Hollywood recap

So here’s a quick rundown of highlights from our three-day Hollywood jaunt last month:

Transportation: It was a quick and entertaining flight from SFO to LAX on Virgin America. They are way cool; I totally want to fly them more often. I decided to splurge a little on the rental car and got a convertible, a PT Cruiser. It was actually my first time driving a convertible, so that was fun. One thing I’ll say for Alamo: online check-in made picking up the car really easy. I brought along my new GPS unit (Garmin nüvi 660), and it worked well throughout the trip.

Hotel: We stayed at Villa Delle Stelle, a wonderful set of four suites in a large 1920s villa in Hollywood. We reserved the bungalow and were so happy with it. It was our own cute little cabin, with a kitchen and a second guestroom.

Santa Monica: On Saturday evening we strolled around the Third Street Promenade and Ocean Avenue (photo below), and happened to come across Hennessey + Ingalls, which is the place for design and architecture books. (So of course we spent a lot of time there.) Dinner was at the Broadway Deli.

West Hollywood: Sunday brunch at The Abbey. The service was kind of spotty, but the food was good, as well as the people-watching.

Getty Center: Set on the top of a mountain, the architecture and site is pretty amazing, let alone the vast art collection. And it’s free!

Hollywood and Highland: We stopped here briefly to check out the Walk of Fame and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and we went to Subway for food to take with us to the concert.

Rufus‘s Judy Garland concert at the Hollywood Bowl: this was the raison d’être of our trip, and it didn’t disappoint. With such a big venue I didn’t think I’d be able to find my Rufus compadres in the crowd, but I ran into them all before the show began: Susan, Kesha, Betsy, and Richard. Rufus was fantastic (though, poor thing, his voice was growing hoarse towards the high notes). One word to describe the whole evening: magical. (Below: photo of me by Thom.)

Universal Studios: On Monday we went on the studio tour, which hasn’t changed too much from my childhood, but we did see some cool things like the street and façades that make up Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives.

Check out Thom’s and my Flickr sets for more photos. It was a fun weekend, and with seemingly more frequent and inexpensive flights now available from SFO, we should be back to southern California before you know it. Next time: Disneyland?