Ok you guys - so here is the story - and I am just going to start by saying that everyone was so wonderful and gracious - it made the trip FANTASTIC!
We left early in the morning and took our flight out of DCA - Reagan International. I saw Aaron Birch there - which was fun - but then I saw him getting on my flight to Phoenix. So - I wonder what the odds are of this: his first flight left without him and he was re-routed and actually assigned to the seat next to me. We had a great flight to Phoenix and then said our goodbyes and Marian and I went on to L.A. We got to the airport and walked out and saw our driver holding a sign for "FERGUSON" Well, we said we were Fergus - and he took us. He was really fun and was a great first impression of the city. We got to the hotel and met the Best Buy people and then checked in. Our room wasn't ready so we went to eat at California Pizza Kitchen - it just seemed fitting. We met a crazy man there - Daniel. He told us he was an actual time traveler and he was in a movie coming out soon. So - yeah - he was insane. We then went and got in our room and rested for a little before we went to the "Meet and Greet" with the other winners. Everyone was so fun! We had catered appetizers by Wolfgang Puck. The Best Buy people were so great! They came around and met us and talked to us and we just had an awesome time getting to know the winners. They said that 75,000 people entered. There were a lot of winners from Texas. There was a good mix of colors and ages - and different parts of the country. We met a young couple who just got married and had a great time talking with them and then other people. We then left the party and took a stroll down "The Walk of Fame" and on the way a guy doing caricatures said would do mine for free if we tried to get other people to sit down while he was drawing. So he drew me for free and we tried to get him some business. Then we went to Grauman's Chinese Theater and took pictures of the foot/hand prints. We had a great time there. There were a ton of people from all kinds of places. They have character's dressed up and working there for tourists to take pictures. I saw people dressed up like Spider Man, Marilyn Monroe, KISS, Cat Woman, Cookie Monster, Jimmy Neutron, and Jack Sparrow. We saw a couple of street performers and then went back to the hotel and went to bed early - even though to us it was pretty late.
We got up early the next morning and had breakfast at this little crepe place and then booked a tour. While we waited for the tour we went shopping for souveneirs. Dane was the only lucky duck who got anything because everything looked so cheesy and it was just too expensive. So we went in a couple of different places and then headed for our tour. We went to a lookout of L.A. and a place were you could see the Hollywood sign. Then we went around and saw several homes. There was a poster for a lost dog and a $2,500.00 reward. Apparently Jack Nicholson's neighbor's are pretty young, and loud and he's called the police several times to break up their parties - and now their dog is missing. You do the spectulating. We saw Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, and of course Hollywood Blvd. We had an awesome tour. Then we ate lunch and did a little bit more window shopping and headed back to the room for a quick nap. We got ready and went to the party. Again - catered by Wolfgang Puck. We had a great time - met some more of the winners who came late. The music was good - but got better when my sister started requesting songs. We waited anxiously and they put us in groups to meet him. Then FINALLY he CAME!! He was so wonderful. Met every person, and shook their hands and gave me and my sister a kiss on the cheek!!! We also got to speak with Jada and tell her that my dad's favorite movie is Kingdom Come and she perked up a bit when we told her that. It was wonderful. AND YES! She is tiny! We of course being rule keepers did not bring our cameras and therefore did not get any pictures other than the ones that they took and said they would send to us. I was a bit upset when I saw other people taking pictures, but we weren't the only ones without cameras. We then walked down all together to the theater. We went straight in and sat in our seats. OK - that was dumb - but I did get up to go to the bathroom and walked right by Ray Ramano!! Then I met Queen Latifah! When Marian went to the bathroom she met Kevin James and Jamie Fox. We then sat there and waited for people to take their seats. Will finally came in and we started the movie.
The movie is AWESOME - everyone should go see it! I really enjoyed it - but I was in the third row back - so I gotta see it again in the middle middle so I can see it without my eyes crossing. After the movie was over - we walked over to the after party. On the way - we met Damon Wayans and saw a ton of people I recognize - but I didn't know their names. We met Sinbad and his son or grandson that was with him was a spitting image. We walked in and walked around and took in the layout. There were three screens and they had various things playing on them. Scenes from the movie - interviews - it was great. We walked around and met Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron, Minnie Driver, and had a great time. Will Smith got there and walked to the stage - on the way there he walked right by me and recognized me from the party and put his hand on my shoulder and said "Hey, how you doing?" I soaked it all up. We followed him to the stage and he got on, we were about 10 feet away. He then said thank you to everyone - the director, writers, and of course his co-stars. THEN - he gave an impromptu concert and there was a girl there who requested him to sing the Fresh Prince theme song. It was great. He sang that, Summertime, Miami, Gettin' Jiggy With it, and one or two more. He then left DJ Jazzy Jeff up there to do the music. We walked around some more- found a table and sat down. I got up again to dance and came back after a song or two. There were some women dancing near us and I saw something fall on the ground. I picked up this jeweled flower which was ginormous and I was trying to see if it fell off her dress or something - but I went up to her anyway and it was Vivica A. Fox - and she looked down at her ring and the band was still there but it was the setting that had popped out. She was astounded and said it would have been devastating because it was worth $20,000.00!! (Not in those words) So she asked for my name and address to send me something. I don't really expect anything - because she could have lost the address - but the thought was nice. She and her friends hung around for awhile - and patted me and rubbed my arm as if they were basking in greatness. That was the BEST feeling. After awhile - we took one more round and then headed back to the room exhausted. We went to sleep - got up and had more crepes for breakfast and then checked out and headed for the airport in our car. Our flight was early and we got home about 9:30 pm. It was absolutely amazing and like I said everyone was gracious. And now - Vivica A. Fox is my BFF. :)
