First LA Day

Pedro and I recently took his son Andre to Universal Studios Hollywood. It was my first time, and they both had not been for a long time. The story for why we were there is pretty sweet.

Last year we told the twins when they graduated from high school that they could go anywhere in North America they wanted to go: Canada to Mexico, and we would pay for their trip. Liam immediately asked to go to Mexico and Andre immediately asked to go to Universal Studios. 

Then two weeks later, Andre said he had changed his mind and he now wanted to go to Mexico. So we all went to Mexico. But Pedro and I were a little curious, because Andre is crazy for theme parks and has less interest in history or traveling, and he knew we would be walking a lot in Mexico, which he also doesn’t like. We found out that Liam had talked Andre into changing his vote because he wanted his brother with him during the Mexico trip. It was very sweet of Andre to do that, but he gave up his vote. To reward him, we offered to take both of them to Universal Studios this year. Liam does not like theme parks (because of the crowds) and declined. He stayed in town with his mom and they went to a water park. Andre was beside himself with excitement in anticipation of this trip to LA.

{Hey! Unrelated news: I just heard that some new, old PDX airport carpet is going down in the new part of the airport under construction right now. We, especially Kellen, are emotionally connected to the old Portland airport (PDX) carpet, like many people are. Yes, it’s weird, but whatever.}

My college friend Pablo would be picking us up from the airport in LA, which was a convenience and also a great reunion. We went to school together at Brandeis for one semester in 2004 before he moved to southern California. I have not seen him since 2005, when we did a road trip with friends through Baja. Now THAT was an adventure.

Pablo took us to Hermosa Beach to meet his wife and daughter and MIL. Then we went for a walk along the boardwalk. It was a sunny but cool and breezy day. We stopped in at the MIL & FIL’s house on the beach.

Then it was time to say goodbye and head for our hotel near Universal Studios, an hour away. Andre had been very cooperative, and polite to our host, but all he really wanted to do was get to the theme park. This was FINALLY what he was waiting for.

In the Uber on the way to the hotel, I spotted some skyscrapers covered in graffiti that I instantly recognized from a story in the New York Times. These abandoned buildings are now famous for being covered in graffiti, and there are many stories and photos talking about them.

We checked in to our hotel and it was still somewhat early, so to assuage Andre’s nearly-used-up patience, and also to get our bearings before the next day’s big adventure, we decided to walk to the park from the hotel and find the best route, and also look for a place to eat dinner.

Andre suggested Citywalk, which is a shopping area adjacent to the park that does not require a ticket to get in. We walked about five blocks from the hotel, then caught a free shuttle that took us another mile or two right up the side of a steep hill. We were in Citywalk in no time, and were able to find the front gates of the park that we would be using the next day.

We didn’t do any shopping, but it was very bright and filled with people and fun to explore.

Universal Studios is primarily studios for shooting movies. So naturally, the themes on every side of us referenced movies we knew. In the photo above you see King Kong from the movie of the same name and Bubba Gump shrimp from the movie Forest Gump.

Andre saw the scene above, and instead of watching the silly people dance to earn their place on the screen, saw the place behind it. He asked if we could eat dinner there.

“At the Chocolate Emporium?” I asked. “Be reasonable.”

“No, it has food too,” he insisted.

So we went into The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium for the first time, and it was awesome. The inside theme is entirely steam punk, with waiters in steam punk gear, with clocks and gears and goggles and top hats and chains – so fun. There are clever mechanical gadgets everywhere, and projections of flying machines on the ceiling. And yes, while the place focuses on incredible chocolate desserts, it is primarily a restaurant with very good food. We ate till we were stuffed.

It was time to go back to the hotel and get some sleep to get ready for our two-day Universal Studios graduation reward tour!