If there is something everybody should do once in their life - it is to take a helicopter tour of their own city.

This past weekend we did just the same and went flying with Celebrity Helicopters’ very own Robin Petgrave. Our flight was something that we probably won’t ever forget and included dropping our jaws to all the Celebrity homes, flying directly over the sky scrapers in Downtown, cruising around the Peninsula in Palos Verdes and munching on Crickets… yes, Crickets.

With Celebrity Helicopters located in Compton, Ca (www.celebheli.com) you can pretty much customize any tour you want in Los Angeles and decide what you want to see. Robin put together a special tour for us and flew us from his location in Compton, CA to Santa Monica where we had lunch at the very exotic asian cuisine- Typhoon. I’ve never formally seen Insects and Amphibians on a menu before so this was definitely a first. Maybe I have seen it before, but not in a place where you least expect it… c’mon, ‘aviations peoples’ and insects??? - who would’ve known.

So we sat down at Typhoon located at the Santa Monica Airport and commenced our brunch with mimosas accompanied with Crickets. Now, I must say I like Crickets… they were delicious. Would I do them again?.. hmm.. I think I’d try the ants or another insect on the menu first. But, we had a really nice lunch at Typhoon restaurant - which IS just a really tasty cuisine to eat in Santa Monica… I am definitely going back. The asian food is well done and the Filipino Pork Adobo was perfect. The Adobo was so good.. I wanted to tell all my Titas to go there and watch the chefs because Typhoon’s was not dry… hehe.

After lunch Robin landed and picked us up to fly us around Santa Monica, Venice Beach and deep into Brentwood. We saw Muscle Beach, Venice Beach, Santa Monica Pier, Will Rogers Beach, the California Incline and the large condo high-rises adjacent to Will Rogers beach where Britney apparently has a condo.

When we flew into Brentwood we cruised over the Riviera Golf Course & Country Club and over some of the celebrity homes like Bill Cosby’s. Most of the homes and properties we surveyed were breath-taking to see from the sky. Robin, however, told us these were “nothing” compared to what we were about to see in a minute.

As we zipped by the Getty Center, 405 Freeway, UCLA and Westwood…. we flew east into Bel Air and deep into Beverly Hills where we saw Mansions of the rich and famous. In Beverly Hills we gawked at the mansions of David Beckham, Aaron Spelling, Prince, Tom Cruise, Ellen, Lionel Ritchie and the Playboy Mansion to name a few. We saw so many mansions we were almost disgusted in a good way. I mean these homes were so massive and beautifully-kept that we felt our humble homes were probably much smaller than Tom Cruise’s servants. It was a horrible feeling - but we loved it.

Amazed with what we saw in Beverly Hills, Robin turned up the chopper another knot and whirled us over to an area that just blew our socks off - the MEGA MANSIONS of BEVERLY PARK. Now the Mansions in Beverly Hills were huge but they looked like the slums when compared to Beverly Park. Beverly Park is apparently an enclave nestled DEEP into Beverly Hills and is where Denzel Washington, Rod Stewart, Eddie Murphy, Saban, Vanna White and a bunch of other Celebrities call “home”. I certainly did not call these “homes” because they looked like Hotels and Resorts when cruising over them. How can Eddie Murphy’s 77,000 Square Foot MEGA MANSION be called a home… it was sooooo huge…. but definitely not the prettiest home in The Park… maybe I am just jealous.

After feeling like the Paparazzi parlaying in The Park, we cruised over the Sunset Strip, Hollywood Bowl, Universal City, Hollywood Sign, Mann’s Chinese Theatre over to the Silver Lake area. We cruised right above Dodger Stadium and through the sky scrapers in Downtown we felt like the Dodgers… because we were dodging buildings. I will never forget when Robin pulled the helicopter sideways directly over the US Bank Library Tower… it was a crazy feeling hovering sideways above the tallest building in LA. It was a thrill.

After we cruised through Downtown LA, we passed USC, The Olympic Colosseum, propelled through LA’s historic South Central area (where The Los Angeles Riots took place) onto The South Bay…what I call the “Gem of Los Angeles”.

