Pomona, CA – A sidewalk full of stars, huge white letters on
a California hillside, mansions hidden behind tall hedges – we saw it all on
the Hollywood Studios Grand Tour today.
And we did it in style – a driver picked us up at our RV park and
brought us back again at the end of the day.
Isn’t that what they do for movie stars?
The tour included a trip through the plush neighbourhoods
where celebrities hang out. Tom, our driver, pointed out the homes of Lucille
Ball, Lawrence Fishburne, Edward G. Robinson and other greats. We saw gardeners, dog walkers, air
conditioning repairmen and other service personnel, but for some reason all the
celebrities were too busy to come out and say hi.
Tom pointed out the church where Whoopi Goldberg played a
nun in Sister Act and the hotel where Whitney Houston was found dead after the
Golden Globe Awards. We saw the Laugh
Factory, the comedy nightclub where Jim Carey got his start, and the Rainbow
Grill where Marilyn Monroe met Joe DiMaggio.
We drove down Rodeo Drive, where rich people go to shop at exclusive
stores like Armani, Chanel and Rolex.
In our small passenger van, we headed to the coast north of
Los Angeles to the area known as The Beaches, passing through Venice, a town where
canals alternated with streets so that all the homes had waterfront properties
(although the drought had dried up a lot of the canal water).
Some 6,000 pleasure craft are docked at Marina del Rey,
leading out to the sparkling waters of the Pacific Ocean. Curls of turquoise surf pounded on the sandy
shores near Santa Monica Beach, and along the walkways we saw all types of
locals enjoying the warm sunshine. We paused
for a few minutes to watch skateboarders plunge into scooped out concrete pits and
up the sides at breathtaking speed.
One stop gave us a good photo angle on the huge “Hollywood”
sign on the hillside above the city, and later on we got closer as we climbed
the hills for a panoramic view of the city below. The smog wasn’t too bad, so it was possible
to see the skyscrapers and freeways spread out before us, with the ocean on our
right. We learned that the huge letters
of the sign had deteriorated to the point that they were considering pulling
them down, but in 1978 community groups raised the $27,000 per letter to get
them repaired. Tom told us it took 100
gallons of paint to cover each letter!
Our last stop of the day was at the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
where stars are embedded in the sidewalks, bearing names such as Clint Eastwood
and Big Bird, and noting which entertainment category they fit into, such as
radio, motion pictures, recording, television and live performance. Gene Autry’s star had a plaque saying that he
was the only one on the entire walk to be cited in all five categories.
We also saw the Chinese Theatre where Oscar night used to be
held, and the Dolby Theatre where the event now takes place. The barricades were already being set up for
the Academy Awards presentation coming at the beginning of March. It was a treat to be able to see all the
places we’ve heard about, and to look forward to recognizing them when we watch
movies in the future.
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