Big 10 Football Tour

To no one's surprise, the early part of my first full day would be spent in Hollywood.  I've spent more time in Hollywood than any other part of LA, so I'm starting to get the hang of this place. 

There's a lot to see in Hollywood, so why don't you go use the restroom quick while all of the photos load?

A good place to start is the Universal Studios "City Walk."  I've never paid the $70.00 to actually enter the "studio" portion, but some Buckeye fans told me that it's fun to get on some of the rides and walk around some of the permanent movie sets, such as the one from that terrible movie "War of the Worlds."  While I'm speaking of "War of the Worlds," if you're seriously interested in Scientology, there is a shop on seemingly every other corner in Hollywood.

Back to Universal City...there's all sorts of stuff that you can check out without paying for admission, such as the Saddle Ranch (an extremely fun bar with mechanical bull), the numerous gift shops, and waiting behind several Asians to get a photo with the spinning Universal globe.

Once you're complete there, head down to the real Hollywood Blvd.  You've probably found a good place to start when "Chucky" from the movie "Child's Play" starting stabbing you with a plastic knife.   You'll find him and many other fun characters in the area in front of Gruman's Chinese Theater.   

I didn't get a photo of Darth Vader as he was complaining to some guy that he tipped the Storm Trooper, but not Darth.  I did however get some photos of a few of the characters, but trust me - there are over 25 of them running around; hoping for your affection.  Below are both some "G" rated and some "R" rated characters, so put the children to bed before scrolling down.

Once you've had to opportunity to get acquinted with some of Hollywood's finest, continue to walk down Hollywood Blvd and check out all of the stars on both sides of the streets.  You'll be surprised that many of the bigger stars have rather obscure locations and that even fictional characters, such as the Simpsons have their own star.  The star getting the most attention?  One of some guy who sang some song that you've probably never heard called "Thriller."

Walking further down the street, you can purchase all types of Los Angeles tours, maps, and other items that will probably end up at the bottom of your closet.

The best part is easily just walking and checking out all of the people passing by.  You'll see some of the most interesting fashions and personalities. 

You may want to check out Madame Tussard's wax figure museum, the costume store, or simply do some shopping.

Before you leave Hollywood Blvd, be sure to take a look at the Capitol Records Building.  Once you pass that, you'll head into some more "interesting" area such as Thai Town or the Armenian District.  I wouldn't recommend these places for the common tourist, so your safety comes a bit more into question.

When you look at a map of LA, it seems that Long Beach is rather close, but getting there isn't too easy.  Driving through traffic on New Year's Eve is suicide, so we took the Metro down to Long Beach.  While it's a lengthy ride, it's a rather entertaining one.  You've got guys getting on and off the train at different stops selling Ho-Ho's and Ringdings.  You've got stops in luxourious places such as Compton and 103rd street.  You've got guys drinking liquor and trying to ignite their rap career. 

Regardless, of all of the entertainment on the way down, I made it to Long Beach for the first time and it was a beautiful town with LOTS going on down by the harbor.  My foremost intention here was to see this year's Red Bull New Year/No Limits event.  Travis Pastrana would attempt to break the world record for jumping a rally car 200 feet over the ocean onto a barge.

About 30 minutes prior to the event, the place was...for lack of a better word...a zoo.   They had parachute jumpers falling from the sky, all sorts of pre-main event stunts, interviews, etc.

Rather than try and hold up the camera and take a photo, I decided just to take in the whole experience.  It was rather interesting as the crowd must have counted down from 10 to 1 about five times before Pastrana even did his practice run down the runway.  Eventually you heard the loud sounds of him pressing the gas and seconds later everyone could see the car zipping up the ramp and easily clearing the opposite side.  I gotta say, it was pretty wild watching it live!  Then, to top it off, Pastrana run to the top of the ramp and did a backflip into the icey waters below.  If you didn't have a chance to watch the event on ESPN, here's a Youtube video that I found of it.