Los Angeles

Have you ever been to Boise in January? Normally, the weather is very tolerable. A little snow here and there, gloomy days intermixed with gorgeous sunny days, and the occasional below zero temperature. January of 2013 was a completely different story. Temperatures had hovered at or below zero for weeks, snow that had fallen in late December was steadfast and gaining, and an inversion (which held a thin layer of cloud compounded by a thick layer of pollution) was holding the sun hostage and wreaking havoc on the air quality. It was time for an escape!

Friday, January 18th, we found ourselves with an open three day weekend in front of us and decided to book tickets to Los Angeles on the spur of the moment. We flew into LAX via Oakland and rented a car. We hopped on the freeway and headed south, no real plan in hand. We decided to head toward Huntington Beach and seek out a place to stay for the night. We ended up at the Shorebreak Hotel right across from the Huntington Beach Pier.

The next morning, we awoke to find the sun shining and blue skies calling our names. Pure bliss! It was a balmy 45 (in comparison to the -2 we had just left) when we headed out to breakfast. We walked to a restaurant called the Sugar Shack (yelp guaranteed it would be great) and ate our breakfast at an outside table. All the locals were wearing scarfs, gloves and hats. We got a kick out of that.

After breakfast, we walked through the Huntington Beach shops and then down the Pier. We watched all the surfers and a knee board competition. Sydney got a chocolate malt at Ruby’s at the end of the Pier. We saw giant pelicans, a sea snake (?), and three dolphins out for their morning swim.

Finally, we left the pier and walked out to the water and stuck our feet in. The water was cold, but not freezing (it was similar to the Oregon Coast in mid summer). We picked up some shells (including a whole sand dollar) and enjoyed the beach for a while. Eventually, we made our way back to hotel. We packed up, checked out and headed south to Laguna Beach.  While there, we had lunch at Ruby’s with my best high school friend, Anne, and her beautiful family. I thought it was pretty funny that we live 5 hours apart, but ending up meeting each other’s families in the middle of California.

Saw several cool cars that Sam really liked. Stopped at a Maclaren Dealership in Newport Beach. Drove north and visited Crystal Cove State Park. Walked the beach and soaked up the sun. 70+ degrees…

Hopped back in the car and headed north up the 101 past Huntington Beach and Long Beach to Hermosa Beach. Checked into the Holiday Inn Express. Went out to Paisano’s Pizza near the pier and ate delicious NY pizza by the slice. Kids had cheese. Michael and I had BBQ Chicken pizza and then split a piece of pastrami (mustard, cheese and pastrami). Then we shared a piece if NY style cheesecake. Yum! Back to the hotel for swimming and hot tub then off to bed for the night.

11/20/13
Woke up relatively early and ate breakfast at the hotel. Headed to Hollywood. Walked around and saw the walk of stars and the Graumans Chinese Theatre. Saw the stars hand prints and names. Syd and Sam got drawings of themselves done by a street artist. Sydney bought neon green sunglasses from a street vendor. Poked around in a few stores and then caught a hop on hop off bus tour through LA. Saw Korea Town, China Town, Disney Music Center, lots of cool old theatres. Ride on the freeway at 55+ on the top of a double decker!!! Drove around Beverly Hills and bought Meyer lemons and cookies from a kids lemonade stand. Went to an estate sale high up in the hills and bought a Limoges tea cup for $5. What a view from that house!! Drove down out of the hills toward Santa Monica Pier to LAX. Dropped Michael and Sam at the airport.  Headed to the Renaissance Hotel and got settled in. John and his wife picked us up and we drove to the Santa Monica Pier. We went on several rides (sea dragon, bumper cars, roller coaster), Syd had ice cream and then we went and had dinner at Marasol, a Mexican restaurant at the end of the pier. After nice conversation and dinner, we walked back down the pier and Syd got cotton candy. Then we went back to our hotel. Sydney and I went swimming in the hotel pool (it was heated to close to 100 degrees!) and then ordered cookies and milk from room service. Then off to bed so we could get up early to head to the airport in the morning.
1/21/13
Woke up, returned the rental car, shuttle to airport, Home!