hollys world outside of NJ and Pa.
Liam’s cuteness has not worn off yet. Some cool FFrank LLoyd WWright building photos. I do like the shadows on the lawn – “Untitled by David Beedle”
Love all the pictures!!!!! We had a great time seeing you guys and all the sights! Have a great next adventure and say Hi to Guy, Barbara and the Hildabrand’s.
Ahhhh, the traffic of LA! The traffic is the one thing we did not miss having to drive through when we were out there for the Rose Parade in 2015-16. We too had someone that drove us around. Looks like a lot of fun at the observatory!