California is Calling

I am adding to an older post about one of my favorite cities in the entire world, Los Angeles.  I have visited this city probably close to ten or more times due not only to my family living there but my growing appreciation for this city.  My most recent trip was a few weeks ago: February 8-10, 2019.  I am going to attempt putting together all of my different posts on L.A. into one general post so readers planning to visit will have an easier time finding things to do and places to eat.  🙂

I tend to visit LA during the months of January-March, I have been able to find reasonably priced flights on Spirit Airlines (usually around 200$) and during this time of year it is not too hot!  But, honestly, LA is one of those places that is wonderful no matter when you visit – even at the peak of summer.

My flight cost me around 130$ and per usual I flew Spirit Airlines from Chicago O’Hare to   LAX.  My flight left early Friday morning and I landed in L.A. in the afternoon.

FOOD & DRINKS

Eggslut: I LOVE this place.  I had the Fairfax with avocado and it was so good I’m drooling just thinking about it…

Sugar fish: This sushi place is a tad fancy but the food is so worth it.  It’s mouth-watering and aesthetically pleasing.

In-N-Out:  You can’t possibly visit California without one visit to In-N-Out!

Paradise Bowls:  This is located in Manhattan Beach and after all the partying I had been doing I needed an Acai Bowl to replenish my vitamins… so I grabbed one at Paradise Bowl and sat on the beach enjoying it.

 

Milk:  This is an ice cream shop with adorable sweets – I ordered a fruity pebble ice cream sandwich but to be honest it was so sweet!  My cousin and I shared it and it was still too much for us to eat.

Din Tai Fung:  Located in The Americana, Glendale CA, this restaurant specializes in soup dumplings.  We ordered family style – the food was all so amazing.  Highly, highly recommend this place.  I couldn’t stop eating!

The Rainbow:  If you like Rock music this is a must-visit place.  John Lennon, Alice Cooper, Elvis, Neil Diamond, Keith Moon, are just a few of many many artists who used to hangout at this bar.  My cousin Tasha and I were given a “Private Tour” of the bar by an interesting character who everyone referred to as the “Prince of Sunset Blvd” and he showed us the infamous Vampire Room.  Honestly, I probably had one of the most fun nights of my life at this bar.

Viper Room:  This is a nightclub, music venue, and whiskey bar located very close to the Rainbow.  It’s frequented by many celebrities and is in several films, sadly, it has also been home to a few celebrate overdoses.

BrewPort Tap House:  This is a really interesting place where you can build your own flights with beers from all over.  I love beer so I really appreciated the concept, and they had some good food to snack on.

 

Blue Butterfly: A cafe with yummy healthy items such as kale salads and bagel sandwiches and coffee.  Good for lunch or meeting friends for a light snack/meal and coffees.

Simmzys: Simmzys is a pub chain with craft beers and great food for a hangover in my opinion – I usually am skeptical when it comes to bar food but this place was really tasty.

Scopa: A delicious Italian restaurant thats on the nicer side so I would wear something a little nicer than usual.  The drinks are also delicious but the items range on the pricier side so I would save this for a nice dinner out.

 

Places to go/ What to see:

Downtown Hollywood:  Touristy as hell but something you need to do on your first (or only trip to LA)  although I have been to LA many times I had only ever visited downtown LA once when I was like 11, so I asked my cousin if we could walk around a bit and see the Walk of Fame and Chinese Theater.  We were able to see that someone had pissed all over Donald Trump’s star.

Venice:  Even though as the years have gone on I am finding Venice to becoming more and more touristy I still love this area.  It’s super eclectic and odd.  The entire area smells like weed smoke and it’s fun to go see the outside gym/body builders.  I wouldn’t exactly go swimming or to the beach here… but I do like walking around and people watching.  There are street performers, artists, vendors, bars – even a skate park among a bunch of interesting things.

Griffith Observatory:  The observatory itself was closed but if you climb up this (hill? mountain?)  you have an amazing view of Los Angeles and can see the Hollywood sign pretty close too.

 

SHOPPING:  Whenever I am in LA I can’t resist the urge to spend a lot of money shopping… Venice Beach, Manhattan Beach, West Hollywood, Santa Monica…. yeah you can pretty much find something you want or need to buy anywhere and everywhere.

The Manson Family Ranch and Caves:  Also known as Spahn Ranch – this place was NOT easy in the slightest bit to find.  Thank you to my amazing cousins who were able to navigate not only how to find the general area but lead me on a trek through trees and wildfire remains to find where the ranch once was.  We found a video on Youtube where a man shows you exactly what route to follow in order to find where the ranch was and the cave.  However, due to the recent fire the area appears different and was a bit confusing – especially when we had to basically straddle part of a fallen tree and use rocks as stepping stones to cross a creek.  It was a blast though – besides the fact that AS USUAL I was hungover on another hike.  It’s becoming a trend.

Manson Family Tours:  LA also offers several different Manson Family tours if you are a Murderino like yours truly, but they last several hours and are in my opinion pricey (one of the more well known tours is 60$).  Personally, my attention span isn’t developed enough to last me on a four hour tour so I would prefer to just explore the related areas on my own, if possible.