The Smiffs Go West - Day 8 - Solvang, Walmart and Hollywood!

[Ruthy1604]

Day 8 - Solvang, Walmart and Hollywood!

The index is here

Today we were leaving Pismo and heading further down the coast to Hollywood. We’d really enjoyed having a couple of days of space, 2 bathrooms and a bit of chill time. We got up and finished packing.

The kids were on a go-slow this morning, so we said we’d pop to Old West Cinamon Rolls to get some breakfast to bring back to the apartment. This gave them some much needed lie-in time, so they were very happy. DH went to look at the free breakfast and said that there were long queues and not much food so none of us bothered.

Back at Old West, they obviously didn’t know I was coming as the pecan ones weren’t ready. They would be 20 minutes so I said I’d be happy to wait. DH had run off at this point to get DD her croissant so I had a few minutes of peace. I had a bit of a dilemma -we all wanted frosting on the side, but it either comes in a tiny pot that you’d get a heaped tablespoon in, or a polystyrene coffee cup sized pot which was massive. Obviously I opted for the latter which we carried around with us the rest of the holiday (then threw it away on our last morning). It was interesting to watch the kitchen at work, it was still quite early so there were very few customers.

Soon enough we got our fresh baked fix of cinnamon, drove back to the Lighthouse Suites and sat on the balcony scoffing. I have no pictures of the pecan rolls but they are soo good. Please try one if you ever go to Pismo Beach.

This was our view. The central games area is on top of the parking garage so its raised up. We never heard any noise from this area at all. You can just see the sea too!



Once the car was loaded, we did our usual check around for forgotten items and set off down the coast. Our first planned stop was Solvang – a Danish community which is famous for its windmills, food and shops. MIL had been here many years ago and I thought it would be nice to visit. We found it easily with the Sat Navs help and parked up in a side street. I was constantly nervous about leaving the luggage in the car. The windows were blacked out, but if you got really close, all our stuff was visible. We wandered around and got a couple of touristy snaps by the windmill.








We watched the famous doughnut things being made ( I cannot remember the official name) and just mooched around for a while. It was really really hot and I think we were all feeling a bit meh with the heat. It was all a bit touristy and we weren’t hungry so we got back in the car and headed on towards LA.


DD had been pestering about visiting a Walmart since we arrived, so I googled one en-route and the Sat Nav took us to the suburbs of Oxnard. We seemed to spend hours in the make-up section, and then yet more time in the food. We managed to spend an eye watering $120 on bits and bobs for school, drugs, haircare and of course candy and chocolate. I was really unsure if it would all fit in our cooler but DH performed his magic tetris trick and all was safely stowed.

It was about 2.15pm now and we still didn’t want any proper food so we snacked on pringles and twinkies and just carried on the journey. I was really nervous about directing DH into LA, but it was fine. It was mega busy, but that gave us a bit more time to work out where we were and where we wanted to be. We pulled into the Hollywood & Highland car Park at about 3.45pm. Perfect timing.


It took us ages to find the way into the Loews Hollywood Hotel, but eventually we found the check in desk. The hotel is attached to the shopping centre, but the entrace near the shops is tucked around a corner. The clerk was lovely and said that as DH is a Loews Gold card holder we’d been upgraded to a suite. We asked for a rollaway too and that was no trouble either. Happy Days. This hotel has a Fiat car desk that will take you anywhere you want within 5 miles I think, but you need to prebook. It sounded great as we had intended to take a taxi to Warner Brothers the next morning, so we thought we’d save some money. Unfortunately, the service doesn’t start til 9 and our tour was booked for 9 so it was a no-go for us. Back to plan A!


Our room was on 16th floor, and our mouths just gaped when we walked in. The room was HUGE and had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Hollywood sign. The bed was massive, there was a sofa bed for DS and soon enough, someone came along with a rollaway for DD. We still had loads of space, even with all these beds. The bathroom had a slate tiled walk in shower, and a separate dressing/makeup area. DD was in heaven.







