The Making of an Actress: Sightseeing in LA

Here is the third post in collaboration with my agency, Exxcel Model & Talent, Inc., about my previous trip to LA and the progression of my career. You can find it here on over on Exxcel's blog, Exxcel EDGE. 

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​https://exxcelblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/sightseeing-in-la-from-the-eyes-of-a-tourist/

LA is arguably one of the most popular tourist capitals of the world. There is so much going on all the time— people giving tours, people searching for celebrities houses, etc. Our round of sight-seeing, however, didn’t take the touristy route. Letting the wind take us, my dad and I had a list of places in our minds that we wanted to visit and we simply just wandered around, looking for them all with ease.
Los Angeles is the complete opposite of the life that I’m used to living back home. Going from pine trees and silence to palm trees and adventure around every corner is such a drastic, life changing transition. It really makes me appreciate the differences between the two areas.
We ventured down the famous Sunset Boulevard, which eventually lead us into Beverly Hills. Beverly Hills might just be one of my favorite areas in Los Angeles, because while it is still heavily populated, it’s much more calm than the rest of the city. We made our way to Rodeo Drive and explored the designer shops that I could only ever dream of being wealthy enough to shop at. With me being a shop-o-holic, the temptation around every corner was excruciating. Eventually, we found the well-recognized Beverly Hills sign, along with the renowned Beverly Hills Hotel. Seeing these places in real life, rather than just in pictures online blew me away.
We eventually made our way to the Griffith Observatory to get a look at the Hollywood sign. While the observatory itself was remarkable, along with the view of the city it provided, it was a bit too far from the sign for my taste, so we made an effort to get closer. My dad and I drove around and eventually found a trail that takes you right beneath the iconic sign. We were so close that if we wanted to touch it, we could feasibly. It was difficult to fight the urge to!
Staying in Hollywood, we drove down Hollywood Boulevard. Since it was packed by the time we got there and there was no place to park, we scoped out the key spots from the car window. We drove past the TLC Chinese Theater, as well as the Dolby Theater where they
hold the Academy Awards every year. Just the thought of all of the brilliant actors who had once been right where I was looking was cooler than life. We also caught a glimpse of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as the Capitol Records building. They all seemed so intriguing from a far, so we planned on parking and getting a closer view later in the week.
Venturing out of Hollywood, we made our way to Santa Monica where one of my favorite shows were filmed — Californication. Seeing the homes and locations from the show up close and personal made me happier than I had expected. It was almost like I was walking around in my favorite show. It was definitely an experience that I’ll never forget. Our journey to Santa Monica made my dad particularly happy because we just to happened to pass the Hotel California, the subject of one of his favorite Eagles songs.
On the way back to our rental home, we stopped in Universal City to check out the well-known City Walk. Ending our day right with some Jamba Juice underneath the famous Universal Globe, looking back on all of the ground that we had covered, my urge to go back home at the end of the week slowly grew smaller and smaller. Just grazing the surface of the biggest city in the United States was enough to convince me that Los Angeles needed to one day be the place that I call home.

Be sure to stay tuned for more posts from The Making of an Actress. x
-Samantha Baldwin 

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