Seeing The Stars Hollow Gilmore Girls Town

When we rounded the corner in the golf cart on our WB Studio Tour and I saw the town, I gasped. 

Stars Hollow.

The fictional town I had seen on television for years. And I was there. 

I admit, tears prickled my eyes because it was all just so surreal. I could hear the famous la-la-las in my head. 

I've been a fan of Gilmore Girls for years, ever since the show first came out on the WB Network. I watched again when my daughter was a baby and refused to sleep. She'd be on my lap and I'd be like, "That's Lorelai. We love her. That's Luke. We want them to get together. Max is sweet but isn't right for Lorelai." I'd also urge her to be Team Jess.

And lucky me, she's 17 now and loves the show as I do. So when I peeked over as we rolled into Stars Hollow, I wasn't surprised to see her emotional as well. 

The famous gazebo came into view. 

I knew who the houses in the background belonged to. Lane Kim's. Sookie's. Scenes from the show played in my head. All the different festivals. All the times the town was decorated for the holidays. Fall. Winter. Spring.

A thousand yellow daisies. 

We passed by Stars Hollow High, Rory's former school before she went to Chilton. 

There was the church were Luke and Lorelai destroyed the bells. Oh, and there was where the town loner protested and no one quite figured out what he was shouting. 

"Stop the Noodle Scooze!" is what Lorelai thought he shouted from the window at the top.

There was Gypsy's mechanic spot where she'd crush dreams and say how bad of shape your vehicle was in:

Yes, we got to walk around a bit. Before the tour began our guide was like, "The rules are to stay with me and not to run off."

I laughed and said, "Who would run off?" but I understood when we got to Stars Hollow. I wanted to run off and stand close to the buildings I had grown up with. 

WE WERE IN STARS HOLLOW!

Why weren't more people thrilled about this? I mean, look at the people in the background. They look....dare I say...BORED? But how? 

We walked over to Sookie's house and were told what all true Gilmore Girl's fans already know. That behind the house is Lorelai's. That walking through Sookie's garage leads you to Lorelai's. Duh. 

As Natalie and I walked through the garage we were shaking with excitement. The other people in our group didn't seem as excited. Why? WHY? They were WALKING TO LORELAI'S GARAGE! My God man, that's a BIG DEAL.

Everyone else rushed through the garage but Natalie and I lingered, taking it all in.

I mean, Lane's band Hep Alien practiced in the garage.

Luke's boat was kept in the garage.

Lorelai painted the garage when she and Luke broke up.

And yes, there is a remnant of that:

We got to see Lorelai's house. Now, most of the inside was filmed on a sound stage, but there have been scenes shot out front.

Like when Luke made her an ice skating rink.

When Rory cried after sleeping with Dean. (Ugh, bad, bad, bad.)

We would have stayed longer, but we had to follow our guide, because you know, the rules, but honestly, Natalie and I wanted to linger and act out different scenes. Ahh, well.

We followed our guide into Kim's Antiques, AKA Lane's house:

Here's Lane's house, undressed, and it also was in that prom scene in Friends. 

Remember how Ross played the piano on these stairs?

And in Gilmore Girls, Lane went up the stairs in that dress with the giant bow and went up backwards so Dave couldn't see it.

We took a picture in front of them. Many memories. Tommy watches Friends, so he recognized the stairs. He doesn't watch Gilmore Girls, but is a film maker so he loved the tour because it taught him more about the process of making shows and movies.

Finally, we got to see Luke's Diner and trust me, I wished we could go in but I think it was being used to film something so we couldn't. I was sad. The things Natalie and I could have acted out! We only drove by it and I was itching to hop out and hug a column. 

We would have spent hours in Stars Hollow but sadly, we were out pretty quickly. This is why we need to go back. They dress up the town for the holidays and it would be a dream for us to go. 

And yes, there is Gilmore Girls merch for sale in the store and we bought a few things:

Scott Patterson, who plays Luke Danes, has his own Gilmore Girls inspired coffee line called Scotty P's Big Mug Coffee with three different roasts: medium, dark and light. If you can't get the store, call 888-702-7873 and place your order. 

This jacket was the cutest and look, there's Paul Anka! Seriously, the store can make a Gilmore Girls fan go broke:

If you want to visit Stars Hollow, book a WB Studio Tour. You won't be sorry. And if Gilmore Girls isn't your thing, you'll learn about other shows and movies. My son hadn't a clue what Stars Hollow was and still enjoyed himself.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant."

Those words happened on the gazebo stairs, guys.

Have you ever seen Gilmore Girls? If not, great news! It's on Netflix. Go watch and let me know what you think. 

And if you look at this town and think Pretty Little Liars, leave.