This pic is the flag that was flying over Alcatraz when we visited in San Francisco.
Today we are doing a tour of LA. When we asked the concierge for recommendations, he let us know that for the cost of the standard tours we were looking at, we could almost do a private. The other tours simply drove you around, did some narration and dropped you off at the various spots for photo ops. The one we booked will be custom to what we want to see and we should be able to hit many more highlights.
We get everyone up early for our 9AM departure and are all down to the lobby by 8:30. Georgia asks me what our guide will be like, and I tell her he will be kind of like a guy from TMZ or better yet a non-sleazy Parez Hilton. She says “Oh, that guy who does the news on B96 in the morning.” and I reply “Yes, but he won’t cover the financial news the way Parez does.”
Mark arrives right at 9 and we head out to the van. It is equipped with a very large DVD screen and he has rows of DVD’s in the visor above his head. He asks what type of tour we would like. Charlotte would like the “Sex, Drugs and Train Wrecks Tour featuring Charlie Sheen and Friends”. Georgia wants the “Disney and Friends featuring the Young Stars”. Jackson only wants to see Megan Fox’s home….
Wendy and I tell him that those tours filled in with some of the other big stars and sights would be great. He lets us know that making it up to Malibu today will be very difficult as everyone heads to the beach on the 4th. Many of the communities have cancelled fireworks due to budget constraints, but Nick Cage always rents a barge and does his own off the beach – better than any of the others, so many people are heading there. But, he lets us know that we will get to see plenty with the time we have booked.
Off we go to Venice to start the tour. The first thing we encounter is a filming of Cops – Venice. Wait, nope – no cameras – just LA’s Finest in action. I had never seen the actual canals of Venice here and he pops in a DVD that tells about some of the history. He will use the DVD player though out the tour. He tells us about a building or sight, turns on the DVD and then pauses it right as we are driving to the spot that the camera was when the scene was shot. He also has laminated pages from tabloids that show the homes and spots where stars were spotted and pictures from others who have done the tour when they came across celebrities and got their pictures taken.
We drive past Lindsey Lohan’s home and see the jewelry store where she stole the necklace.
We see Robert Downey Jar’s home and Dennis Hoppers home now up for sale. A few more sights in Venice (scene from White Men Can’t Jump and a couple other movies on the beach) and then head on the road to Beverly Hills.
The number of homes we visited and stories are more than I could ever blog or even remember. It seems that every turn has another 3 to 4 homes and stories about the stars. Mark knows his stuff!
Some highlights: Johnny Depp’s compound off Sunset Strip, Justin Timberlake’s home, the Tate home where the Manson murders took place, Rod Stewart’s old and new homes, Sylvester Stallone’s home, Denzel Washington’s estate, the apartment where Elton lives, many of the older stars homes and new too. Michael Jackson’s rented home where the 911 call came from, and the Spelling Estate (with the themes from Dynasty and Love Boat playing in the background).
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| Peacocks at The Playboy Mansion |
We drive past the Playboy Mansion and discuss jumping the fence to see the Bunnies at Play sign.
We drive past the Cyrus home and see Miley’s house and her Dad’s house decked out for the 4th.
We cruise past P Diddy’s longtime on again - off again girlfriends home – and a block later I spot who we think was P Diddy walking to the parade with kids in tow.
We stop at the Chateau Marmont for a restroom break and Wendy is sure she sees Jeff Daniels walking out.
We drive down Rodeo Drive, past the Beverly Wilshire and circle past the hotel where Gere makes his drive up in the limo to see Roberts on her balcony in Pretty Woman (again, with the scene playing in the background so we can notice all the details).
We stop for lunch at Alcove and enjoy a very nice meal outdoors before finishing up the tour of downtown Hollywood.
A drive up to the Hollywood sign, past where all the tour buses are parked to a “much better photo spot”.
A final loop through yet another neighborhood to drive past Megan Fox’s home. Her garbage is out, and we notice a box on top. Our guide hops out, grabs the box and quickly hops back in and hands the box to Jackson. Unfortunately, the label lists a B-list actor (we find the name on IMDB), but it was still in Megan’s trash and Jackson wants to keep it.
We decide that we will come back down to visit the Kodak Theater and some of the other sights on Tuesday and head back to the hotel. We are all worn out and I don’t think I could even remember what we are seeing – so many homes.
Mark was a great guide and we tip him well. It was an expensive outing, but one that we will all remember forever.
We head back up to the room, change and head down to the beach. Jackson will finally get his swim in the Pacific! We find a spot on the beach, drop our towels and Jackson, Georgia and I head out into the surf. The water is cold, though not as cold as Lake Michigan. After 15 minutes, I am ready to head back to the beach and Jackson does not complain. The younger two head back to the pool while Wendy, Charlotte and I soak in some sun before heading back. It is now about 5:30 and happy hour by the pool. I find a table in the sun and order some drinks and appetizers. Jackson joins later and orders up some sushi. Wendy decides we should just make this our dinner for the evening, so we sit for another couple hours, enjoy some drinks and food and watch the sun set.
Back up to the room around 8:30 and everyone is beat. Another early bed to get some much needed rest for another big day.