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Old 8 May 19, 09:06 PM  
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oh_darling
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Livin’ it up at the Hotel California (October '18) Day 6 - LA, Dearly Departed Tour, Sightseeing!

Livin’ it up at the Hotel California (October ‘18)

‘You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'


Day 5 - LA Baby! Dearly Departed Tour, Sightseeing and Burbank!

We were up pretty early this morning as we had our eagerly awaited ‘Dearly Departed Tour’ booked for 12pm in LA, so had to head up to our hotel in Burbank, check in, drop our bags then uber to the tour location! It was all good though, we’d worked backwards timings wise so planned to get up and get an Uber at 9am.

We packed up all our stuff and headed downstairs, where we booked an Uber then necked a coffee and a pastry from the lobby area while we waited for our car to turn up. We then hopped in and said goodbye to Santa Monica, after a brief but extremely enjoyable visit! Fingers crossed we’ll be back one day

We both fell asleep in the Uber, natch, so were a bit confused when we woke up at 9.55 and we were just pulling up next to the hotel!

Our ride was approx. $50 and we hopped out, bags in tow, to check in. The lobby was WOW and we were so excited that this would be our base for the next 4 nights! We had a really lovely lady checking us in and she said she had a room ready for us which was soooooo amazing, we hadn’t expected that at all! We thanked her profusely and then headed up in the lift to our room which was SO BIG AND FANCY! Honestly, not that the Santa Monica and the SF hotels weren’t nice, it was just that they were older and more tired, and this hotel was super duper new and so modern and just amazing.

We had a HUGE king bed which is one of my favourite things about American holidays haha, lovely dark wooden floors, fancy bathroom and lovely views out over Burbank as we were on a high floor. We were so happy!









We were also so happy that we had a bit of time to chill out and freshen up before Ubering down to our tour which was so unexpected! We popped the TV on and enjoyed possibly the first bit of downtime on our whole trip, even if it was only 20 minutes! It was really nice and we were so excited for this portion of the trip Chill time over, we headed out for a walk to downtown Burbank to grab some breakfast/lunch before the tour. It took longer than we thought and by the time we got to Panera Bread we were in a bit of a rush, so didn’t have any time to sit in and enjoy it, we had to grab and go which was a shame! I spotted that they did bagels which was perfect, but we both said we were gutted as they did so many amazing sounding sandwiches/pastas/salads etc but we didn’t want to risk it taking them too long to make! So we ordered 2 x cheese bagels with cheese and chive cream cheese, a brownie, a cookie, and a bottle of water. The guy was super fast toasting the bagels haha which we were really grateful for, and we ordered an Uber while we were waiting! Despite the rush we did both take in how beautiful downtown Burbank was, and we were so excited to explore it over the next few days!

We hopped in the Uber at 11 so we actually were bang on schedule which was good.

Uber selfie!



I feel like I was accidentally channelling 'The Craft' here; possibly by accident or possibly subconsciously due to the upcoming Death Tour (which we'd nicknamed it during our planning!)

We pulled up outside the tour location and as we’d expected it was a bit rough, so we were glad we’d already got food! It looked SO COOL and we were both so excited!



We headed in and checked in for the tour which was quick as we’d obviously booked and paid before. The lady was really nice and said we could sit outside and eat our lunch, and we could also look in the museum before the tour if we wanted, which we did as we had a few other things planned in the afternoon so was good to do it beforehand. I said ‘don’t let the tour go without us!’ and the lady assured us she’d come in and grab us

We sat outside on a cute little bench and chowed down on our bagels which were SO GOOD! Yummmmm.



We ate a little nibble each of our treats too, I got the kitchen sink cookie which was basically life-changing, with bits of caramel, pretzels, nuts, choc chips and peanut butter chips. Amazing. Once we’d finished we went back into the tour building and though to the Museum.

Just a bit of background info in case you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about haha, taken from the website:

Dearly Departed Tours’ founder Scott Michaels is the authority on the Dark Side of Hollywood. Our standard Dearly Departed Tour is a multimedia Hollywood bus tour like no other. Explore cases like Manson, Janis, Whitney and Michael, and lesser-known celebrities with even more spectacular exits. You’ll also see the final resting places of Marilyn, Natalie, Farrah and more. Peppered with crime scene photographs and audio clips (including 911 calls), the tour has earned its consistent 5-star ratings.

And the museum:

We’ve been featured on the E! Show Hollywood Death Trip, Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, Ghost Adventures and dozens more, and the FX’s American Horror Story even paid tribute to the tour. Scott Michaels’ one-of-a-kind collection of celebrity death memorabilia now on display (with an upgraded ticket) in our Museum that includes Rock Hudson’s deathbed, a piece of the fireplace from the Sharon Tate house and now Jayne Mansfield’s Death Car.

