Let's go on a tour of LA
As promised - here's some highlights from my whirlwind day trip of LA. Better late than never. :)
I started the day with a yummy breakfast at the hotel before hitting the road to Santa Monica. I took a quick self portrait before I left because I knew I'd be flying solo for the day which means there aren't a lot of self portrait opportunities.
Sidenote: There were a TON of pictures from this tour, but I spared you all the pain of looking through all of them and I just picked the highlights. You're welcome.
Everyone warned me that the drive to Santa Monica would be horrible and I'd sit in traffic forever. Now being an Atlantan I think I know a thing or two about traffic, so I left myself an hour to get there. However, it only took me twenty minutes to get there (people, there was no traffic at all). So I took the time to walk around Santa Monica. I found good shopping and the farmer's market - which was awesome. This picture though, is from when the tour actually began. We loaded the Rasta bus, which sounds sketchy but was actually tons of fun! We drove by the Santa Monica peer before heading up the Pacific Highway (PC to the locals) to Malibu.
Malibu was gorgeous, and there actually weren't a lot of tourists b/c it was still pretty early. We then headed back down the PC and then over to what I like to call the "high falutin' area". We went through Pacific Palisades, Brookwood, and the neighborhoods of Beverly Hills. We saw lots of celebrities houses, but honestly I can't remember which one's which in the pictures. Most of them were hidden so far behind high fences that you couldn't really see them anyway.
The bus also let us off Rodeo Drive for a little window shopping. The stores were cool, but I wasn't about to walk into any of them. I'm pretty sure they all sell approximately one blouse a day!
I had to get a picture in front of the quintessential Beverly Hills sign.
After lunch at the Farmers Market in LA (and strolling around The Grove where of course I went into the Banana Republic - I think I have a problem) we went up to the Griffith Observatory. There were gorgeous views of the city as well as lots of astronomy geeks (and of course I thought of Paul)!
One of the people on the tour was nice enough to get a pic of me with the Hollywood sign. The Griffith Observatory is as close as you can get to the sign without going on a hike. There was not time for hiking in our all day tour.
I just thought this was a cool pic of our tour guide. If you're ever in LA and don't have a lot of time I totally recommend this tour. They were very entertaining, knowledgable, and you can't beat $45 for the whole day!
We also went down Sunset Strip, got to see all the stars at Grauman's Chinese Theater (WAY too touristy for my taste), and we also went to Venice Beach. For anyone who lives in Atlanta, Venice Beach is like Little Five Points on steroids. I kept my purse close. :)
It was an exhausting, but incredibly fun day. I hope you enjoyed the abbreviated version.
