Adventures in Los Angeles, CA - Day 3 and 4
For the recap on days 1 and 2, see this post.
On our third day in Los Angeles, we decided to go to the Warner Brothers Studio and do their studio tour. It was very cool to hear about the history of the theater - started by 4 Polish brothers and they used to produce a lot of anti-mafia films!
Each tour guide tailors what they show you to the interests of the people on your tour. Many of the people on our tour were into a lot of TV shows like Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls, Pretty Little Liars, etc. Being able to see parts of the sets and how sets are created/set up was really cool.
At the end of the tour, there was a whole area just dedicated to the Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts movies. I have all the pictures I took over on my Instagram, but here are some of the highlights:
The first editions of the books. The infamous letters pouring out of the fireplace.
Number 4 Privet Drive. Dobby is a free elf.
Cedric's Triwizard Tournament Gear. Go Hufflepuff! Fantastic Beasts movie props.
The gift shop has a lot of the same souvenirs that the Warner Brothers Studio Tour London has, so seeing some of that was cool as well.
In the lobby there is a Central Perk coffee shop and you can sit there and have coffee as well as sit on the actual Central Perk set and reenact one of the scenes from Friends.
In the evening, we took a drive down to Point Dume State Beach to watch the sunset. The temperature was only in the low 60's and 50's, which felt cooler as the wind came in off the ocean. However, we did see someone doing some sort of photo shoot in a bikini on the beach.
Despite the cold temps, we did go down and put our feet in the ocean briefly. I also got hit with a wave while B was trying to be an instagram husband and take my picture in front of the sunset.
Pacific Ocean Sunset.
The water is cold AF.
Sunday was our last day in LA. We went for a drive in the morning and then later in the day, met some friends of ours to see Lego Movie 2 at Grauman's Chinese Theater on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The theater has so many cool pieces of theater history, including some iconic movie outfits. The decor inside is amazing and incredibly detailed. Of note, if you go to a movie there be aware that it is absolutely freezing inside - I used my jacket as a blanket and my toes went numb. There are also tours of the theater offered if you're into that kind of thing.
After the movie, we went to a vegan Thai restaurant called Bulan Thai that offers meatless meat as options for the dishes. I was amazed - if you hadn't told me it was a vegan restaurant, I would have fully believed that the "steak" on my noodles was actual meat. The restaurant is also BYOB so we had a few bottles of wine that we brought with us. Probably one of the best meals I've ever had.
All in all, I can't say that I enjoyed LA as a destination. The studio tour, Universal Studios Hollywood, Bulan Thai, and driving parts of the PCH were cool but as a whole, LA is a pretty dumpy city that happens to be sunny most of the time. Our next adventures to CA will be either north (San Francisco, Napa) or south (San Diego).
After the movie, we went to a vegan Thai restaurant called Bulan Thai that offers meatless meat as options for the dishes. I was amazed - if you hadn't told me it was a vegan restaurant, I would have fully believed that the "steak" on my noodles was actual meat. The restaurant is also BYOB so we had a few bottles of wine that we brought with us. Probably one of the best meals I've ever had.
All in all, I can't say that I enjoyed LA as a destination. The studio tour, Universal Studios Hollywood, Bulan Thai, and driving parts of the PCH were cool but as a whole, LA is a pretty dumpy city that happens to be sunny most of the time. Our next adventures to CA will be either north (San Francisco, Napa) or south (San Diego).