Our Friend's Visit

Margie, one of Alma's friends, visited us last week, all the way out from western Kansas. While she was here, Alma and I took her to many of the more well-known tourist attractions and to the beaches. She arrived back home late last night, but only after her original flight on American Eagle was cancelled due to bad weather in Denver. So Margie got to know Los Angeles International Airport quite well before the replacement booking on Frontier got her back to Denver.

It was fun returning to Hollywood, Olvera Street and Chinatown with an out-of-towner who had not seen any of the sights before. We got to Hollywood just as the sun had begun to set, so the temperatures which can be brutal at this time of year had begun to cool off and the lights to come on. We walked down the famous stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that is home to Mann's Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater. We found several stars whose names we recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and several handprints at Mann's of famous movie stars from bygone days.

Below is a photo of King Kong from one of the various attractions along Hollywood Boulevard:

I actually enjoyed Olvera St. and Chinatown more though, as they really bring out the sense that Los Angeles is a true melting pot. We spent the first part of Sunday afternoon trolling the Latino and Mexican-American culture of Olvera St, including the Avila Adobe house which allows visitors to get a sense of what life was like in Los Angeles before California became a state in the U.S. and before such niceties as electricity, television and internet existed. Later in the afternoon, we walked down North Broadway for several blocks into the heart of Chinatown. It was hot during the walk so we each drank a cup of cane sugar with ice, a Chinese specialty. Wow, did it hit the spot.

One of the best things about Olvera St. was seeing the ethnic folk dancing. The dancers were garbed in elaborate ornamental dress of feathers and beads, as the below photo shows:

Chinatown offers its own set of pictorial delights. Below is a shot of the entrance to Chinatown (looking eastward on North Broadway):