Griffith Observatory

"Over there are the stairs where James Dean had that knife fight in Rebel Without a Cause," Ryan said motioning toward a spiral staircase at the Griffith Observatory.

Staircase Fight Scene - Rebel Without a Cause

More of the Fight Scene Staircase

Although it had only been a few minutes I couldn't remember if they were the same set of stairs we took to get to the second level of the building or not. That's the thing about LA everywhere you go - everywhere you step or turn the place is haunted with Hollywood ghosts - old Hollywood talent. In a way it's a sort of sacred place. It fills your heart and makes you believe all things are possible. Even if you don't act, but write (like me) you can't help but feel the energy that once built this place into what it is today.

And on the second level the views were spectacular and you didn't even have to use the quarter fed binoculars to see the wonderful, sprawling Los Angeles beneath us.  And behind the observatory were the famous letters that spell out "Hollywood." What we didn't know at the time of this visit is there is a bust of James Dean on the west side of the grounds paying homage to his presence there. We'll be looking for that the next time we visit.

How we had come to find Griffith Park was almost and accident. A few days before, in search of a fill-up station and a Bank of America, we found ourselves in Los Feliz. We'd been in Los Feliz before, our second day here in fact. We had to pick up a U-haul and park the Jeep on the street. I found a spot somewhere in Los Feliz not far from the U-haul station. This was surely our second "by mistake visit" to this trendy section of Los Angeles - an area said to be known for its population of hipsters. We found our Bank of America and passed an entrance to Griffith Park, and vowed to return as soon as possible.

On our drive up to the park and observatory we were in awe of the open green spaces and enormous mansions with their gated green yards and castle-esque facades.

"Could you imagine living here?" I asked. "It's beautiful."

As we drove on I spotted a house in the midst of being built or remodeled. It was an eye sore without siding.

"Let's buy that one," I said.

"We could get it for a song," Ryan laughed.

"Maybe our Dads could help us finish building it."

"Yeah and they could live in the guest house," Ryan answered.

And no joke, the guest houses were miniature mansions in and of themselves. Our Griffith Park themed conversation led us to discuss the celebrities we knew of who called this part of town home. We talked about the mountain lion they recently discovered in the park named P-22, and drove past the Greek Theatre and up the voluted road to the observatory. We dove into an empty spot along the roadway. A spot that was still reasonably close to the observatory and walked the rest of the way.

P-22 as captured on film by the brave cameras of the National Park Service

There were many people visiting. To one side you could see the mountains, and to the other you could see the Hollywood hill. In front, down below the observatory was Los Angeles.

We went inside first, but didn't visit for long. There was a nice ceiling and some sort of well or chute that visitors were looking down into, and a string or rope that ran down into the well was being pulled around by many of the visitors.                                   

Domed and painted ceiling upon entering the observatory. Beneath is the well/chute I mentioned

We did not stop to figure out what it was that was going on. I imagine it had something to do with science or the galaxy. The observatory closes at 10 p.m. a beautiful place to gaze at stars if you're into that sort of thing. I used to be a big fan of star gazing when I was in high school. It wasn't until my later years in college that I finally saw my first shooting star. It was miraculous.

Our approach to the Griffith Observatory - Free to the public

Front Lawn

Side View

Two wonderful things to note about this open public space is that the 3,015 acres of land the observatory sits on (the park) was donated to the city of Los Angeles by Griffith J. Griffith, hence the name Griffith Park :) Griffith also left money in his will to be used for the construction of the observatory, exhibit hall, and planetarium.

There was a neat display of costume jewelry arranged in one long sweeping stream. And every so many steps would mark a million years or so.

Displays in other rooms included a moon rock and a 395-pound iron meteorite partly responsible for creating the Barrington Meteor Crater in Arizona.

That bright blue thing encased in glass is a moon rock. 

But a small piece of the iron meteor that created the Barrington Crater

We did not venture into the planetarium. Perhaps another time. We read a little about this and that, but spent a majority of our time outside. We will be taking many more trips here in the future. Hopefully one of those times will be a visit special for star gazing.

Handsome-pants Ryan on our trek up to the observatory

A bit small, but it looks closer in person - The Hollywood Sign

Sweet view of LA from the observatory. Looks like the Land of Oz way off in the distance