We stayed at the Beverly Hilton while in L.A. The only word that comes to mind to describe it is glamorous - old Hollywood Glam. Even the parking garage was glamorous - as we walked to the elevators, the "paparazzi" welcomed us. On our first night, we were a bit exhausted from the drive, so we relaxed by the fire, ordered dinner and enjoyed an old surfing movie out by the pool.
The next day, we made our way to Santa Monica where we did some shopping and took in more of the Pacific Coast at the Santa Monica Pier. While we were shopping, my husband found a rooftop restaurant where he unknowingly had a drink with the star of HBO's show True Blood! Unfortunately, he had to leave before the girls and I made it up there.
We knew the premiere of G.I. Joe was happening at the TCL Chinese Theater, so we made our way to Hollywood. We went back again to Hollywood the next day to do the Walk of Fame, to see the hand/footprints in front of the Chinese Theater and then show the girls Hollywood and Highland. We sought out a few of our favorite actor's/singer's stars. As well, we couldn't leave without a photo with Shirley Temple's handprints ... she is a long time fave!
After a brief stop to the La Brea tar pits at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, we shot a few photos at the Urban Lights art display in front of the museum. Across from the museum, food trucks lined the street for lunch. We wandered over and found the Boba truck. It is a gourmet tea truck that offers Boba, a chewy and slightly sweet treat, at the bottom of your tea. I ordered Swiss Peppermint Green Milk Tea with Boba. It was ahh-mazing!
The photos in the right bottom corner of the collage above are from my birthday dinner at Il Cielo. It is an incredibly beautiful restaurant frequented by movie and television actors. Everything about it was fabulous, from the food to the atmosphere. When our waiter found out we were from Pennsylvania, he told the owner who then came out to our table and spoke with us for 45 minutes. After our dinner, he gave us a tour of his gorgeous restaurant. They have hosted over 200,000 weddings. They are a frequent site for Academy Awards parties and movie premiere after parties, the most recent being the Lincoln Premiere after party. He told us that Nancy Raegan frequents the restaurant and use to come weekly with Merv Griffin. He said it was Frank Sinatra who first put their restaurant on the map. One other snippet of info - he said the home beside the restaurant use to be a beauty salon and it is where Marilyn Monroe first colored her hair blonde. What a fun evening!!
On our last evening in L.A., we made the trip up to the Griffith Observatory... and we are so glad we did. The views of the city were breathtaking. We had a "closeup" view of the Hollywood sign and watched the sunset. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip. On our way to the airport, we snagged a few photos on the Beverly Hills sign.
My husband planned the most perfect trip. There was not a snag in our itinerary. I often tell him he could be a personal trip planner! :) We saw so much throughout the course of a week, I couldn't have had a better birthday.
If you missed the first two parts of our trip, you can find San Francisco here and the Pacific Coast Highway here.
I know it's Thursday ... but better late than never, right?
Happy WW!
xo,
tish
