Dude, Judge Wapner has a star, does that mean I can get one too?
I did find the Kodak Theater, which is where they hold the Academy Awards, and which is in a...mall. Sadly, yes, a mall. But, you can apparently see the Hollywood sign, and for the first (real) time, I finally did. And, resolved to get closer to it, because that's how I do things.
I finally see the Hollywood sign!
So, I made my way over towards the sign. I read the best way to get there was to take Beachwood Drive all the way to the end, which I did. I parked, and made my way onto the Hollyside trail which was right there. I made my way up the trail, and had not only some great views of the sign, but also of LA:
Along the way, I asked a local how close one could get. While you can't get next to the sign, you can get ABOVE the sign:
Which was pretty cool.
I made my way back to the car, and decided what to do next. One of the suggestions I had gotten was to head over to Malibu via the Pacific Coast Highway. I looked at my map and realized that instead of going that way, I could take the 101 over and then come down through the Malibu Creek State Park to the Pacific Coast highway. This turned out to be another good idea as I had some great views.
I made it to the Pacific Coast Highway and stopped at the Malibu Bluff. I hadn't eaten all day yet, so I asked somewhere there for a recommendation for dinner. He recommended Malibu Seafood (http://www.malibuseafood.com/), which was a few miles north of where I was, but worth it. I took the man's advice, and I had me some very good fresh fish and chips.
From there, I made my way down the Pacific Coast Highway, enjoying some cool views down to the Santa Monica pier, parking there. I walked down to Venice Beach, which is best described as if they were to take the creatures found in the Star Wars Cantina and place them next to a beach. I walked back to the car, grabbing some decent pictures along the way.
This plant reminded me of my dog:
Back at the car, I was exhausted, so I went back to the Hotel, and grabbed dinner there, as my legs did not want to move much anymore.
Tuesday
I taught my class with my colleague to a very nice group of people, and as we finished early, made our way to downtown LA after as we were teaching there the next day. I attempted to stop by Kevin Smith's West Coast comic shop, but apparently, it was no longer there. Since it wasn't too far out of the way, I didn't feel bad. I made my way all the way down Olympic Boulevard to the Millennium Biltmore, where I checked in to a room that was nowhere near as nice as the previous hotel. I had 2 hours to kill before dinner and since I'm incapable of not exploring wherever I am, I headed out for a quick walk around the area. I found the US Bank tower right near by, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall:
The US Bank Tower
The Walt Disney Concert Hall
I also found a really cool antique book store a block from the hotel, where, not shockingly, I did some damage. As it was raining, I made my way back to the hotel, and got dressed for dinner, which was at Yamashiro (http://www.yamashirorestaurant.com/index.html) which is located on a hillside above Los Angeles with amazing views.
Even 2500 miles away from home though, I had to deal with a little blizzard happening on the east coast...
