…and there was great rejoicing. 🙂 Saturday we returned from our trip to the Los Angeles area. We had a wonderful time with Jennie and Josh.
The Saturday before, we flew out of Charlotte at 11:20 AM. We landed in Dallas, where we had lunch and changed planes for the flight to LA. We arrived at LAX and were picked up by Jennnie and Josh. We went to Jennie’s place in Santa Monica where we freshened up from the trip. That evening we went to the area of Santa Monica that’s beachfront. We ate at a place called Barney’s Beanery. The menu looked like a newspaper and had just about every type of food you could imagine. After dinner we went to the famous Santa Monica Pier, where a one man band serenaded Jan and me. It was actually chilly that night, as it was every night the entire week. Sunday morning we went and fellowshipped with a community called Kairos in Santa Monica. Hopefully Jennie will get involved there. That afternoon we had a cook-out and met Jennie’s boyfriend, Chris. In the evening we went and watched Jennie direct a short film for a friend who had entered a contest connected to a local film festival.
Monday, Josh took us into downtown LA, where we saw the Disney Concert Hall, the Grand Central Market, Chinatown, and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Tuesday, we went to the Skirball Cultural Center and the Getty Center. We had lunch at In and Out Burger. That night Jennie and Josh took us out to dinner for an early Fathers’ Day. We ate at a very nice Asian restaurant overlooking Hollywood. The food was delicious and the view was beautiful. After dinner we walked around Hollywood and saw the Walk of Stars, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, and the Kodak Theater. On Wednesday, Josh and I went to an English pub to have lunch and watch England play Andorra in a World Cup soccer qualifier, while Jan and Jennie went to lunch at a French restaurant in Pasadena. After lunch, Josh, Jan, and I walked around old-town Pasedana and then met Jennie at the visual effects studio where she works. Chris gave us a tour and then treated us to a very nice dinner at an Italian restaurant. Jennie’s friend Rachel flew in late Wednesday night.
Thursday, we went up the coast to Malibu, where we walked down a cliff to a fairly secluded beach. We spent a couple of hours there, and then had lunch at a fish place in Malibu. The restaurant was where some of the TV show “Privileged” was filmed when Jennie was an extra. That night, Jan and I moved to a hotel in Venice, where we had a nice room with a great view of the coast. Friday morning, Jan and I had breakfast next to the hotel, and then walked around for a bit and saw some of the interesting people of Venice Beach. The kids picked us up and we went to Rodeo Drive. We walked around for a while, looking at all the stores with stuff we could never afford. We did get delicious cupcakes from Sprinkles. They weren’t too expensive.
We drove around Beverly Hills, and then drove up Mulholland Drive. The views were spectacular and some of the houses were unbelievable. We went to a park with 360 views of the entire area. Then we drove to a park just down the hill from the famous Hollywood sign. After that we went to Griffith Park and drove around it a bit. We went to the Griffith Park Observatory, and spent some time there. We went to another In and Out for dinner, and then drove around Hollywood and some other areas.
We flew out of LA at 8:20 AM Saturday, had lunch in Dallas again, and arrived back in Charlotte Saturday evening, exhausted but very satisfied. The only regret is that LA is so far away.
I have put pictures here.