Monday, July 25, 2011

Whirlwind Weekend~Part 2

After not having flown in forty years, I was so excited to fly again. I was anxious about the whole security process though, not wanting to do anything wrong that would slow us down in any way. I think my family thought my anxiety was comical. I was relieved to get through with no problem.

Sculpture in lobby of The Omni at Los Angeles
Beautifully decorated hotel lobby
After arrival in Los Angeles, we took a shuttle to our beautiful hotel. The lobby was lovely with its' unique architecture, decorating and artwork, including sculpture and the impressive live flower arrangements and abundance of brass and marble. I had to touch the roses to confirm that they were indeed real! When we entered our luxuriously appointed rooms we were greeted with a welcome basket from Coca Cola, full of snacks, Coke products and bottled water. I had never been surrounded by such accommodations.
The amazing live flower arrangement in the lobby, comprised of roses and orchids.
After we unpacked and got settled, we set out on foot to find a restaurant and get acquainted with our new surroundings. For the most part, we were delighted with our cuisine and I found it interesting that two of the places we visited had exposed kitchens that operated like clockwork and sparkled with glass surrounds, ornate woodwork and cabinetry and shiny stainless steel. However, one fine dining restaurant had much to learn about angel food cake, as there was no similarity to what we were familiar with and was very disappointing for Justin and Bob. Sarah and I loved our chocolate molten! Without a doubt, my favorite food served all weekend was an outstanding fried portabella mushroom appetizer served with avocado ranch dipping sauce. Our waiter knew what he was talking about, when he highly recommended it!

We didn't rent a car, but thanks to Bob's excellent navigation skills, we got around easily as we used many of the available means of public transportation. Our subway experiences turned out to be interesting as we encountered several very vocal, unique personalities in our excursions to and from Hollywood. We were all glad when these "characters" would make their way off the subway car. We all learned that we preferred peaceful, uneventful travels.

On our first visit to Hollywood, we visited the Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theater, where we saw the hand and footprints of many famous entertainers. There were many street people dressed in costumes, like Batman, Darth Vader and Snow White to name a few, who would pose for phtographs with tourists and added an interesting element to the Hollywood atmosphere. We visited at night, so we didn't get to see the famous Hollywood sign, as it was not lit after dark as we anticipated.






Justin found the perfect hat to compliment his mom's.


Trying on hats at Santa Monica Pier.
 On Sunday, we visited the Santa Monica Pier, boardwalk and beach. We had a fun photo opportunity, as we all tried on hats. We enjoyed walking on the beach, and a brief time of sticking our toes in the very chilly Pacific Ocean. There was an impressive solar operated Ferris Wheel and we watched a sculptor, who made three dimensional likenesses of his customers from a soft clay. We also saw a sobering display of a great number of crosses on the beach that represented our troops that sacrificed their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.



Sarah and Bob, our awesome navigator!

Justin and the gold guy have a stare-down. Justin won!
The silver and gold street entertainers
 A favorite memory from that day was a performance by two interesting street entertainers. It was a warm day, but these two gentlemen were dressed in long sleeved shirts and long pants. One was a very large man and his outfit and skin were painted silver. His partner was all dressed in gold. They had a little routine they did to music, that was comical and fun to watch. The large man's contribution to the act was robot-like movements and he made his big belly jump up and down at will.  His partner moved about with jerky motions and he could move his jaw sideways to the beat of the music. At one point, the gold guy and Justin had a stare down that was amusing to all the crowd that had gathered. After they finished their performance, I had to ask the gold guy if his jaw hurt from the way he contorted his face. He assured me, "Not at all, my jaw is double-jointed and I've been doing this for thirty years!" Sarah interacted with the big silver dude to let him know she enjoyed their show. He responded by trying to steal a kiss, but Sarah was quick to offer him her cheek instead. She sported a small set of silver lips on her cheek as a souvenir. The time went quickly and soon it was time to return to the hotel to get dressed for our evening at the BET Awards. More details about our L.A. weekend in a future post. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you are having a pleasant summer!


2 comments:

  1. Excellent! What fun!...I am staying tuned.....T.

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  2. Thanks for stopping in, Tonya. It has been fun reliving these memories and sharing them with whoever might be interested! So wonderful to have this outlet to share our lives! Hope you are okay. I know your life is challenging, but you always testify to how the Lord lifts you up each day! I love that! You are an inspiration!

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