It was hot in the city today alright -- a real scorcher, in the high 80s
(F), just like a Sydney summer's day. We decided against breakfast in the
hostel as the kitchen was really hot and stuffy and a bit crowded, so we ambled
down Hollywood Blvd and eventually found a nice little cafe called The Green
Room which had a good b'fast menu. After the meal we wandered around and
looked at a few sights -- the Hollywood Wax Musuem, the beautfully restored
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and of course the the legendary Grauman's Chinese.
We felt pity for the people who had to spruik out fron in costumes -- imagine
being stuck in a black Batman outfit on a day like this? Ugh.
Right next door is a huge new shopping mall called Hollywood Highland,
which we were told is apparently is a bit of a white elephant. This proved
to be rather an ironic comment when we saw it -- inside the plaza they have
built a full-scale replica of part of the famous set of Babylon that was
built for D.W. Griffifth's silent film Intolerance -- i.e. the huge
arched gate and the twisty pillars with statues of elephants on top. From
across the street in front of the El Capitan theatre you can get a perfect
view through the archway with the "Hollywood" sign on the hillsideÝ visible
right in the middle. Needless to say I didn't have my camera with me at that
point, and when we went back later there was a huge removal truck parked
in the spot!
We went back to the hotel and got organised and then went back down Hollywood
Blvd for another walk before it got too hot. By lunchtime it was stinking
hot so we had lunch in the air-conditioned food court at Hollywood Highland,
in a mock-1950s diner called 'Johnny Rocket' (one of a chain apparently) --
the food was OK, the service pretty lousy but they the nifty juke-box controls
at every table. I requested some Beach Boys but it didn't come up (darn)
although I did get to hear Smokey's "Going To A Go-Go" which was cool.
Just before lunch we found the Tourist Office and were able to get some
tokens for the bus and work out how to get to the Page Museum and the La Brea
Tar Pits. That turned out to be a good decision-- it was a fascinating place
(and a welcome respite from the heat). Lucas adored it, needless to say,
and it was a really fascinating experience. The animal remains they have
excavated are astounding, including a colossal mammoth skeleton that has
to be seen to be believed. After the museuam we walked around the park a
little and felt a bit sorry that we hadn't had a chance to got to the LA County
Musuem of Art, which is right next door -- but the kids had a ball at the
Page so we were pleased about that. After we got back to the hotel I took
a quick stroll down to the legendary Sunset Sound Studios, which looks like
nothing at all from the Sunset Blvd side -- just a brick wall. I took a couple
of snaps, than walked on to the Amoeba record store down the road. Luckily
for my bank account I had left my wallet with Averil as I could have gone
hog-wild in that place. It was HUGE -- a massive selection of new CDs with
an equally large section of used CDs right next to it, all at ridiculously
low prices, and one cool thing was that the used CDs in good nick had stickers
attached saying that they were in perfect playing condition. Reluctantly I
headed back to the hotel, wishing I'd had my credit card with me. *sigh*
We wallked out and bought a bit of dinner -- nothing much as it was too
hot to be really hungry, then it was back to the hostel and a very hot and
uncomforrtable nights sleep, which did little to encourage us for the very
early start the next morning.
Friday 5 September
We were up at the crack of dawn (5am) for the trip to the airport. I must
say that the kids were real troopers and we were ready to go in plenty of
time. LA airport was chaotic, people everywhere and it all seemed very disorganised.
There was a moment of drama when we were checking in; as we stood in the queue
there was a huge BANG! outside and we looked around to see that a Volvo which
had just dropped someone off out the front had tried to pull out at speed
-- but the driver failed to notice a shuttle van reversing in front of him
and he collected it in a big way. The front of his car was absolutely totalled,
all crumpled up, with steam and smoke pouring out. Needless to say security
and police came charging in from everywhere. That was rather diverting, to
say the least.
The flight to Orlando was fine. The movie was the new version of "The Italian
Job", which was moderately amusing, but basically a load of old cobblers.
Orlando was pretty steamy when we arrived late in the day, so it was not
too bad. Everything went fine with picking up the hire car ... until ... I
circled round to pick Averil up. I had failed to notice that I had driven
in to the car return area. I didn't even see the signs, being intent on operating
the car, and there were two cars right in front of me which were loading up,
so I thought that must be the place. BUT when I pulled up, a guy came over
to the car and before I realised what he was doing he had checked the car
back in, before I'd even driven a hundred yards. Arrrrghhh!! Then followed
a long hassle getting it all fixed up and as a result we had to get another
car.
Eventually -- after I was sure we wouldn't be double-charged -- I got the
other car but it was a column shift automatic with a footbrake lock on the
gear shift, which I'd never encountered before, so I had a bit of a hassle
getting it going -- not to mention the pain of having to pull all the luggage
and the family out of the first car. Averil was not amused. Grrrrr.
Finally getting on our way, we somehow found the route down to Kissimmee,
where we were staying, and made to the hotel in one piece after a rather terrifying
first encounter with driving on the wrong side of the road. Thankfully most
Floridians drive like little old ladies ... probably because most of them
are little old ladies hahah. The hotel was fine, incredibly cheap (even
those Formule hotels in Sydney would be more expensive) and it had a pool
so the kids were in heaven. They had a swim, then we had a late dinner and
off to bed, looking forward to a big day at Kennedy Space Centre.
For the rest of our Florida adventure, go to the Orlando page ...
OUR BIG
WORLD TRIP