Vacation

Mattioli Family Vacation: The California Chapter.

Whew this is going to be a long one. Here's the play by play:

Sunday: The fam: Mom, Dad, Shawn, and his girlfriend Katie arrived on Sunday morning. Bryan would have come, but he was too busy throwing a raging pool party kegger back in the 'Boro. They rolled into B-Wood in a Grand Marquis. I gave the fam a neighborhood tour, we ate at In N' Out, did some grocery shopping, cruised to Beverly Hills, and then went to check in at the hotel in Hollywood. They stayed at the Renaissance Hotel right at the Hollywood and Highland Center. I had to work Monday so after checking in we returned to Brentwood for dinner and the family went back to Hollywood.

Monday: While I worked the family took a scenic drive to Zuma Beach in Malibu. I was pretty jealous. Later on that day, Bobby and I drove down to Hollywood to meet them at Bella Cucina Italiana for dinner. Adam Goldberg (Entourage, Saving Private Ryan, Friends, Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco) was eating a few booths down from us. We also saw restaurateur T.J. Torregiani (Paula Abdul's new boyfriend). After dinner we toured around the Hollywood area to see the Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame, and the freaks. The Hollywood and Highland Center is awesome. It is built right off the Kodak Theatre and it is like an outdoor mall. It is really nice looking and hopefully a sign of what's to come for the otherwise very trashy Hollywood. Later we hit the hotel pool. It was freezing, but i had to dive in because I miss having a pool. The time came for Bobby and I to cruise back down the Sunset Strip to Brentwood.

Tuesday: Again I had to work so the rents and kids took some tours and drove around Los Angeles. Actually they just sat in traffic. They picked me up from Beckman in Fullerton and we cruised to Angels stadium for the Sox game. The Sox got CRUSHED and the Angels fans were obnoxious. I guess Angel Stadium (or Fenway West, home of Redsox Nation West) has a huge rat problem. It was documented in the local newspapers as well as in the Washington Post the week we were there. The stadium had 118 violatons over 2 years in comparison to 2 at Petco Park and 7 at Dodger Stadium. I completely understood when we arrived as I saw rats with my own eyes, about 35,000 of them, all dressed in Angels gear. I crashed at the hotel Tuesday night because we had early plans for Wednesday.

Wednesday: Rise and Shine for breakfast at Johnny Rocket's. Surprisingly great breakfast at this place. We took the 101 to Universal Studios. What a great place, I should get a job there. A job making movies there. We did some of the special effects shows and then went on the studio tour. I loved every second of it. We watched some more shows and rode The Mummy ride and such. It is kind of a small place. I feel like this one is more of a studio and less of a theme park while the Florida version is the opposite. Late in the afternoon we headed back to Hollywood. Mom and I drove to Brentwood and then Santa Monica for the sunset while Dad napped and Shawn and Katie went to a movie.

Thursday: We woke up early yet again and headed down to Huntington Beach. We ate on Main Street at the Sugar Shack. I had never ate there before, but I heard nothing but good things from my hungover friends who frequented the place. After breakfast we walked down Main Street and the pier before hitting the beach. The waves in Huntington this day were the biggest of the summer. They were definitely the biggest I had seen in HB. Shawn and Katie rented boogie boards and we hit the water. I was having a blast catching waves and definitely impressed Shawn and Katie. At one point I was easily 10 feet in the air on a wave. Exhausted from the beach we drove to Southcoast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Not our kind of mall (I have no need for Armani, Jimmy Choo, nor Burberry) so we skipped shopping and went to dinner in Newport. Post dinner we tried to explore Laguna, but every tourist in OC had the same idea. After struggling to find a parking spot we called it quits and headed back North to The LA.

Friday: Friday was supposed to be the return to Universal Studios but I lazied out. While the fam headed back to the park I slept in. When they got back to the hotel we drove to the Beverly Center Mall. We ate at Chipotle and did some shopping. From there we went to Venice Beach. Friday night we went to see the new Harry Potter at Mann's Chinese Theatre before calling it a night. I thought the new Harry was decent, but the books put the movies to shame. It was at this point that my camera died. No more pics from me.

Saturday: The fam had a flight out of LAX in the afternoon, so in the morning we slept in a bit then drove back to Brentwood. We hung out at the LA Chalet for a bit and had a jam session with Bobby. In the afternoon when the fam left I got ready for valet. Credit to Shawn for the pics. Overall it was a fun week. It was good to see Mom, Dad, and Shawn (and Katie). It as also nice to have a break from work. It's always nice to have the excuse to be a tourist in LA because there are so many things to do and so much to see.

Here are some photos, I tried to format the photos in, but because this is THE WORST BLOG SITE on the internet I spent 3+ hours on it and it wouldn't work correctly. California Album is the link to my Snapfish where all my pics are hosted.