California Day 3

 5/20/24  

Today was low-stress and great.  We got up and walked to The Higlight Grill, a rooftop restaurant for breakfast at 8.  The food was good, but the view and the atmosphere were amazing.   We then returned to the room for a few minutes before walking down to the Dolby Theater, The Chinese Theater, and some souvenir shops.  It was nice to be down there before all the crowds and get a few pictures.

Once we were done with that we headed over to Hollywood Forever and looked at the graves with all the pictures on the tombs, the statues, and the amazing moseuleum.   Some of the urns were shaped like books, others had memorials with photos and articles of interest behind glass and some were normal.  It was a beautiful resting spot.   

Mama wanted to see Elizabeth Taylor's grave and she thought was here but it was actually in Forest Lawn in Glendale so we drove down there stopping along the way for a bite before I turned into a Snickers commercial.

We ate at Blue Jam restaurant with healthier options, including real Coke and real sugar from Mexico.   I had a grilled cheese with cheddar and goat cheese; I can't say I loved it but mainly I forgot to tell them no butter on the bread which was my fault, but I loved the outside vibe and the idea of the restaurant.   Jack and Mama seemed to enjoy their meals.

Once we made it to Forest Lawn we realized it's a massive cemetery.  It is a much more traditional cemetery with mowable tombstones, but there was a stained glass version of the Lord's Supper that was amazing.   That cemetery is huge and much of it isn't viewable, including Elizabeth Taylor's grave but we at least tried.  

We then went to Walmart to get Mama some new sneakers as the sole on her's decided to fail mid-trip and some toilet paper for the Airbnb :) You know no trip is complete w/o a trip to Walmart.

Once done we came back to the room for a 45-minute nap before continuing w/ or day.  I think we all needed it desperately and we didn't really want to get up, but things to do and places to see.

Once up we headed back down to Santa Monica Pier where we played arcade games, ate Mexican food, walked, shopped for souvenirs, listened to music, and watched the sun go down.   I must say it got quite cold on us, but it was worth it to see.   I loved seeing it and also watching the birds ride the wind was cool. 

We then headed back to the Airbnb, it took a while because everyone was leaving at once, but it's all good.    Made it back safely and now we rest.  Tomorrow is a super early day as we drive 2 hours south to the zoo :)

Jack's favorite thing of the day: He really liked the pier with the sunset and watching us play games.  Jack thought the cemetery was really special with the memorials with the people and the memories memorialized were great.  There was one statue in particular with a lady who had a comment "She was perfect and she was Italian"