Historic LA Walking Tour

Inside the Biltmore Hotel.  Spanish Renaissance.  Absolutely beautiful.

My friend Cynthia and I decided to take a walking tour of historic LA.  The tour took approx. 2 hours and it was very informative and interesting.  Our guide, Ron, was born in LA and his family has been living in LA since the early 1900's.  He had old photographs of the various locations we were at back in 1900s of property his family owned in the Pershing Square area which was the location of the tour we were taking.  The only problem was his voice was not very loud when you mixed in the outside noise and the various buses he had to compete with.  Everytime we would stop, we all had to scoot in close to hear what he had to say.  Forget about asking a question, he could not hear you at all!  You would practically have to yell and stand on his good side for him to hear you.   It just wasn't worth the effort.

Check in with Ron...

Janie: "Its a nice day today"

Ron: "Chile today, hot tamale"  hee hee, we all giggle

Cynthia:  "Hey, my dad used to say that"

End of tour...

Cynthia, "Thanks for the tour, it was really good, we enjoyed it"

Ron:"Yes, it was a nice day, chile today, not tamale!"

Cynthia: "Hey,. my dad used to say that"

Janie to Cynthia:  "Deja Vu"

This is the inside of the Edison Bldg. on 5th street across from the Library and the Biltmore.  It is beautiful inside and has great architecture outside.  Very European.  It is a hidden treasure!

This is Angels flight.  I had no idea what it was.  I thought it was going to be a factory where they made the clothes worn in the disco era of the 70's.  It is actually the shortest railway in existance.  It is kind of like a funicular.  It is currently closed.  The car lost traction and smashed someone to death at the bottom.  They fixed it, but have not reopened.

This is the Bradbury Bldg. One of the oldest in L.A.  Used in alot of films, Bladerunner to name one.  Different and rich in texture and ambiance.

After the tour, we went to Graumann's Chinese Theatre.  I had never been there before and I have to admit, I received a small thrill looking at all the footprints and handprints of the stars.  John Wayne had small feet.  Judy Garland and miniature feet.  R2D2 and C3PO also had there footprints there.  I looked for Marilyn Monroe and couldn't find her.  Only after I got home did I find out that she doesn't have her footprints there.  I was shocked!

We then went by the infamous PINKS hotdog stand.  As we drove up, we saw the line stretched around the building.  I immediately said, we don't have to go (it was my idea), but we weren't starving and Cynthia was game so we waited 50 minutes in the line.  IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!  The food was so good!  We split a Martha Stewart Dog (onions, tomatoes, relish, bacon, sauerkraut and sour cream - really?  DELICIOUS!!!!) and a Chicago Polish Dog.  I capped my lunch off with a refreshing Strawberry Crush.  It brought back memories of my childhood. We weren't starving when we started, but by the time we got our food, we were!  It was a great day out.  For more pictures of our trip click on the icon on the right.