Hooray for Hollywood!

Hooray for Hollywood,

That screwy, ballyhooey Hollywood

Where any office boy or young mechanic

Can be a panic, with just a good looking pan

Where any barmaid can be a star maid

If she dances with or without a fan.

Hooray for Hollywood!

Johnny Mercer

Our drive from the Grand Canyon was uneventful except for keeping an eye on the growing crack in our windshield. We were fortunate to stop for gas in Arizona because once crossing into California the prices increased by 75 cents a gallon. No wonder this state is exploring alternative energy! Our Ford Edge with two white-bread seniors passed the CA Agricultural Inspection. No sign of the Joad family so we were whisked into La La Land.

The drive across the Mojave Desert is quite monotonous. You might as well be in a LEM landing on the moon. Once across the desert at Barstow we stopped for lunch at the old Barstow railroad station which was made up of old passenger cars linking a central food court. Of course train buff John loved it and he was looking for his equally trained out buddy Jasper to share the experience.

Once on the 15 (note that in CA one drops the "I" designation and everything is "the 101", "the 5" etc. We do our best to fit in our new culture!). A right turn onto the 10 and we were an hour out. Our host Jay over ruled Gertrude Garmin and on the 10 we really had our first taste of SoCal traffic. FREEKS!

We found our one bedroom apartment in West Hollywood, a clean and bright respite owned by our hosts Eugene and Mary on a relatively quiet tree lined block between W. Sunset and Fountain Blvds. We soon found we were really centrally located, within a mile of studio's, great restaurants and Hollywood and Vine. Soon after we unpacked our host Jay arrived and we shared our first CA wine with him on our balcony. To celebrate, Jay took us to Duke's on Malibu beach, literally on the Pacific Ocean on the PCH (again culturista's, PCH stands for Pacific Coast Highway but nobody uses the full name).

Sunday found us hiking the canyons of Runyan Park with Jay. Local signs warning of rattlesnakes. "Why'd it have to be snakes"? Uphill climb which is fine with us as it wrings out a week of sitting in the car and will help to get us in shape to hike to Vernal Falls in Yosemite with our friends Jacqui and Steve in two weeks. After the walk, a reward of eggs benedict from Chez Sarah (eggs avacado for veggie Jay) washed down with Prossecco. We could get into this California living. Hard exercise followed by foodie reward. What could be better?

On Sunday Jay gave us the "insider's tour" of Hollywood, Sunset Strip, a very real reminder that we were not in CT anymore. We saw someone dressed as Marilyn Monroe and Darth Vader were spotted walking down the street. Apparently these impersonators pose with tourists for photos, hoping to score tips.

We spent the rest of the week sightseeing. Took a trip on Mulholland Dr. and loved it's steep, winding beautiful vistas, we also went to look at the famous HOLLYWOOD sign and took the obligatory pictures.

Before we left home, we had reserved tickets to attend a taping of Jeopardy! John and I watch Jeopardy! nearly every evening as it comes on as dinner is being prepared. So we got a big kick out of sitting in on a live show. Fun to see how it all works in person. They tape five shows in one day, three in the morning and two in the afternoon. We were warned in advance not to shout out the answers like we do at home. Easier said than done, but we managed to keep our mouths shut. The episodes we watched will be aired in November.

We also visited the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. We have never been to a presidential library before, so this was a unique and interesting treat. It is a huge museum and naturally chronicles the former president's early career as an actor and follows his life in politics and his eight years as president. Very inspirational. We were reminded of the optimism that Reagan was famous for and the accomplishments of his administration. We were wowed by seeing Air Force One on display. It is the plane used by all the presidents from 1974 through 2001. The library is located at the top of a mountain with stunning views of the valley and mountains beyond, a beautiful final resting place for the "Gipper".

We read in our guidebook about The Norton-Simon Museum in Pasadena. John and I love to visit museums all over the world and are aware that LA has the famous Getty, but we had never heard of this one, so we had to check it out. What a pleasant surprise. Small but with a wonderful collection of works by some of our favorite artists. We viewed several Renaissance pieces, many pieces by Rembrandt, Reubens, a Vermeer, Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Corot, Matisse, and Picasso. We were in heaven. A special jewel in this sprawling metropolis.

Hooray for Hollywood!