Erik's Vacation - Day Two: Hollywood & Los Angeles

Today started early.. both Erik and I were excited to start the day so we were up early. I made food for us and we enjoyed a nice breakfast before heading out to Hollywood.

Our first stop was the Walk of Fame, we started at La Brea and made our way down to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. Once at the theater we looked at all the hand and foot prints. Most of my friends aren't really interested in doing this but to find someone who's excited to stop and check out every single one of the hand prints was fun. After the hand print we walked over to the Hollywood and Highland shopping area. We took a picture of the Hollywood sign and visited Hot Topic were I found this fun Gandalf hat and beard combo. I showed him where the Oscars are held every year at the Dolby Theater and then we continued our walk down the Walk of Fame.

We made our way to Hollywood and Vine and of course had to take a picture. We stopped by a CVS as we needed to get something to drink and some sunscreen as we forgot to put some one before we left the car and it was getting hot.

Erik and I made our way to the Hollywood and Vine subway station which was a few blocks away. We took the subway to downtown Los Angeles so I could show him around. We exited the subway in the middle of LA and made our way to LA Live/Staple Center which was a few miles away. It's interesting walking around downtown as I don't do it very often. We stopped by a KFC to grab some lunch before finally making to the LA Live. We spent the next half hour trying to find a bathroom through the maze of buildings.

After we found the bathroom we headed to a different subway station and went through a sketchy part of town, but it was daytime so I wasn't really worried and Erik got to experience some different parts of LA.

We made it back to the Hollywood and Highland subway and as we were walking by the Chiense theater they were setting up a red carpet event for the premiere of Robocop. I was happy that Erik was able to see this.. it's not everyday they have red carpet movie premieres events in Hollywood, okay it probably happens more often then not.. but still it was cool. 

Made it back to the car and I drove us to Whimsic Alley. Erik, like me, is a huge Harry Potter fan and it's a must see store if you visit LA. It was fun experiencing this store through someone else's eyes.. every time I go they always have something new.. this time they have an entire section devoted to Doctor Who.

We left Whimsic Alley and made our way a few blocks south to the La Brea Tar pits. This is an active tar pit location that spews methane gas and tar everyday. I haven't been there in over 20 years so it was fun to re-visit this place again and share the experience with my buddy.

After the Tar Pits we made our way through Hollywood heading to Universal City Walk. While in Hollywood we came across the Jim Henson Studio's.. I have driven that road so many times but never noticed it. Luckily traffic stopped us right out front and we got to take some pictures.

Up at Citywalk we were meeting up with some of my friends to see the new Lego Movie. We got there a few hours early so we walked around Citywalk and grabbed some dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

We met up with friends at 8pm, got tickets and headed into the theater. The Lego Movie was totally awesome... I'll blog a separate review for it after this blog.

Now at home... we were exhausted from all the walking but Erik wanted to open up his mystery grab bag that he had purchased from Whimsic Alley. It had a ton of things it but it was more likely meant for a teen age girl.

It was a fun filled day. I got to share with Erik some great parts of Hollywood and Los Angeles as well as some not so great parts of LA. I love being a tour guide and sharing some of my favorite parts of living in the Los Angeles area.

We walked just over 13 miles but that's just the beginning as tomorrow and the next day we will be doing Disneyland and Disney California Adventures.. so our walking adventure has just begun.