Allright, where were we?
After the game, you can see that I had my picture made with Daniel, the winner of the Showcase Showdown. Since I couldn't get the picture to show on the last post, I decided to just try it here.By the way, I don't think I've posted yet that our air date is scheduled for February 1. Mark your calendar! I am quite certain you will at least SEE us on that day :)
After we walked off set, we wound our way through The Grove shopping center which is very similar to a shopping center down in Destin -- not sure the name of it but the one where the Bass Pro Shop and Restaurant can be found. Anyway, it's a ritzy kind of establishment but is an all outdoor area. I guess sunny CA is a safer bet for this kind of arrangement but I think FL is crazy to have one.
So we walk through here because my friend (former cousin by marriage) had parked her car here. She had offered to take us for a driving tour through some parts of Hollywood that we were interested in seeing. So she worked that Magellan thingy (which is TOTALLY cool by the way - my first experience with a GPS guide) and we found our way to the Chinese theater and shopping area. It was such a neat, neat place and really put a cherry on top of our visit. I have to say that my spirits were a little down after the show but thankfully, this cap to the day revived me!
We found a neat spot to have our picture made in front of the Hollywood sign. I was surprised at where this sign was in relation to the city. Even though you can see it from several spots in town, it wasn't as big and focused as I thought it would be. There's also not really a good place to just drive past it and gawk at it. If you are gawking, you are definitely going to get into an auto accident. The only really good places to see it are while jutting through some CRAZY traffic.
So we liked getting our pictures at this spot. It was after the sun was setting so we're thankful pictures turned out at all.
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| From 2006 December |
The handprints/footprints/stars thing was pretty neat. We didn't see every one but we saw a few goodies. We snapped pics of the following for various reasons - Stallone, because of the upcoming Rocky movie; Ron Howard - because he's just cool; Jim Carrey - the kids know who he is and appreciate him, especially in The Grinch movie; Tom Hanks - because he's Woody and Forrest Gump!; Adam Sandler - because Bob Barker beat the snot out of him; and then Johnny Depp - because he has a special connection to the name of this child that I'm carrying. I'll share more about that in a future post.
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| From 2006 December |
While we were looking around at all these neat things in the concrete, we realized we were background for something being taped on the sidewalk. Upon closer inspection we realized it was a Jimmy Kimmel skit making fun of Mel Gibson's "Apocolypto" film. We tried watching the JK show to see us, or at least the skit but we might have missed it. Or it could have ended up on the cutting room floor.
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| From 2006 December |
When the sun was down, our appetite was up and we started looking for a place to eat. We tried finding something that was strictly LA but we didn't find anything within the shopping center except super-nice places where our "Bama Loves Bob" shirts would have been inappopriate. So we settled for the next best thing. California Pizza Kitchen. We knew it was a chain and that there are even a few in AL but we had never eaten there and the style and speed fit our needs.
So as we settled into our booth, we heard a "Roll Tide" coming from right behind us. It was a waiter who noticed our shirts. We thought that was extremely cool in and of itself because the guy wasn't necessarily a Tide fan, he was just being friendly.
But a few minutes later, the manager of the restaurant came to us and said, "Roll Tide! I am a U of A graduate!" We thought that was REALLY REALLY cool. We chatted with him for a few minutes to find out he was born in Georgia and spent some of his growing-up years in the Huntsville area. And at the end of our conversation, this manager told us to put our tab on HIM! YES! FREE DINNER! He encouraged us to try whatever we wanted, to get dessert, cocktails, etc. WHOO HOO!
So we ordered everything we wanted to try. It was stuff I never would have attempted if it wasn't free :) And we had more to eat than we needed to stuff in our gullet but because it was there, we somehow managed to get all of it down. Oh, it was SO good.
After at least 2 hours in the restaurant just hanging out and catching up with my cousin, we went for a fun drive through some fancy neighborhoods. It was AMAZING to see that million-dollar houses were about 1/3 the size of ours. When riding through "the hills" we saw these massive houses with zero yard, but with views that must have been worth a million dollars all by themselves. I really wish we had some addresses to know where some celebs lived...but just watching for someone famous to be out walking their dog was fun enough.
The next morning brought us to the end of our journey. We had an early flight back home. And would you believe that I actually felt a little tremor while at the airport? I wouldn't have known that's what it was except that a worker at the terminal looked up and asked, "what was that?" I said, "um, wasn't that a bus driving by??" He laughed and said, "No." So I asked if it was an earthquake and he said, "Probably."
But NO ONE else in my group noticed it. Good grief. So yeah, it was small.....but I felt it nonetheless! Glad it wasn't any bigger, though.
Coming home was such a relief. We were pooped and I was DESPERATELY missing my children. I hope that our next trip out to CA will be with everyone in tow. There's so much more I'd like to experience and I want to share every bit of it with those I love the most.
I think we'll pursue Family Feud or Wheel Of Fortune next :)
2 comments:
Are you naming your child Jack Sparrow? ... Captain Jack Sparrow? :)
:)
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