Los Angeles Weekender

A few weeks back we took a quick little weekend trip to Los Angeles. We went with our friend and neighbor Scott, who lived there for some years. The trip started well with a plane ride full of beers all around and good conversation. Hurray for traveling with friends!

For our first day, we split up with Scott and spent the day primarily at the beach in Santa Monica. Needless to say, my hot-weather-loving husband was in heaven with all of the sunshine. The beach is his happy place for sure. Since our time was limited he decided not to make it a surfing trip, though, so we contented ourselves by just soaking up the sun and watching the other surfers. We also did my favorite beach activity: beach cruisers! We rode all the way up and down the coast line from beyond Santa Monica beach to Venice beach. There were stops for ice cream, swimsuit shopping, and ogling at Muscle Beach along the way. Lovely.

Later that night we went back to the Santa Monica Pier for a funnel cake and the photo booth. Unfortunately, I ended up accidentally throwing away our photo strip a few days later. It wasn't a super great one, though, so I'm not heart broken. The funnel cake was of course delicious and we of course ended up covered in powdered sugar (okay, it was mostly me) before meeting up with a super hold friend from Wisconsin Rapids who now lives in LA.

We spend the next day we left Santa Monica and headed for the Fashion District. On the way, we stopped in Koreatown for lunch. On the recommendation of Anthony Bourdain we chose Ham Ji Park and ordered the pork rib BBQ special. Delish. Then it was on to fabric shopping where I picked up a few cool deadstock fabrics for Winslow.

That night we met up with Scott and he took us around his old neighborhood, Los Feliz. We loved getting the Scott tour, which consisted mostly of hilarious "this used to be a this" anecdotes and the best diners and old hangouts, not to mention kicking the night off right with some very fruity, very rum-y drinks at Tiki Ti. There was little time for frivolous picture taking, but I did manage to snap this photo of the infamous (to us via Scott) House of Pies, where we very fittingly had pie and coffee. Apple a la mode with a slice of cheddar for me and pecan for the fellas.


Oh! Scott also humored our touristy ways with a quick trip down the Hollywood walk of fame and this recreated-from-my-childhood pose at the Chinese Theatre. Love to you all!

The next day all three of us set out for the Hollywood sign via a hike through Griffith Park. It was super sunny and hot, but totally worth if for the views and bit of exercise. Urban hiking is the best.

Kevin and I stayed at two super-duper hotels (we like to hop around to stay in different parts of a city when we travel) which I'll list briefly as a recommendation in case anyone else is thinking of planning a trip. The Seaview Hotel in Santa Monica was just the best of all worlds in terms of location, decor, and price. Then there was the Sportsman's Lodge, which we booked through Groupon. Great updated-vintage vibe with a super cool pool area that we unfortunately didn't get to try out this time.

What else? We drove Mulholland Drive on our last night with the windows down, ate our fair share of breakfast burritos, and did some high quality people watching at the Universal CityWalk. Overall, a great sun-filled, friend-filled trip.