Now the South Bay is where I grew up but still amazes me how beautiful yet taboo it remains today. Many people hardly see it when they come to Los Angeles and the people who live in LA hardly know about it. That’s why I think taking this helicopter flight was so cool - because my two friends who lived in LA discovered a new area they didn’t know was so beautiful.

We coasted down from Manhattan Beach to Hermosa Beach to Redondo Beach to Palos Verdes. Hovering alongside Palos Verdes (or “PV” as I grew up calling it) was certainly a “cliff-side experience”. In PV we saw beautiful homes in the $10-20 Million price ranges that crowned the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. We also saw the new exclusive development called “Terranea”, The Trump Golf Course, nude people in the bushes at the nude beaches, Portugese Bend and just the beauty of the blue waters contrasted with the green landscapes… We even saw Dolphins hanging out with the Surfers… it was too good to be true.

After we cruised through PV, we headed into the Port of Los Angeles where we saw Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro Marina, Ports O’Call Village and Vincent St. Thomas Bridge. As we passed through the logistics industry which houses all the imports and exports for the region we even had a documentary experience noticing the shipping containers at the port, train tracks, and shipping yards. We noticed MANY containers just waiting to be consumed by America and also MANY cars just waiting to be purchased - all imported mostly from Asia.

After Terminal Island we whirled by the World Cruise Center, snapped photos of the Queen Mary and headed into Long Beach where we saw the Aquarium, Long Beach’s Downtown Sky Scrapers and the yachts parked in the marina. After Long Beach we headed back to the Compton Woodley Airport and thanked Robin for our amazing and truly “once-in-a-lifetime” experience.

We really enjoyed our helicopter sightseeing tour of Los Angeles with Celebrity Helicopters. Our flight was almost an hour long but we saw so many sites that it felt our tour was much longer. Celebrity Helicopters has many tours which go to different parts of Los Angeles and different tours which have different features.

Some of the tours Celebrity Helicopters offers:

Beach Cities Flight - strictly the South Bay Area where you see all the beaches from Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes, Port of Los Angeles to Long Beach Marina. This is pretty much the later portion of the tour I flew for only $99 Per Person*. For more information, www.celebheli.com/beachcities/

Celebrity Homes Tour - this is definitely one of the coolest tours where you can see all the Celebrity Homes and whirl through Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Universal Studios, and through Downtown Los Angeles. This is pretty much the first half of the tour I flew with them. Only $169 Per Person*. For more information, www.celebheli.com/celebrityhomes/

The VIP Grand Tour - this tour basically includes both the Celebrity Homes Tour & The Beach Cities Tour into one really cool tour. For only $50 more with “The Hollywood Style Upgrade” you can really make it happening with a bottle of Champagne and hours devours . Only $249 Per Person*. For more information, www.celebheli.com/vipgrand/

The Deluxe Night Tour (www.deluxenight.com) - they pick you up from your home with a mini-limo, take you to a really nice restaurant called Da Vinci’s in Long Beach… then pick you up with the helicopter for a 35-minute night flight before you land back in Long Beach and feast on an all-inclusive cuisine. Starting at $299 per person and includes a ride to and from the restaurant, dinner, flight, t-shirt, keep-sake photo and champagne. Perfect for Valentines Day or a special occasion. For more information, www.deluxenight.com

The Custom Tour Package - go anywhere your heart desires from Catalina to Malibu. Propose to that special someone and do it in a very unique and special way. For more information, http://www.celebheli.com/customtour/

*The “Hollywood Style” Upgrade - Don’t forget to upgrade your tour for only $50, which includes Champagne, Hors Devours, a T-Shirt and keep-sake photo.

Regardless of what budget you’re on or what occasion it is for - birthdays, weddings, honeymoon, tourist, hot date - taking a helicopter tour in Los Angeles is something I highly recommend doing whether you’re visiting or if you live here. It’s a fun time you won’t forget

For more information on Celebrity Helicopters Sightseeing Tours please visit their site at www.celebheli.com/tours/ or you can reach them at 1-877-899-2099.

A helicopter tour is definitely the coolest thing you can do in Los Angeles…. and Celebrity Helicopters definitely made us feel like we were Celebrities!

Thank you Celebrity Helicopters.