Los Angeles & Las Vegas
Los Angeles
We stayed at The Garland Hotel in North Hollywood which offers a free shuttle to the metro station for easy access to Hollywood. When getting off the metro I was so overwhelmed that I was in Hollywood that I accidentally stood over one of the grates which leads to the underground, where I did my best impression of Marylin Monroe in my skirt! If you are going to do this, where better than Hollywood?
The hop on hop off tour bus is a great way to see the city. Not only did we get to see all the sights, but some of the highlights were the famous Rodeo Drive and hotel featured in one of my favourite films - Pretty Woman. We also saw the Hollywood Sign from a distance and we chose to do the longest route and went to Santa Monica Pier, well worth a visit.
We dined at Cheesecake Factory where the food was delicious but, of course, we were all waiting for our pudding. The Cheesecake slices here are like doorsteps, so much so that two of us had to share one!
We also visited the Warner Brothers Studios. This pre-booked tour takes you behind the scenes and shows you the sets, costumes, props and cars from the movies and TV. I even got to see the most famous coffee shop sofa (if you grew up the 90’s) - the Friends couch. I never thought I would see this!
There is lots more to do in Los Angeles. Three days was plenty to see most of the city, but I do want to return to see many of the other wonderful things the city has to offer. I would like to have visited Disney and also Universal Studios.
We then drove to Las Vegas. The scenery is stunning and there are plenty of places to stop for a break.
Las Vegas
We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Hotel which is in the middle of the Strip and features 1.2 miles of shopping called the Miracle Mile.
There was one main reason for us as a family to visit Las Vegas - we wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. I did a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon with my dad. We were picked up from our hotel by a limousine and taken to a small airport from where we took off to the Grand Canyon. We were lucky enough to have the front seats on the way out. It was breath taking and it didn’t really feel like you were that high up. We then landed in the Grand Canyon to take photos and have a champagne picnic. What a fantastic location to have a picnic! We then flew back over the Las Vegas Strip on the way back to airport, finally returning to the hotel in the limousine. All the transport was shared but this didn’t spoil the experience. If you were to do one thing in Las Vegas, this is the one I would recommend.
I also went horseback trekking with my sister. We were picked up at our hotel and taken out of town to a ranch where we were kitted out with everything we needed and introduced to our horses. We then went on about an hour’s trek through the wilderness of the rocky landscape with the sun setting, a great adventure. We were then treated to a scrumptious barbecue and marshmallows around a camp fire before returning to the hotel.
All in all, a fantastic seven nights and I am looking forward to going back to explore further, especially Los Angeles.