No big agenda today. We are going to revisit the Hollywood Walk of Fame and want to make it down to Venice. Wendy set a target of 9 to be out the door and on the road.
The kids don’t wake up until 8, so I know we are never going to hit that target, but we don’t have any firm commitments today, so all is good. Charlotte’s computer had been giving her fits and finally gave up the ghost late last week. I think it may be a simple battery issue. This morning when Jackson got up, his started beeping and was showing a fan error. Charlotte has been using Jack’s to work on photos and I don’t want both of them relying on my computer for the remainder of the trip. I do a quick search on Best Buy and find a couple that are reasonably priced at a location not far from here. We decide to pull the trigger, order two new ones and pick them up later today.
We get downstairs around 10 and head to McDonald’s a block away for breakfast. Then on the road to Hollywood. The GPS is not taking us on 405, so a lot of stop lights, but we do get to see a bunch of neat shops and some different neighborhoods. I follow the route and it takes me down a back alley. Doesn’t seem to be right. There is parking, but I am not even sure we are close to where we want to be. We pull around front to find we are on the correct block, and I pull into another garage expecting to pay $30 for parking. Nice surprise when I find out it is $10 for valet.
We head back up to the street and come out next to a $10 store. Is everything here $10? Nope, they are having a sale! Everything in the store is on sale for $6.99. We look around a bit; Jackson finds a new cover for his iPhone that will work with his headset. Nothing else catches anyone’s eye so we head back out on the street.
We are right at the Kodak Theater and a block from Grauman’s Chinese Theater. There are many characters that are “willing” to take a picture of you. Spiderman, Darth Vader, Shrek, etc. All really bad costumes including a really bad looking Michael Jackson. As we watch them approach people, we see that they are very aggressive and demanding. We were told by out driver yesterday that Diego from Dora got arrested last week for punching someone. We decide to stay away and watch these people from a distance.
We check out some of the stars on the Walk and the handprints and footprints of the stars at Grauman’s. Then walk down the block to do some shopping. We stop at a couple t-shirt shops and then loop back. Jackson wants to visit a military surplus store while Wendy and Georgia move on to find a bathroom. We catch up with them at McDonald’s and then head down to Ripley’s. The kids want to do a museum and we have a choice of Ripley’s, Madame Tussaunds or Guinness World Records. They opt to do Ripley’s again. Personally, I would have picked something else, but they are sure this will be different than the one in San Francisco. It is different, but some of the material is the same and it is smaller than the one we saw last week.
Once done here, Wendy spots a Forever 21 and decides she wants to spend some time there. I walk another block with Charlotte and Jackson while Wendy and Georgia head across the street for some shopping.
We are now ready to head out. The kids are hungry, but just want something fast, so we decide to pick up something on the way to Best Buy. More driving thought new neighborhoods, keeping an eye open for someplace that everyone can agree on. Wendy spots a yogurt shop with a Baja Fresh next door. We pull in and the kids don’t want anything here. Wendy and I get a yogurt, and we head a couple blocks down to a Subway. Now on to Best Buy where they should have the laptops waiting at the pickup. We get there only to find out there is some type of mix up. They have the laptops, but started doing a setup, so they need to close that out and box them back up. 30 minutes later and we are finally on the road back to the hotel.
Once there, we change and head down to the beach to rent some bikes to ride to Venice Beach. Georgia spots some large 3 wheelers that she thinks will be fun and the kids agree. We rent 5 and start our trek down the beach. It is about 1 ½ mile down the beach and we take it easy as there is a lot of traffic on the bikeway.
The pedal down to Venice Beach is short and we make it past all the vendors and to the end. We look at some of the beach houses and talk about how nice it would be to have a spot right on the beach. We do want to walk and head back to the beginning of Venice beach, lock up the bikes and walk. People watching here is a blast. It really draws all sorts of strange people. The kids are all intrigued by the medical marijuana shops. Stop in, claim an ailment and get your prescription filled in 10 minutes or less. They even have a board outside with a list of “ailments” that qualify. They also have a Botox and teeth whitening shop right next door to one of the medical shops.
Get a tattoo, get high and get your teeth whitened all within 100 feet. Wendy and the kids stop in for a 10 minute massage and I head back a bit to a bar for a little relaxation of my own. A couple beers, a little of the Reds game and a band playing reggae outside. This is relaxation.
We notice that we are running out of time before the rental shop closes, so we don’t make it all the way to muscle beach. We will have to hit that on the next trip. We hightail it back to Santa Monica, drop off the bikes (trikes) and head up to the hotel pool.
 |
| Sunset Over Santa Monica Pier - by Charlotte Hurst |
We find a spot next to a fire pit and order up some dinner and drinks, and then back to the room for another early bed.