Trevor took a nice pic of me, but the photo I took of Heather was the one to keep. She is kneeling next to Ohio State University in the universities ring just outside the entrance to the stadium. I could almost envision the Rose Bowl Parade as we drove in. This year Heather, the kids, and I will recognize all the places when we watch the parade for the College Football Bowl Game.

We arrived into Hollywood and parked at the Hollywood and Highland Centre. It is a massive shopping area. We all went up to the patio level and took a pic with the Hollywood sign in the background. It was a bit hazy so the sign was quite difficult to see. This is really one of the few locations to get a great pic of the sign, but the weather is the wildcard. About 25 years ago, they quarantined off the area around the Hollywood sign because of vandalism.

We then headed down the Hollywood Walk of Fame by TCH Chinese Theatre. All of us got pics by the stars like Robin WIlliams, Mary Kate Olsen, and Tom Selleck. For a Monday, the crowds weren’t that bad. They were preparing for the opening of Tarzan, so the barricades were all up which the red carpet would soon follow. Since we had a full day, we didn’t hang around for that. We were going to head to the Hollywood Bowl, but decided to head down to Venice Beach instead.

On the way to Venice Beach, we drove down famous Sunset Blvd into Beverly Hills. We took the left onto the city’s most famous street – Rodeo Drive. It took about 30 minutes or so to get to Venice Beach.

We parked the vehicle right in front of Muscle Beach and began the stroll down the boardwalk. I have been here several times and told the family that this is the best place in the world to peope watch. Today did not disappoint. There were break dancers, gymnnasts, people doing yoga, dressed in the most bizarre outfits you could imagine, etc. A bit down the boardwalk we stopped to watch a group of street performers. They started looking for volunteers and then said they need some tall, handsome, rich, white guys. I knew I covered the base on a few of those, and was therefore in trouble.

Well it was only a matter of time before one of those guys pulled me in. Yes, I became part of the street show. Taylor video’d the whole thing and has some serious blackmail material on me. The reality is I don’t care though, I just played along and had fun with it. My dance moves are not what they were in my “Vanilla Ice” days.

After the show we walked further up the boardwalk towards Santa Monica. We did some shopping, took our shoes off and walked the beach, and then decided to head up to Santa Monica. It was only a short drive, and although the boardwalk continues from Venice Beach to Santa Monica Pier (video), they are two very different areas. We had dinner out on the Pier at a Mexican restaurant. We then drove up Topanga Canyon road pass Mulholland drive and saw the views and huge estates. Then it was time to turn in for the evening.

We are certainly all getting our steps in our Fitbits as we are averaging about 15,000 steps a day, with Tess being the only one to break the 20,000 steps mark. She is shorter so she takes more steps 🙂