Pretty cool, huh!? I mean if you’re into that kind of thing hahah! Which we definitely are! So we headed into the museum and it was awesome and creepy and fabulous. I spent the most time looking at the car Jayne Mansfield died in which was insanely sad and scary at the same time. I got really grossed out reading the coroner’s report as I’d Googled it loads before we went but there were very mixed stories online of what happened and I won't say exactly what it is but it's become a sort of urban legend...let’s just say that reading the actual coroner’s report right in front of the actual car was a pretty surreal experience, and the details were horrific…

I felt like I’d been in there hours as it was really quiet and I’d been full on reading, but it was prob only about 20 minutes! The lady then popped her head round the car and said it was time to go, so we headed out and thanked her as we walked towards the van. Our guide was stood there waiting and I was a bit annoyed as there were only 2 seats left in the van which weren’t next to each other We wouldn’t have gone in the museum if we’d thought we wouldn’t get seats together! So Benj went to the back and sat with a group of guys, and I sat on my own near the front in a little seat on it’s own. Loserrrrrr. Haha it was okay though, I was just worried Ben was okay and kept looking behind and smiling encouragingly at him but obviously he was fine because he’s 31 years old. To be honest we also both had great views out the windows so I was quite happy with my seat, in the end!

So, the tour itself. What can I say, it was INCREDIBLE. One of my highlights of the whole holiday for sure! From the very start when he drove us down a pretty LA road and pointed out the corner where Chris Brown assaulted Rihanna (Chris Brown is still a swear word in our house ), I knew we were in for a good time. It’s pretty voyeuristic this kind of stuff and I know it’s not for everyone, but I personally LOVE reading about/hearing about places or spots where things happened, and then getting to actually see them is even better! Which is what the whole tour was haha! Our guide was an absolute legend, he’d grown up in LA and knew it inside out and his passion for all things scary or creepy just absolutely shone through. We also each got given a laminated booklet with crime scene photos, photos of the victims, and general photos/info, which really added to the whole experience. In addition, our guide played 911 calls related to each story which added even more! I was in heaven! We saw so many things, I won’t spoil it all, but it was a mix of places people died or crimes happened, notable spots and general LA sights. My highlights were: the room Michael Jackson died in, the Hotel California hotel (Beverly Hills Hotel), the hotel Whitney died in, the Viper Room, where River Phoenix died right outside, the house the Black Dahlia lived in and the house from Halloween. It was also sad in places, as you’d expect, and I got choked up a few times.

I'll share some photos and try and remember what the heck they are

Hotel California!



Fountain from Clueless!



Viper Room where River Phoenix passed away outside



The house that Jamie Lee Curtis babysits in, in Halloween.



I think this was the fire escape Richard Gere escapes out of in Pretty Woman!



Nice shot of the Hollywood sign! Did you know that when this was originally constructed it said Hollywoodland? And did you also know a woman committed suicide by jumping of the H in 1932!? Don't say I never teach you anything!



Halfway through the tour we stopped at Westwood Memorial Park which I was beyond excited for as Marilyn Monroe is buried there. I’ve been obsessed with Marilyn for years and years and I felt really emotional about getting to pay my respects to her. We entered the cemetery and had about 30 minutes but we both needed the loo so we headed over there first, which actually worked out well as the rest of our tour all headed to Marilyn first. We went to the loo then went to see Farrah Fawcett’s grave, before making our way back to Marilyn (and Hugh Hefner, who bought the plot next to Marilyn yearrrsssssss ago).

We spotted it immediately due to its discolouration, which is a result of thousands of fans kissing the vault with red lipstick. I found it all super emotional and started crying as soon as we saw her!





It was so quiet and peaceful and we sat on the bench that has been built next to her grave and just had a few moments of quiet contemplation. I then put aside my feelings of grossness and kissed the vault too which I was really glad I did. Honestly, this was such a special experience and I was so happy we’d gotten to go - we were planning to go anyway but it’s a bit out of the way, and then we found out we’d go on the tour which was perfect!


After composing myself we hopped back on the bus where we travelled round for another hour to see more goulish sights, before ending up back at the museum at 2.40. We thanked our guide profusely and then called an Uber to take us to the Walk of Fame for some classic LA sightseeing! I would recommend this tour to anyone, we honestly had the best time and we were so happy we’d booked it!

We got dropped off right outside the Chinese Theatre and as expected, it was crazy busy! Although saying that, it wasn’t as bad as we’d thought which was at least good, like in terms of annoying people/tour groups etc and a general not nice feeling. It definitely was all those things, but not so bad we’d heard, if that makes sense. Anyway! So we walked along looking at the stars, found a few to take photos of:









Then headed to look at the hand prints in the area outside the Chinese Theatre.









