Harry Potter and West LA

Sunday 15 October we visited Universal Studios Hollywood with Daniel, Katy, and Evy. The haze had lifted in the night and it was a dazzlingly clear day. We were excited to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was fun but just a bit underwhelming. The theming was excellent, but the "land" is very small with only two rides, one of which, The Flight of the Hippogriff, is primarily for kids. We had an excellent lunch at The Three Broomsticks. They serve English fare and it is very good! Unfortunately, Daniel felt lousy and by lunchtime was seriously ill. We had seen and done pretty much everything we came to do, so we headed out by early afternoon. That didn't bother us because the rest of Universal Studios is really unremarkable.

The Colvers headed home to Utah, and Kris and I had a driving tour of West Los Angeles, visiting some of my childhood haunts. We met Phillip in Westwood at the temple and went to supper. He was going to stay with us, but Meags and the kids didn't make standby, so he returned to LAX to pick them up for a hotel stay that night. The next morning we met Phillip at the Port of Long Beach where he left his car for shipping to Hawaii. He joined us for the trip home, which was good with Dan Brown's Origin playing the entire way.

 Headed down Highway 2, the Glendale Freeway 

on a crisp, clear morning

 Looking forward to an adventure

 Making our way to Harry Potter

 Entrance to Hogsmeade in the bright morning light

 Exploring narrow lanes

 Hogwarts looming over Hogsmeade

View from Hogwarts back to Hogsmeade

 Dogweed and Deathcap Exotic Plants and Flowers

 Owl Post

 Young Evelyn Alta fascinated by window displays

 Because the window displays...

 ...are fascinating

 Going up the Hogwarts grand staircase for the HP and the 

Forbidden Journey ride

 Hagrid's Hut in the line for The Flight of the Hippogriff

 Hippogriff tracks with Hogwarts in the rear

 Fun but short (40 seconds) ride

 Katy Kathryn headed back into Hogsmeade

 Butterbeer for sale

 The Three Broomsticks

 Wonderful beamed interior

 Katy and Evy share shepherd's pie while 

Daniel tries to feel better

 Krisy and Dickie enjoying a great meal

Sticky toffee pudding and bangers and mash: really good!

 Honeyduke's

 Lots of good theming

 French Street

 This was the only place with something for Evy

She's in there with Katy

Headed home

 Beverly Hills Civic Center snapped on our 

round-West-LA driving tour

 This view hasn't changed since my time in LA in 1955

 Stephen and I plucked coins from these fountains in the 1950s

A little supper on Westwood Boulevard

This was a fun day overall, but if I were comparing Harry Potter at Universal to the Warner Brothers tour in England,  the experience in England would win hands down. Harry Potter was good, but Universal lacks the magic of Disneyland. Too bad Disney didn't get the rights.

That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Wedding Saturday

14 October Kris and I spent the morning at Griffith Observatory and driving nearby in search of a Costco with a gas station; turns out Burbank was the place. We met our kids and the Gibbs in Pasadena for lunch at El Cholo. Back at the Airbnb, Evy napped again and everyone got ready for the wedding at Descanso Gardens just a couple of blocks away. It was a beautiful evening and the wedding was very nice with nephew Tom Taylor presiding. Apart from the couple, of course, Evy was the star of the show. And in a performance that could have gone way wrong, she was perfect. Back at Brig and Michelle's, the reception unfolded with hors d'oeuvres and drinks, followed by artisan pizza, etc. The dessert cart was run by ice cream nazis who were reluctant to serve until the wedding planner gave the word. It was a delightful evening.

 Hollywood Hills from the Griffith Observatory

 Hooray for Hollywood

 Art-Deco solid

 Beaux-Arts detail

 Downtown LA through the haze

 Griffith Observatory

 Kristina and Michael

 Ensign-Reese end of the table

 D&K and the Colvers

 Michelle Gibbs and the Taylors

 Tout ensemble

 Tout ensemble (again)

 Buddies since birth

 A delightful get together

 Taylors and Michael

 Marengo Avenue in Pasadena

 The family gathered at Descanso Gardens

 Phil and family together for a couple of days

 Flower girl and her dadda

 Just like it was rehearsed

 She stole the show

 The Carpenters

 Arriving at the reception

 Tasty appetizers

 

 The crowd hadn't quite reached critical mass

 Brother Hank arriving

 The Dickies at table 22

 A jolly crew

 Cutting the cake

 They made a mess of the cake or better said, of themselves

The dress

That's a wrap for the day. It was a good one. More to come, but that's all for now.

OXO

D.