Category: America

A Little LA Madness

LA is one of those places that I have never quite gotten. I know that lots of people rave about it, but I’ve always struggled to find the appeal. That’s not to say that I don’t like LA – I do, but I find it hard to say why.

Maybe we are staying in the wrong places or maybe we are just missing the coolest places to go (this is very likely) but I’ve never managed to pick up the groove of the place.

In my head, LA is all rockstars and Whisky-A-Go-Go whereas in real life, it’s felt more like celebrity home tours and closed down clubs. Again – we might just be staying in the wrong places!!

That being said, LA has given us some stories. The funnest of which was the time we met a spaceman outside of one of the cafes. We were sitting eating breakfast outside a cafe, nursing pretty dire hangovers from the night before spent in the Viper Lounge, watching a band place something that was a brilliant cross between hip-hop and reggae.

Out of nowhere, a dude joins our table, telling us about the epic adventures of spaceman. Not ‘a spaceman’ but ‘the spaceman’. I don’t remember the details but the story included a self-made movie, a car and a guy in a space suit. Only in LA right?

We have only ever spent a day or so in LA each time we have been (often just passing through to other places) and each time, we have done a little more of the tourist thing.

The Chinese Theatre and the Walk Of Fame are two of the most iconic tourist locations in LA and it’s always fun to wander up the pavements looking out for your favourite celebrity’s stars.

LA has some beautiful stretches of beaches and we made sure we had time to take a stroll down the pier.

One of the main attractions for us was a visit to Universal Studios. You can read about our visit here.

We also took a celebrity homes tour – a full day spent in a small minivan with around 6 other people. In hind-sight, I wouldn’t recommend this; most of the sites you see are tall gates and walls rather than the houses and really, if I was a celebrity, I’m sure I’d be highly unexpressed that a van full of people had turned up to gawk at my house for the third time that morning. The up side of the celebrity homes tour was that our guide told us he was the dad of the dude from Wheezer. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case (unless anyone can tell us different) but it made for an interesting discussion!

What are we missing in LA – where should we be visiting? How do we make the most out of our next visit?

Transformers, Simpsons and a DeLorean: A Visit to Universal Studios LA

I’m a theme park girl – the adrenaline and excitement make for a brilliant day out. Wandering Beeb is less of a theme park guy and so a trip to Universal Studios was more my idea than his. We really didn’t need to worry though as the day had lots for both of us.

The core of a visit to Universal is the tour – a ride around some of the sets and backlots from movies and TV. Seeing the clock tower from Back to the Future, Bates Motel and the plane crash wreckage was brilliant and by the time we left the tour guide, I was itching to see more.

Whilst the rides in the park are just what you would expect (Despicable Me gets an honourable mention for the use of banana fart guns!), it was the setting and the film memorabilia that grabbed my attention.

In particular, the detail-perfect Optimus Prime and the DeLorean held my attention for way longer than was strictly necessary. Reading about the use of the DeLorean and the development of the designs was extremely cool – I pretty much had to be dragged away to look at other things.

One of the highlights of the day was taking some time to wander around Springfield: home of the Simpsons. The most famous elements of the town are all faithfully recreated and there is something special about having a Krusty Burger for lunch, washed down with a Flaming Moe!

England’s theme parks pale in comparison to the ones in the USA but we weren’t quite prepared for the scale of the place. With a whole shopping mall and entertainment centre before you even enter the park, a full day is certainly needed to get the most out of any visit.

Top of the Rock Vs Empire State Building?

Visit New York and one of the questions you get asked is always “did you visit Empire or Top of the Rock?”.

Of course we are talking about the Empire State Building or the Rockefeller Building. It seems like people are always talking up the virtues of one over another:

“Top of the Rock gives you a view of Empire all lit up at night”

“You get to do the famous ‘beam walk’ at the Rockefeller” 

“Empire State Building is the most iconic”

You get the point. I have a completely different take on this conversation – why would you want to choose between the two? Yes – both are tall buildings with amazing views; but for me, that’s where the comparisons stop.

The purpose behind the buildings are very different and although they are both Art Deco in style, it comes through in the design in varying ways. Empire has the decadent style that I (and other gamers) have come to associate with the Bioshock games; beautifully ornate but slightly creepy. Rockefeller seems to be less overstated and quietly absorbs the Art Deco touches into a more sleek exterior.

The atmosphere of Empire is one of historic importance, with ushers in costume and rope style queuing systems to fit with the carved ceilings. There was a sense of expectation and entitlement within the building, feeding into the style of the day. Rockefeller however, was different. Giving nods to the history and the working class people involved in the development of the building, it had a much more ‘down to earth’ feel and there was more of a fun element to the visit. In particular, the Skyride (otherwise known as an elevator which looks like it will catapult you through the ceiling, Charley and the Chocolate Factory style) and the Breezeway – where you have your own colourful squares following you across the room as you stand just inside of the observation deck, were lots of fun!

Views of Central Park are incredible from the Top of the Rock in the day time (you won’t see anything of Central Park at night – although the huge expanse of darkness where you know the park sits is also pretty cool, but not particularly photogenic!). Night time from the Top of the Rock will also give you amazing views of Empire, lit up in its full glory.

Empire is something else. All that nostalgia, Hollywood movie screen time and old elegance combine to create an experience that is hard to forget. The views across lower Manhattan are stunning and it’s here that you can put your panoramic photography skills to good use. I challenge you to take a bad photo from the top of Empire – it just can’t be done!

So, if you plan a visit to New York and someone asks you which building you are heading up, or which was better, please give them a sharp tap on the nose from me – there is no comparison; do yourself a favour, visit both and collect experiences that will never leave you.

Road Trip Pit Stops

Often when we travel, if there are a few of us, we’ll hire a car to get about. The flexibility it gives us is well worth the money and allows us to see things that are a little off the beaten track. It also means that if we see something interesting, we can just pull over and investigate – on a bus or a train that’s much harder to do!

This weeks post is dedicated to some of those little pit stops, sights and experiences we’ve had that were unplanned but added to our adventure.

Sea Lions on the Big Sur

Driving down the stunning coastline of the Big Sur, we spotted a group of sea lions hanging out on the beach. We pulled over for about half an hour, watching them from a safe distance.

Ghost Town Near Vegas

Much of the surrounding area of Vegas is rock, dust and highway. To break up our long and dry drive, we followed a road sign to a small ghost town – an abandoned town rising out of the dust. It was one of the smaller towns and I’d love to go back and check out one of the larger ones at some point.

Model Town Near Zion

Stopping for a much-needed loo break, we pulled into a store which had a large scale model town outside. It was certainly pulling in the visitors and the inside of the store was also really cool, with lots of interesting trinkets.

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara was one of our best finds. We needed somewhere to pull in to take a rest on a long trip from San Francisco to LA and Santa Barbara was it. It was beautiful and I could have stayed for so much longer. You can read more out our stop in Santa Barbara here.

Boulder

Boulder was an interesting stop over. After a long day driving, we stopped at a hotel in Boulder before continuing our route the next day. With not much around, the stand out feature of Boulder was the sunset – although the Shining-esque hotel corridors were a big talking point – we spent the night listening out for echos of ‘Redrum’!!

Cliffs Overlooking San Francisco

This was one of the most beautiful pit stops I remember. Heading out of San Francisco, the winding roads stretching out before us, we pulled over to the side of the road to check out the views.

The cliff edges floated out into misty nothingness and it felt like we were standing above the clouds. We could hear the water below and glimpses of the stunning drops peaked through the clouds.

Where has been your best unscheduled pit stop?