Life in LA

The main thing I learned this weekend is that the location of paradise is sunny Los Angeles, California. It is beautiful, warm (but not too hot), action-packed and alive. This weekend was awesome in so many ways and there is no better way to escape the 3 full days of rain that occurred in Seattle or use the only day off I have during this entire co-op. 

My roommate and I flew out of Seattle at 6:00 Saturday morning, so that was a really fun 3:45 am wake up call. This crazy flight schedule got us into the hotel at 10:30 so we had the entire day to adventure and explore. Bring on the touristy sight-seeing! Because nothing ever really goes according to plan, Saturday was the first overcast day they have had in over 2 months. But we didn't let that get us down and did what we wanted to to do anyway. 

Highlights from Saturday: 

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Amoeba record store

Casual celebrity sighting (Red Foo from the band LMFAO) at Cabo Cantina, a cute tiny Mexican place on Sunset Boulevard. Act cool, act cool, take a picture while you look like you're in a conversation. 

Universal Studios, Hollywood

Sunday, we got up late and had brunch at a super cute place by our hotel called Riordan's Tavern. Then we took a cab to The Grove, which is part open-air farmer's market and part outdoor mall with that same stores as malls in suburbia across the country. It was upscale and classy but not too luxurious. We finally got to experience the true LA weather, which was 75 degrees with a breeze and no clouds in sight. Amazing, perfect, didn't want to leave. 

Then we went to Griffith Observatory, which is an astronomy museum, similar to the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum in DC (but not as good.......). It has epic views of the infamous Hollywood Sign and the entire city, so it is a highlight tourist attraction. 

Monday (Memorial Day) was a beach day with my roommate's friends who live in LA. We went to Venice Beach in Santa Monica, which was packed as expected. The traffic to get there was not nearly as bad as the notorious LA traffic could have been. We stayed on the beach taking in the sun for almost the whole day until we took a quick cab to LAX to get our flight back to Seattle. 

Overall, an amazing weekend for the record books and I'm so glad it happened. I have some great pictures and memories of all the classic touristy things and finally got to see what all the hype was about. There are still things left to do there (Rodeo Drive, Getty Museum, Santa Monica Pier, Paramount Pictures, etc) and I'm going to try to go back at some point. Maybe it was my previous lack of sun exposure, or maybe I just clicked with the city, but it was magical and I can't wait to visit again. The energy it has of producing the vast majority of entertainment from the past 100 years is addicting and powerful. Next time, I want to try going at a time that isn't a holiday so it won't be quite so packed with tourists. Regardless, it's going in the top 5 favorite weekend trips of all time.