Newport Beach, California

November 16 - 24, 2008

Newport Dunes RV Resort

Here we are (I am) at Newport Beach, California. Now this is a place that I could really get used to...again, Ken says it's my high lifestyle yearnings coming through. You know we came here rather than Soledad Canyon as I was very nervous about the fire dangers occuring in the hills surrounding this area. Newport Dunes could be the most expensive place we've stayed to date (not a great decision in today's economy, but it's worth my mental well-being, right?)

Driving to my first destination (Walmart) we passed a gazillion car dealerships; not Ford, Chrysler and Chevrolet...but Porsche, Audi, Mercedes and BMW. Do you know, we haven't seen one Jeep Liberty since being here. (Hey, this is my kinda place!!!!!!)

There are not too many rv parks in this area. Newport Dunes is located on a finger of Newport Bay. Surrounding the beach are these beautiful trees. Tried to find out what they were, but no luck. Can you help me out, Bob? The leaves almost look like those of a rhododendron.

To get here we traveled down the Ventura (Highway) Freeway...I guess two lanes meant "Highway" and four lanes now constitutes "Freeway". I sang the old song Ventura Highway the entire trip. I watched The Ellen Show today and realized it was being broadcoast from right here in Los Angeles (well, just north of here in Los Angeles!) Wonder if I'll see any celebrities!?

I took an all-day LA City Grand Tour. Do you know how difficult it is to take pictures out the window of a moving bus? So, we were able to see a lot, but I can't share it all with you.

Our first stop was Olvera Street, called the birthplace of Los Angeles in 1781. The village features 27 historic buildings with a traditional Mexican style marketplace where you can shop for handcrafted Mexican souvenirs in the center or stop for some autentic Mexican fare on the outer perimeter.

We then traveled on to Hollywood, the television capital of the world. We stopped and had a chance to walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame which disappointed me a bit. You think of these areas as being quite grand but in truth they are quite ordinary. Some of the "stars" could be found in front of a tatoo shop or souvenier store.

We saw Mann's Chinese Theater with the footprints and handprints which was so crowded, I couldn't get close enough to compare shoe sizes. I think five large tour buses stopped at the same time.

And the Kodak Theater, home of the Oscars.

I walked through an elaborate "outdoor" mall.

And across the street was El Capitan, a theater known for its Hollywood Premiers visited by the stars.

Then back in the bus.

We drove through the LA Music Center, home of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. This is quite a building. This is not my picture, but wanted to include this in the blog. This impressive building was completed in 2003. During construction, plans were revised, and in a cost saving move the originally designed stone exterior was replaced with a less costly metal skin. While most of the building's exterior was designed with stainless steel given a matte finish, the Founders Room and Children's Amphitheater were designed with highly polished mirror-like panels. The reflective qualities of the surface and the resulting heat made some rooms of nearby condominiums unbearably warm, caused the air-conditioning costs of these residents to skyrocket and created hot spots on adjacent sidewalks of as much as 140ºF. In 2005 these panels were dulled by lightly sanding to eliminate unwanted glare.

On our way to Rodeo Drive, we drove through Beverly Hills.

We saw Jack Webb's police car from Dragnet parked in front of his former home.

We passed Mr. Drysdale's mansion from The Beverly Hillbillies.

We drove by the former homes of Lucille Ball and James Stewart (I can't remember which is which) and by the home of Angelina Jolie, although the tour guide couldn't remember which one it was (5% off his tip!)

We also saw homes now or formerly owned by Merv Griffin, Marilyn Monroe and Aaron Spelling. Do you notice all the people I have mentioned and all the homes above are owned by deceased famous people? They have been discouraging the "Home of the Stars" tours as I think the stars of today are being hounded by the media. Most now live in "estates" buried deep behind shrubbery and walls.

And then we hit Rodeo Drive, shopping center of the stars. We had 30 minutes to browse through the stores...are you kidding me...just standing in the doorway made be hyperventilate so I stayed on the outside and window-shopped.

The streetlights are actually chandeliers; however, they are "boxed" by glass to protect them from the elements.

Here is the Rolls Royce owned by the owner of Hugo Boss. He parks the car in front of the store every day when he is at work.

Nice Car!!

We then spent an hour at the Farmer's Market for some shopping and some eating. Next to the Market is the new Grove Shopping Center where they are starting to decorate for the holiday season.

The final leg of our tour went to Santa Monica and we saw the Santa Monica Pier with its ferris wheel and roller coaster as we drove quickly by. Apparently the town of Santa Monica doesn't care for these tours and won't allow them to park while its occupants get out to look around. So, we went further south and visited Venice Beach where you can buy marijuana on the boardwalk and then watch some of the street people as they perform. There were some very, very strange people out there!

The next day I headed out for Manhattan Beach where I met up with my cousin Jim's daughter, Robin. We couldn't figure out what we were to each other...when I returned I looked it up, Robin. We are second cousins.

We enjoyed a great lunch at Rock N Fish and then Robin showed me around Manhattan Beach a bit and took me to her condo to meet her dogs, Bo and Chloe. Thanks, Robin, I had a great time.

I picked Ken up at LAX (somewhat easier to get around than Logan) Sunday and we started packing up for our next trip inland a bit to visit Hemet. See you there.