LA Update

Wow, how busy we've been.  We've been squeezing a lot into our days and nights here in Los Angeles.

On Saturday, we visited the vast tourist mecca that is Hollywood.  Saw the Walk of Fame, the El Capitan Theater (but didn't go inside.  $20 a ticket to see Toy Story 3!), Graumann's Chinese and Egyptian Theaters, the Kodak Theater, the Capitol Records building, the Hollywood sign, and the Pantages theater.  That night we went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Rent.  It was a chilly night and we stupidly didn't have any coats, but the thousands of other human beings made the temperature tolerable. The show was great, even Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi.

On Sunday, we spent the day at Venice Beach.  We did the beach thing south of the boardwalk and the Venice pier where there were very few people.  Ben loved the ocean.  The rest of us were wusses and just enjoyed the beach.  Afterwards, we walked a long way up the boardwalk towards Santa Monica.  There were thousands of people, some freakish, others not.  On the way back to the hotel, we drove around Beverly Hills and checked out all the rich bastards' houses.

Sunday being our anniversary, Carol and I went to the Miyako Hotel spa and got our first ever massages!  I really enjoyed it.  Carol slightly less so but it was very relaxing and I still feel pretty good.

On Monday we left the Miyako (recommended), and took a tour of USC for Rachel.  She doesn't really want to go to college on the West Coast but they have a great theater department so we figured the information would be useful.  The campus was beautiful. Ben, as expected, was less than thrilled.

Afterwards, we decided to check in at Disneyland's Grand Californian Resort and spend the evening at Disneyland.  (Okay, Carol wanted to go to the Getty Museum, the mob overruled her.)  It was hot and crowded and not like our beloved Disney World, but we had a good time after a slow start.  As a bonus, we got to see the ultra-cheesy Captain EO, presented again in commemoration of Michael Jackson.  Wow, was that dated.

And that night, I finally achieved a nearly life-long goal. 

More about that later.