TRAVEL BY NIC…….The Perpetual Tourist!

Paramount Studio Tours, 5555 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA

Does my husband know me or what?!  For Valentine’s Day we toured Paramount Studios.  It was a very informative, intimate 2 hour studio tour.  I love being a able to check this studio off of my list of places to see.  So far I’ve toured Universal, MGM, Disney and Paramount Studios.  Each one has a very unique feel to it.

Universal is part of a theme park and so you experience a lot o studio history with a lot of theme park elements.  You will ride in large trams that offer videos as your riding through the tour.  MGM is one of my favorites!  You are on a small tram that includes video but what I LOVED about this tour……they let you off of the tram!  You get to walk onto some of the sets!  They let you walk through their awesome prop house and one of their biggest features….you get to experience the Friends set and take pictures.  Very fun..  Disney is Disney, what more could I say?!  This is a great walking tour that takes you into historic buildings where the magic was made.  They have an awesome archive area and a beautiful park area with autographs in cement of several of  famous Disney’s actors and cast members/

Paramount is very historical.  When you walk through those beautiful gates you can feel the history.  You meet your guide at the gift store and I do love that you tootle around in a small golf cart that fits 6 people.

We got to experience the legendary Bronson Gates and we learned that the fountain in front of the gates is supposed to replicate the Mountain that is Paramounts trademark logo. We also got to walk around several of the sets where they explain the magic of Hollywood.  We end the tour in their prop room but to be honest, it’s more of a display rather than an actual prop house.

I loved hearing about DesiLou productions, Sitting on Forest Gump’s park bench, and hearing about Glee filming areas.  I found it interesting how they are able to fill one of their parking lots full of water and using a green screen on one of the buildings they are able to film awesome ocean illusions.

This tours is $53 per person but I preferred this experience over an expansive Valentines dinner!  Thank you John!!!

Pinks, 709 N La Brea, Los Angeles,

I had to eat at this iconic LA place!  Pinks has been in the same location for over 75 years and has been in several movies and TV shows.  Because of it’s fame, expect to wait over an hour to be served.  While waiting in line, do not be surprised to see celebrities, politicians or sports heros either in line with you or rolling up in their fancy cars to cut in line!

Where else can you eat hot dog or polish sausages creations with names like: “Hollywood Walk of Fame Dog”, “The Brando Dog”, “Three Dog Night”?  I tried the Polish Pastrami Dog that popped when I bit into it. (Delish!)   The dogs range in price, your basic chili dog is $4.20, but some of the specialty dogs can run up to $9.

You gotta experience Pinks, but make sure you’ve cut out the time to wait in line!