We then got a knock on the door and a free gift for DH appeared.



He didn’t get to eat much of it lol!

After trying (and failing) to get a decent photo of the view with one of us in it, we gave up and wandered down to see the sights. We found the pool on the way and were really disappointed to find it closed for a private function. The pool is on floor 5 and overlooks the shopping centre. From the shops you’d never know it was there.


There was a premier on at the Chinese Theatre and half the street was blocked off. It seemed really chaotic.





We all felt really uneasy with the crowds of people and all the ‘actors’ dressed up as Jack Sparrow etc. Some bloke tried to give me a ‘free’ cd and I just felt really uncomfortable. Once we had crossed the street, we walked all the way up looking at the stars names on the pavement. I had never heard of most of them! We took pictures of a really random selection of names - including the most famous butcher in our hometown!



The Robin Williams one was covered in flowers and candles and I did feel a bit of a lump in my throat. I’m really not the emotional type, but it was quite touching.


We had to get a picture with these boys



I had read about the new Sweet shop a year or so ago and so we wandered around there. TBH it was nothing special, and nothing you couldn’t get in Walmart really. The boys went their own way to investigate dinner options and us girls spent a bit of time in Sephora. Over 5 trips I had managed to accumulate enough points for a free eyeliner. Woweee!

We ended up in California Pizza Kitchen at around 8pm. We received a free starter as we were new customers and I have to say, for a chain restaurant, the food was fab. DS and DH had pizza, DD had Mac n Cheese (predictable) and I had a salad. This was the yummiest salad I have ever had. It had Salmon coated in spice, avocado, artichokes, asparagus amongst other things and I could eat it all over again right now. Sorry for the lack of pictures. The bill came to $85 plus tip and that included two Mojitos and a beer for DH. I thought it was really good value considering the prime location.



We slowly wandered back through the shopping centre to our beds. An early start was needed tomorrow for the Warner Brothers VIP tour.

[cornflakegirl]

Good read as usual. Hotel in LA looks great, will need to check it out for next year. Really interested in how you view LA overall as I'm in 2 minds whether to bother or not.

[Ruthy1604]

Originally Posted by cornflakegirl

Good read as usual. Hotel in LA looks great, will need to check it out for next year. Really interested in how you view LA overall as I'm in 2 minds whether to bother or not.

See more...

I think LA or Hollywood is somewhere you want to visit once. I'm not sure we'd bother to go back except to stay in that fab hotel. I wish we'd had time to visit Venice Beach etc and maybe Mulholland drive, but I don't feel that we really missed out.

[Guest]

One slight observation - Solvang is a Danish community not Dutch! (The flag on the lampost is a clue!)
Love your suite at the hotel. I'm not a big Hollwood fan though - once seen I wouldn't bother to rush back but it's for others to make their minds up.

[Pussycat Doll]

Great day, lovely photos. Pussycat

[sweetemotion]

Great day I love Solvang I'm hoping to take my parents there in December when it's all christmassy for wine tasting off to read more days of your report x

[Ruthy1604]

Originally Posted by geoffa

One slight observation - Solvang is a Danish community not Dutch! (The flag on the lampost is a clue!)
Love your suite at the hotel. I'm not a big Hollwood fan though - once seen I wouldn't bother to rush back but it's for others to make their minds up.

See more...

Lol - Well spotted Geoffa That will teach me to not take notes

[CrispyA]

Solvang looks lovely, great pictures.

[Guest]

Try Paula's pancake house in Solvang - savoury and sweet and all absolutely delicious.

[abiknox]

Just catching up on this now we are back! Sounds like a great day, i had the same worries about leaving luggage in the car but luckily we were ok. You're hotel looks fab in hollywood, lovely little treat for Dh

I agree Hollywood is a bit daunting. We got offered about 15 CD's but just kept walking and said no thank you to each and every one