So Cal Day Two

 In order to avoid the upcoming temperature rise and weekend crowds, we got up and drove back into LA to visit Griffith Park and the Observatory. In order to avoid $10/hour parking fees, we parked at the bottom of the hill and hiked up... 

Built on land donated by the city of Los Angeles, Griffith Observatory, the exhibit hall and planetarium were built by Griffith J. Griffith in 1935. It's been free to the public ever since. The grounds and the views are beautiful! And as a bonus, you can see the Hollywood sign from there...

Although many movies are filmed here, Rebel Without a Cause was the first to portray the site as what it actually is and in a favorable light. The statue was erected in the memory of James Dean...

This couple was having their wedding pictures taken at the observatory...

No big surprise, but the view of LA was really hampered by the smog... :( 

The exhibits are well done and interesting... 

The painting in the rotunda and the Foucault pendulum are both very impressive.

I loved this display made from celestial themed vintage jewelry. It went on for a very long ways!

Wow! This was quite a story!

Over 7 million people have looked at the stars through this 12-inch Zeiss refracting telescope since 1935! Visitors can come back after dark and look through it for free all year round!

We did have to pay for the planetarium show but it was very well done. 

For dinner we drove into downtown LA to visit the popular Grand Central Market. The building was built in 1896 and the market opened in 1917. Andrew Lloyd Wright even had an office here in the 1920s. Now it is just filled with so many places to get interesting and delicious food from around the world...

We were in awe of the giant tiger tail donut! 

Hot honey chicken sammie and fries...

It's not our first date but I figured if it was good enough for Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone in LaLa Land, it was good enough for us... pupusas from Sarita's Pupuseria

We broke up our eating adventure with a ride up Angel's Flight. The original narrow-gauge funicular railway opened in 1901 and ran until 1969. The current railway opened in 1996. The two cars are named Sinai and Olivet. The two-way ticket costs only $1 and included a souvenir ticket. 

Before heading back to the Market, we sat and watched the rehearsal for a show the following night...

We ended the night with vegan ramen from Ramen Hood and a famous strawberry donut from Donut Man... Yum!