Two weeks ago my family and I went on a long overdue family vacation to visit my cousins in Los Angeles. We had not been to California in TEN years! Much has changed over that time but one thing remains the same, I am still in absolute love with California and the city of L.A. (and Manhattan Beach) We left at five o’clock Friday August 14th and after a flight that seemed to take forever (no movies on a flight make a 3 hour flight seem worse than an 8 hour international one) we landed at LAX. We rented a car and drove it to Manhattan Beach, where we were staying in one of my uncle’s condo’s, which was fairly close to my cousins, so we went to her place (Alexia) to have drinks and dinner. Afterwards we went back to the condo to rest for the following day.
We woke up and met our cousins at the coffee bean to grab coffee and bagels, we then walked to Manhattan Beach to lay out and swim in the ocean. Later that day we all went to Venice Beach to check out the area and have dinner at James’ Beach restaurant. The staff was great and I had the filet sliders which were out of this world! Probably one of the best meals I can honestly say I have ever had. My cousin Nick drove up from Scottsdale to surprise us! So that was really great to have so much of our family together in one place. While we walked around the area we saw strange performers and places where you can apply for your medical marijuana card (haha.) Venice Beach caters to a more eclectic population than most of the other parts of California we have been to. We saw muscle beach, but most interestingly, we witnessed a domestic dispute – a man and who we assume were his girlfriend were fighting and he had tried to choke her but luckily a mob of greeks (also known as my family) intervened and waved over a nearby police officer. Great. Venice is definitely not a place that everyone would love and enjoy but I found it interesting and liked it’s uniqueness in a way haha. Afterwards we went back to my cousin Alexia’s to have some drinks and all catch up.
The following morning we all went to my cousin Tasha’s for breakfast, afterwards my cousin Nick, my sister and I all went down to look around at the shops near Manhattan Beach. We grabbed lunch at Lemonade, a cute cafe which is somewhat like cafeteria-style, you get trays then tell the food server what you would like on your plate. I had an avocado and tomato salad and a sandwich with orange-lemonade to drink. They have a bunch of different flavors of lemonade, it’s a healthy, fun, different place and the food was pretty good. In Manhattan Beach there are a TON of stores and luckily while I was there that week there was a huge sidewalk sale so I bought a few items of clothing that were majorly marked down. We all ran down to the beach to enjoy the water and got a glimpse of the volleyball tournament that was taking place. We then said goodbye to our cousin so he could drive back to Arizona. We then all went to our cousin Tasha’s again for dinner, she had ordered take-out from a place called El Gringo, they have all these little containers with different types of meats, beans, rice, etc. and you can build your own tacos with the ingredients. It was delicious! I love Mexican food and it was definitely some of the best I have had in a while.
Over the next few days we headed to Universal Studios, Santa Monica, Hung out by the beach A LOT, visited our uncle in Glendale and went to Disneyland. We went to Universal with our cousins and their children, it seems as though all of the rides are simulator rides nowadays however, besides Jurrasic Park and the Backlot Tour.
We grabbed breakfast at one place in Manhattan Beach called, Four Daughters, which had great breakfast if you’re ever looking for a place to eat around there. Santa Monica was very interesting especially when my sister and I were riding the ferris wheel and it stopped working. There are some great stores in the area and delicious food. We ate at an Italian place, Trastevere, I just had spaghetti with meatballs, it was delicious and a huge portion.
One night we took a trip to Glendale to visit my Uncle Jim, his house has a beautiful view, we had dinner with him in his back, afterwards we headed to the Americano which is like an outdoor shopping center. In the center is a huge fountain you walk around surrounded with shops.
Early one morning we all headed to Disneyland after breakfast, where we ended up staying for twelve hours. We arrived there around noon and left at midnight. We may have kept the kids out a bit too long – not only were the crabby and exhausted, we all were! But that’s alright, some late night In-N-Out fixed that.
My friend Chatil drove up and visited from Arizona during the trip, we hung out by the beach one day and did some shopping in Manhattan Beach. We also got some great cold-pressed juice at a place called, Kreation Juice! My sister and I kept going back to it!
I absolutely love California, especially L.A. and unfortunately during this trip I did not spend any time in Hollywood like I wanted to (When you’re with people who live in California, Hollywood isn’t as exciting as to a tourist haha). But I don’t mind because I plan on spending MUCH more time there in just a few more months!
Runaway Blond 