Saturday In The Park, It Was Almost Christmastime
Here in Los Angeles, during the winter holiday season, various tourist attractions start getting all decorative. Poles and buildings get festooned with garland, lights, and wreaths. Trees sparkle with lights and pretty baubles. Sometimes even outdoor ice skating rinks pop up. Last year, there was one at Universal City Walk but this year, one popped up in Pershing Square (which is a park in downtown L.A.).
In my quest to do something Christmas-y and cheap, I thought I might go downtown and take in the festivities of Pershing Square. I had decided to do it last weekend but I ended up not feeling well so I waited until this weekend. I looked up the location on-line to see what sort of things would be there and found out that there was actually going to be a Winter Holiday Festival this weekend from 12pm-7pm. According to the website, there was going to be entertainment, photos with Santa, booths, and food trucks. This sounded pretty fun. So, my friend Amanda and I took the train from North Hollywood to Pershing Square and were prepared to get our Christmas on.
I'm not gonna lie to ya, Marge. Pershing Square was disappointing. While there was the ice skating rink (which was a $9 entrance fee and a $3 skate rental) and a "snow zone" where you could go sledding, there wasn't much else. Santa wasn't there for pictures. There were only 3 food trucks (and to be honest, none of them looked appetizing). All the "booths" weren't vendors selling anything, but just local companies trying to build brand awareness (like, there was an insurance company there). There was a stage for entertainment and when we arrived, a dance recital was happening, but after that, nothing. An "Elf Olympics" area was set up and it was an area where people could play midway-type games with a Christmas elf theme but they didn't give out prizes or anything. I have a feeling that it probably would've been nicer at night because in the harsh light of the day (and it was pretty warm and super sunny), it wasn't that great. Honestly, it took us longer to get to Pershing Square than it did for us to walk around and look at everything. *sigh* One bright spot: we did find a little cart selling roasted candied nuts so I bought us some pecans to tide us over until we could get food.
After taking a few pictures, we then decided to hop on the subway and go to either Hollywood and Highland or to Universal City Walk. After discussing it, we decided Hollywood and Highland would be a better bet because the subway station lets you out right at the complex, whereas with Universal, you have to cross the street, then take a tram to get to the City Walk area. At Hollywood and Highland, we walked around a bit to take in what all was there. Normally, there's a big fountain in the middle courtyard area, but it was turned off for the holidays. In the middle, there were 2 big areas for photo opportunities. One was photos with Santa. The other was a snow globe (with "snow") and you could take your own photos. Both required you to pay a fee though. Off to the side, there was a guy who was taking a chainsaw to big ice blocks to make ice sculptures. We watched him for about 30 seconds then moved on to find food. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen (or CPK, as we call it) and had a late lunch, then just sat around and chatted for a bit. After taking some more pictures, we went to a store so Amanda could see if they had a product that she had been wanting. While she did that, I just took some random pictures of things. Once we were done, we headed back to the subway station, then sat down there and waited until a train came that wasn't jam-packed.
Back in North Hollywood, we got back to the car, then decided to hit the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for some coffee. After coffee had been procured, she dropped me back off at home and I proceeded to download pictures to Facebook and to my Photobucket account (view pictures here).
All in all, a disappointing Christmas-y day but I had a good time hanging out with a friend.
In my quest to do something Christmas-y and cheap, I thought I might go downtown and take in the festivities of Pershing Square. I had decided to do it last weekend but I ended up not feeling well so I waited until this weekend. I looked up the location on-line to see what sort of things would be there and found out that there was actually going to be a Winter Holiday Festival this weekend from 12pm-7pm. According to the website, there was going to be entertainment, photos with Santa, booths, and food trucks. This sounded pretty fun. So, my friend Amanda and I took the train from North Hollywood to Pershing Square and were prepared to get our Christmas on.
I'm not gonna lie to ya, Marge. Pershing Square was disappointing. While there was the ice skating rink (which was a $9 entrance fee and a $3 skate rental) and a "snow zone" where you could go sledding, there wasn't much else. Santa wasn't there for pictures. There were only 3 food trucks (and to be honest, none of them looked appetizing). All the "booths" weren't vendors selling anything, but just local companies trying to build brand awareness (like, there was an insurance company there). There was a stage for entertainment and when we arrived, a dance recital was happening, but after that, nothing. An "Elf Olympics" area was set up and it was an area where people could play midway-type games with a Christmas elf theme but they didn't give out prizes or anything. I have a feeling that it probably would've been nicer at night because in the harsh light of the day (and it was pretty warm and super sunny), it wasn't that great. Honestly, it took us longer to get to Pershing Square than it did for us to walk around and look at everything. *sigh* One bright spot: we did find a little cart selling roasted candied nuts so I bought us some pecans to tide us over until we could get food.
After taking a few pictures, we then decided to hop on the subway and go to either Hollywood and Highland or to Universal City Walk. After discussing it, we decided Hollywood and Highland would be a better bet because the subway station lets you out right at the complex, whereas with Universal, you have to cross the street, then take a tram to get to the City Walk area. At Hollywood and Highland, we walked around a bit to take in what all was there. Normally, there's a big fountain in the middle courtyard area, but it was turned off for the holidays. In the middle, there were 2 big areas for photo opportunities. One was photos with Santa. The other was a snow globe (with "snow") and you could take your own photos. Both required you to pay a fee though. Off to the side, there was a guy who was taking a chainsaw to big ice blocks to make ice sculptures. We watched him for about 30 seconds then moved on to find food. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen (or CPK, as we call it) and had a late lunch, then just sat around and chatted for a bit. After taking some more pictures, we went to a store so Amanda could see if they had a product that she had been wanting. While she did that, I just took some random pictures of things. Once we were done, we headed back to the subway station, then sat down there and waited until a train came that wasn't jam-packed.
Back in North Hollywood, we got back to the car, then decided to hit the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for some coffee. After coffee had been procured, she dropped me back off at home and I proceeded to download pictures to Facebook and to my Photobucket account (view pictures here).
All in all, a disappointing Christmas-y day but I had a good time hanging out with a friend.