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| I'm a Movie Star, Part II |
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Last night was so much fun! I still can’t believe the exhilaration that I felt throughout the night and even afterwards. It was just simply spectacular!
Today I slept in. It’s Friday, but I am not at work, dagnabit! I could wake up at any time that I wanted, therefore nine o’clock in the morning sounded good. I didn’t know what time it was because the clock was flashing. That was the first sign that the morning was going to be a long one!
I called down to the front desk to ask them what time it was. I felt a little foolish but that’s okay! Heh. It’s what a mini-vacation is all about. I lazed about in the morning, watching some morning t.v. Then I decided I better check out breakfast. Again I called down to the front desk to ask if they had a breakfast going, and the answer was yes. So I went down to get some cereal or something. I didn’t see any breakfast. I inquired and was told it was in the restaurant. Okay, that’s fine. It wasn’t the first time a complimentary breakfast was in the restaurant. However, there was no complimentary breakfast. Darn it. What happened to nice complimentary breakfasts? It was a Holiday Inn. They should have had one.
A Belgian waffle and fourteen dollars later, I went back up to my room. (It was tasty!) The electricity had gone out again and the clock was blinking again. I undressed and climbed into the shower. As I was washing my hair, the lights went out. They stayed out for awhile, too. Because it’s a hotel room, there is no window in the bathroom so it was really dark. I had to shower by touch. Good thing I know my body by heart, eh? The electricity flickered back on only to be off again within a matter of minutes. I had to shave in the dark! That’s not cool. After the shower, I went out and called down to the desk to see what was going on. Apparently they were working on the main circuit box.
I continued to try to get ready, but with the electricity going on and off, the appliances that I needed (curling iron, hair dryer, and iron) weren’t staying on long enough to be useful. I am not a high-maintenance woman, but it took me well over two hours to get ready! I called down to the desk to ask if there were any rooms that weren’t being affected. She called me back a few minutes later and said that there weren’t. I was now getting quite frustrated. She asked me if I wanted to talk to her supervisor, but I said unless he could miraculously create electricity, it wouldn’t do me any good. I just continued trying to get ready.
Finally, I got myself out the door! I went down to the lobby to gather a few brochures/coupons for some of the things around Hollywood. I knew that I wanted to go to Universal Studios City Walk to get a coffee-ice-blended thing. I also grabbed a brochure for the wax museum, a Hollywood tour, and some other things. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I wanted to fill my day.
I went to Universal, and unfortunately the coffee place that served the delicious-to-die-for health mocha ice-blended thing had been replaced by a Starbucks. Darn it. I was really looking forward to that! Instead I walked around and window-shopped. It was a lovely day, and I just wanted to enjoy it. I ended up taking myself to a movie there at the City Walk – The Tuxedo. It was cute.
After that, I decided to go back to Pasadena to go to the museums and things that are there. It’s a quaint little city, and I would have loved it, but I took a wrong turn out of the City Walk and just ended up going toward Hollywood. Since I was going to be there, I decided I might as well park and walk around. Instead, I walked by the Chinese Theater where the Hollywood tours were being sold and got talked into taking a lovely Hollywood-at-Night tour. It would be about three hours. Yeah, I should have researched a little more into what I would be doing on that tour.
It ended up being a big waste of time! Parts of it were nice, but I found myself wanting to be dropped off at my car several times. There were only three of us on the tour—two Aussie men and me. Our tour guide was obnoxious and kept saying the same things over and over again. It was weird. (One of the stops was at Universal City Walk and we were there for 45 minutes—I spent the afternoon there already!) Like I said, there were parts that I enjoyed. I am a self-proclaimed Hollywood stargazer, and the stuff about the famous people intrigued me. Some of the infamous restaurants, bars, and clubs were pointed out (The Viper Room, for example, where River Phoenix had his overdose and died outside the door). That was fun to see just where all this stuff happens.
Another nice part was the drive through Beverly Hills at night. It’s absolutely amazing. I can’t even imagine living in some of those homes. All the lights and the fountains in the front yards and spectacular landscaping just made my eyes go big. It was a lot of fun seeing where some of the stars lived. (This wasn’t a Home of the Stars tour, but he did point out a few homes as we went by them.)
Finally the tour was over and the driver dropped off the Aussie dudes at their hotel. That meant that I had to ride alone with the driver back to the drop-off point where my car was. It was uncomfortable. He felt the need to tell me all about his girlfriend and how he was taking her to Las Vegas to see Pavarotti’s goodbye concert. It was the first time that she would take a vacation with him. He was all excited. He was nervous. He was hoping that he could show her a good time. You see, that was just way more information than I needed to know! Thankfully, I was dropped off and he drove away (not without getting some last words in while I was outside of the vehicle trying to shut the door).
It was about 10:15 P.M. and the night was just too lovely to not experience. I decided just to walk down Hollywood Boulevard. There were lots of people, and thought it was at night and I was alone, I wasn’t nervous about the walk. I had wanted to walk down to the Pantages Theatre to check out the times of The Lion King, which has been playing there for a long time. I thought that maybe I would buy a ticket for tomorrow (Saturday). It was about ten blocks down or so. I walked and walked. It was so lovely out! I had my backpack on my back and I just walked. It felt good after sitting for so long.
When I arrived at the Pantages, the last show was just letting out. I asked some young people if it was as good as advertised, and they said that it was. I am excited to see it. Patsy, Katy and I are planning to see it sometime before December (which is when it closes), but I was thinking about seeing it tomorrow to save hotel money when the girls actually decide to see it. They weren’t selling tickets that late, so I thought that maybe I would come back tomorrow to see the afternoon show (before I drove home).
I turned around and crossed the street, walking down the other side of the boulevard. The tour guide had pointed out the stars on the sidewalk where Julia Roberts’ character from Pretty Woman picked up Richard Gere’s character. I walked over that, thinking it was fun! Hey, I’m a sucker when it comes to things like that! As I walked along, I would look down at the sidewalk and read all the names on the stars. I was a star! Okay, several people with my (first) name had a star, but to be honest, it’s not me. Truly. Heh. After a nice walk back, I got into my car and drove back to the hotel. I can really see how inviting and exciting it might be for some to go to Hollywood to live for awhile. There’s so much to do and so many places to go. You don’t have to worry about what you look like or what clothes are on your back. It’s an invigorating city!
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