Sightseeing in LA

After our two-day drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, we arrived in Los Angeles and spent a few days getting acquainted to the city. Aside from driving around and getting a feel for the streets and freeways (which are often loaded with traffic), we visited many of the sites around the city. Here's a recap of them:

Tuesday Night:
Went to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Kodak Theatre, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. These landmarks were must-sees in LA and the concrete hand and footprints were neat to look at and compare sizes with. The Kodak Theatre had a bunch of restaurants in it, including this awesome Japanese place that serves a great dish called Shabu Shabu. I definitely recommend it. Here are some pics:

Grauman's Theatre


Adam Sandler's Concrete Block


Shabu Shabu Dinner


On Wednesday, we went to the Farmer's Market. This was a nice little area that featured many food vendors as well as gift shops and even department stores. I even got some quality Bubble Tea there. Next, we traveled down to the USC Campus to check out the LA Memorial Coliseum. This was the site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics and is the current home for USC Football. The place is massive and absolutely breathtaking when you walk inside it. I can only imagine it with 100,000+ people inside. On the way back to the hotel, we drove on Mulholland Drive, which goes up through the mountains in North Hollywood and provides awesome scenic views of all of LA. Finally, we went up to the Griffith Observatory at night. This is like a science museum which provides night-time lighted views of the city and allows you to see the stars much better. Unfortunately, it was foggy when we went, so the views weren't great. Some more pics...

Farmer's Market:


LA Memorial Coliseum


View of LA from Mulholland Drive


On Thursday, our big event was taking a tour of Dodger Stadium. This ballpark is one of the most historic in all of baseball and will be the third oldest in the majors next season. The views around the park were tremendous. We got to go in the Top Deck seats, the Vin Scully Press Box, a Suite, the Dugout, and the Field. You can see the mountains beyond the outfield and downtown LA from behind home plate. It's certainly something I would recommend doing if you can't see a game (the Dodgers were in Arizona when we went). The other big part of the day was going to Universal Studios City Walk at night. This place is vibrant with lights, restaurants, shops, and people and every restaurant we looked at had great food. We chose Tony Roma's, which is famous for it's fantastic ribs. Among the others were Hard Rock Cafe, Jillian's, Bubba Gump's, and many other varieties from Italian to Oriental to American. And more pictures...

Dodger Stadium from Top Deck


Stadium from Press Box


On the Field


In the Dugout


With Rudy Law, a Former Dodger


City Walk


On Friday, the only big stop we made was for dinner at the ESPN Zone down at LA Live, which is the name for that area of town. Also there is the Staples Center and the Nokia Theater. The Lakers were holding a 3 on 3 basketball tournament at the time. Here are some more pics:

Staples Center


Nokia Plaza


ESPN Studios


Finally, we spent Saturday at Malibu and Santa Monica. The beaches around Malibu were nice and the sand on the West Coast is much softer and warmer than the East Coast. Santa Monica is famous for its pier, which features a small amusement park, many places to eat, an aquarium, and great views of the ocean as well as fishing. The beach was gorgeous as well. And...more pics...

Malibu Beach


Santa Monica Pier


Santa Monica Beach


Ocean from Santa Monica


Back with pictures from my new apartment soon!