I found Marilyn’s and put my hands in her hand prints, yay! Marilyn-themed day!










We then walked down to find Walt’s star on the Walk of Fame which took some serious Google Mapping but we got there in the end!
We nipped into a few of the tourist shops just to browse but they were all the same and full of rubbish haha so we didn’t buy anything.

Ben had seen a cute looking Snow White themed bar online so we went to check it out but it was really dark and dingy and I wasn’t feeling it, so I said to Ben I’d prefer to go back to the hotel via a liquor store and grab drinks to enjoy in our room while we got ready! He was bang up for this so we got another Uber back to Burbank (this was an Uber heavy day!)

We got to the liquor store about 5pm, Benj bought some fun IPAs and I bought pineapple vodka and diet sprite which was EXTREMELY exciting! Doesn’t get much more holiday vibes than pineapple vodka haha!

We enjoyed our bevs in our beautiful room while we got ready for the evening, before heading out about 7.15.

Ready to go!



Burbank town centre was all twinkly and fairy lighty and it looked so beautiful! We’d booked a table at Yard House earlier on in the day so we just popped into a bar for a quich drink before our dinner. We sat at the bar because it was really busy and chatted to the bar tender for a while. I asked about flavoured vodka and it didn’t go down well and I ended up with a weird flavoured vodka and tonic water which really didn’t go well together I forced it down though, obvs! We paid up and headed over to Yard House for our 8pm reservation


We loved our meal here in Orlando when we went in April 2018, and they have a massive veggie/vegan menu with lots of fun options so we were super up for going again! We got seated in a lovely booth so I was happy I ordered a lovely glass of chilled pinot, and Benj opted for a 6 (!) beer sampler which we enjoyed sipping and reading!



The portions here are massive so we decided to just share a starter. Ben was keen to have the Gardein Buffalo Wings again which were a bit spicy for me but I wasn’t super hungry so was happy to nibble! He absolutely loved them and was one happy boy.



For my main I had a sudden, RANDOM craving for a steak, so I decided to get one! Really rare for me these days as I don’t eat a lot of meat, but I just fancied one! I ordered a ribeye, rare, with truffle parmesan fries yummmm! It was really delicious but about halfway though I wondered why I’d ordered it haha, it certainly satisfied my craving though haha!





Ben was absolutely spoilt for choice with the veggie options, but eventually plumped for the Gardein Chicken and Avocado Sandwich with fries and he loved it!





Dinner was around $80 with tip so a bit more expensive, but we really enjoyed our meal and felt it was well worth the money We paid up and strolled back to the hotel, and we were in bed by 10pm and asleep by around 10.04, with our alarms set for an early Universal Studios start the following morning!
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Old 8 May 19, 11:28 PM  
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Tinkermom
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Fab day, thanks for sharing 😊
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Old 9 May 19, 03:35 PM  
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Sounds like you had a great day
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Old 9 May 19, 07:24 PM  
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Sounds great! What was your hotel in burbank called?
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Old 11 May 19, 06:36 PM  
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Always love reading your trip reports! we are in Burbank next month so great anticipation reading this one!
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Old 12 May 19, 02:11 PM  
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Originally Posted by Tinkermom View Post
Fab day, thanks for sharing 😊
You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed! x

Originally Posted by Carolynmf View Post
Sounds like you had a great day
Thanks lovely! x
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Old 12 May 19, 02:12 PM  
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Originally Posted by liz-paul View Post
Sounds great! What was your hotel in burbank called?
Thank you! It was the Hilton Garden Inn Burbank Can't recommend it enough! xx
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Old 12 May 19, 02:12 PM  
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Originally Posted by scottishgirl1 View Post
Always love reading your trip reports! we are in Burbank next month so great anticipation reading this one!
Thank you! Ahhh wow, I'm so jealous haha! Whereabouts are you staying? x
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Old 12 May 19, 06:28 PM  
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Originally Posted by oh_darling View Post
Thank you! Ahhh wow, I'm so jealous haha! Whereabouts are you staying? x
Burbank as well, the Residence Inn as they have a 2 bed suite that will take 5 of us! My hotel searches usually have to start with wherever we can all fit in.

Burbank sounds lovely, we will only be there 3 nights and our flight doesnt land at LAX until 6pm first night so hope we get chance to see a bit of it before heading to San Diego
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Old 22 May 19, 07:29 PM  
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Another fabulous day. Glad you enjoyed the tour. Hotel and food looks great.
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