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Tuesday morning began with the gang kicking back poolside at the Lodge, abuzz with the yesterday’s excitement as well as the upcoming tour of the WB. 
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Dave pleaded with me not to forget to bring a map.
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| So I paid special attention, and even forgot my camera in order to remember to bring a map. Except that I forgot the map too. An hour after our car left the Sportsmen’s Lodge for the WB, we landed far more by chance than by skill at the entrance to the studio tour- where Courtney had miraculously managed to persuade the guides that we would eventually make it. They rushed us into the theater where the introductory reel was already in progress. Then we went through security, and entered the lot. Although I have no pictures since I forgot my camera- and some sections of the tour were closed for photography- we did get to see a vast number of the facilities and sets used across decades of classic entertainment production. We sat in the seats of the soundstage used by Full House, Friends, and soon Joey; walked through a number of outdoor sets used by ER; past the entrance to the West Wing White House; strolled through the New England town in the last episode of Seinfeld; explored one of the houses featured on Gilmore Girls; and almost caught a scene of the show in production- except they were a bit behind schedule and had to shoot after our tour ended. Around 2:00 when our tour was over, we were all hungry- and a restaurant with “Milano” in its name wasn’t far away. So we drove on over to Milano’s Pizzeria a few blocks down from the recently burned SafeSearching office. In fact- there parking was so sparse on Cahuenga that we ended up parking in the lot of the old SafeSearching office to eat at Milano’s Pizzeria! Somewhere along the way I managed to find my camera in the back of the car. | |
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And shot away as we began eating.
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Here’s my only photo of Libby’s dad- as our camera craze spread to him during the meal. |
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Before long at all we found ourselves approaching Manhattan beach. How cool is it to be in a place named after a place near where Alyssa once lived while in a place near Alyssa? (Probably about as cool as it is confusing.)
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As we approached the ocean, the scenery was amazing. |
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So we took pictures
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And more pictures |
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Admiring the view
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And just taking it easy. |
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Though I’ve never been off the continent, it’s hard to imagine few places in the world as beautiful as the California coastline. Approaching the beach, we admired the scenery 
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And shared the moment with each other |
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Silhouettes against the sky.
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After capturing a few last pics |
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We arrived at the beach
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Where I got so carried away playing Frisbee that I forgot to take any pictures. After several hours in the sun, the girls decided to go shopping. And I went with them to capture a photo history of every purchase- for insurance purposes of course. Did Eli get her receipt? I think this one is free!  |
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Lizzy and Kyan with their Japanese bead pillows. For the rest of the week since this moment, the girls and those pillows were inseparable.
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Remember the latenight gang, with its red-eyed Lizzy? |
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As was the plan nearly every night, we boarded James’s BMW to cruise through Tourist Capital USA. Tonight’s trip took us to Tinseltown, where we checked out the Walk of Fame star of Alyssa’s present boss. 
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But on the way, we had a much more direct encounter with Alyssa herself. Or at least her cardboard likeness. Lizzy took my camera and captured the moment that cardboard Alyssa and I met. The earthquake coincidental with our encounter echoed that we were meant to be together. Either that or had something to do with forgetting to bring a tripod.  |
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It was hard to say goodbye to Alyssa. But she’s always in my heart. Suddenly were called away by the LAPD to help them solve a Hollywood mystery. Apparently some stars had vandalized the sidewalk in front of Gruman’s Chinese Theater, and we were the only ones trained by enough Trivial Pursuit to match the handprints with a few suspect names. 
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We were on the case for hours, looking at the handprints then reading the signatures beneath to close the cases. This scandal threatens to shake Hollywood to its core- even stars that had died decades ago may soon face prison time for defacing a world-famous theater.  |
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With the case finally wrapped, we all did a high five and ascended the red carpet at the home of the Academy awards. 
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Kodak Theater is a fancy new addition to Hollywood Boulevard.
Unfortunately the grounds were closing just behind us as we passed, and so that was the extent of our Kodak moment.
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