But, onto LA! Considering I'm headed back there next week, I figured I had better get this post up before then! In September I went to Los Angeles to visit my good friend Veronica as well as to treat myself to a little vacation from unemployment (which, as you may not know, is very stressful). I’ve never been to California, so with a place to stay for free and plenty of time on my hands I booked a flight!
I booked the tickets before I had moved to CT, so I drove up to Boston that Wednesday afternoon to visit some friends and park my car before my flight the next morning. My car picked an unfortunate time to stall at a rest stop on the Pike but as soon as the tow truck showed up it decided to start. The tow truck guy accused me of having a car that would start all along, which was mildly embarrassing but I can rest easy knowing that I know what a running car sounds/acts like and mine certainly wasn't.
Day 1: Thursday
The Pacific Ocean!I flew out of Logan obscenely early and arrived in LA around 11am, where my cell phone didn’t work (standard AT&T) but I was able to find a shuttle to meet Veronica at work. I stole her car and drove to Manhattan Beach for the afternoon, seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time and browsing the little shops. Once V was out of work we went to Venice for dinner, where we had Mexican food at a rooftop restaurant and watched the sunset. Veronica and I tried to stay up to watch Jersey Shore at 10pm, since we met in NJ and have a soft spot in our heart for it, but we fell asleep pretty much as soon as we laid down.
Day 2: Friday
Santa Monica Pier Ferris WheelWhile waiting for Veronica to get out of work (we love half day Fridays) I went back to Manhattan Beach and walked on the strand to Hermosa, about 5 miles round trip. The walk is gorgeous, watching the surfers and checking out the multi million dollar real estate.
After I picked Veronica up from work, we went to the Santa Monica pier:
It has an amusement park, so obviously we had to ride the Ferris Wheel to check out the amazing view!
That night I got to meet some of her CA friends, we went out to sushi happy hour and to a bar in Venice called The Brig. The only noteworthy thing about The Brig is that is where I saw the only (moderately) famous person while in LA! I decided that seeing a famous person is the thing to do when visiting LA, but if it hadn't been for V I wouldn't have recognized Kellan Lutz at the bar (so I'm not sure if it counts if I don't know who he is).
Kellan, who apparently always wears a hatDay 3: Saturday
Volleyball SetupSaturday we went back to Manhattan Beach (notice a trend? It is V’s favorite beach, so as my travel planner we went often) to hang out and watch the Men's US Open Volleyball Tournament.
Later that night the LA crew was having a going away party (which I totally crashed) for a friend of theirs who was moving then we went to the Underground, a bar that was both a sports bar and dancing bar- something for everyone!
Day 4: Sunday
V & me on Rodeo DriveSunday started with us heading to the Beverly Hills Farmers Market to try and see some famous people. While we didn’t see anyone of note, we did get some amazing peaches and food for our dinner that night. Then we headed to Rodeo Drive and browsed for what V is going to buy me when she is a big shot supply chain director some day. We grabbed some brunch then headed over to Venice for a street festival where the main attraction was food trucks- yum! It was about 100º, so I opted out of the grilled cheese truck (as amazing as it looked) and went for a diy ice cream sandwich instead:
So many options!My prediction is that diy ice cream sandwiches are going to be the new frozen yogurt (aka it will be in Boston in about 5 years). Also, Boston needs food trucks!!
Monday Veronica was back off to work, so I did some ultra touristy things on my own. I was warned that the stars and Hollywood is pretty boring, so once you add in the 113º weather (highest temps on record in LA ever) it made for a quick visit.
After that I drove up to the beautiful Griffith Observatory, where you can see the Hollywood sign and amazing views of LA:
Finally I met up with a friend from Northeastern, Dan, for lunch in Downtown LA. We saw the Staples Center and sampled some local beers with our lunch.
Once V was out of work, we picked up In-N-Out to go and ate dinner on the beach at sunset- what I decided was the epitome of CA.
Thanks so Much to Veronica for her wonderful hospitality and I can’t wait to drive cross-country with her next week!
Many more pictures from LA
