In my previous blog about our California trip, I told you about our VIP experience at Universal Hollywood.This time I will tell you about some other places we visited including Los Angeles, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, Muscle and Manhattan Beaches.
We stayed at a VRBO on Manhattan Beach, near LAX and Los Angeles. We live in south Florida, so we were definitely not prepared for the weather that we had for the entire 10 day trip. We are very acclimated to the rain, but not the cold. Southern California is known to have beautiful weather! It was rainy and cold almost every day! We arrived at our rental and there’s not too many pictures of it due to it not being as advertised. It was kind of a house of horrors, but not really. It was the oldest house in the area, it was very run down, the driveway was a panic attack each time we went out and back in, but the views and the community it was in totally made up for it!!
Our first day we went to explore the Los Angeles area. There is so much to do and see in such a short amount of time. We stumbled upon the most delicious breakfast spot, which happens to be one of the oldest in town established in 1958, called Pann’s. It is a hidden gem celebrity hot spot! They had pictures all over the restaurant signed by every celebrity you could think of!The food was amazing!
We then headed toward the Hollywood area where we went to the Petersen Automotive Museum. My husband and 2 boys were over the moon about this. It was incredibly cool, much to my surprise! Outside of the building as you walked in, there was a demo of the Tesla semi-truck.They had a Tesla area that told the story of how it originated, as well as several models illustrating how it was built and multiple models of Tesla’s. They had cars from every movie you can think of! Lightning McQueen was in there too with the original Herbie the Love Bug! They had super cars, the first Ford built, concept cars for the future, they even had a vault where they kept the most rare and expensive cars!! We spent hours in there!
We then made a quick stop at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. We sat down and had a cocktail, while the kids were in the car vault, at Fanny’s. This is evidently where celebs come to lunch. We didn’t see any, but the drinks were themed from the motion pictures nominated for an Oscar that year. The menu even had illustrations to go with the movie themed beverages.
Up next was Hollywood Blvd!We walked up and down it, just to take in the sights. There is a Madame Tussaud’s Museum, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the Chinese Theatre, Jimmy Kimmel was filming there at that time, and of course all the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! So much to see and do, but now it is time to head to the Griffith Observatory.
This place is super busy! We have been during the day and nighttime. They have one of the most powerful telescopes in the world. We waited in a long line to look through to see another galaxy! It is also one most popular locations in the world to film movies. You have seen it in many and probably didn’t know what or where it was! There is so much to see and do here! You can take a 3.5 mile walk down to the Hollywood sign, but then you must walk back up 3.5 miles to get back. We were unaware of that, so we didn’t have time to do that, but we did get some great photos.
Next up is Santa Monica Pier, Muscle and Venice beaches!! Santa Monica is beautiful! There’s the world-famous pier that has an amusement park, restaurant and local vendors selling handmade crafts. If you have not been, it is a must do when you visit! A short stroll away down the beach are Muscle Beach and Venice Beach. This is an area that has an outdoor gym, basketball courts, and a skate park. The skate park was probably our favorite part of these two locations. Those people were doing amazing tricks on skateboards, but the most amazing part is there are so many people on the ramps at the same time, and they never collided!! We had so much fun!
We then went back to Manhattan Beach and ate dinner at Pancho’s. This was the best and most authentic Mexican food I have had in a very long time!! The place was so cute! It was almost as if we were dining in Mexico!
After dinner, we went back for out last night at the VRBO. We were treated to the most gorgeous sunset from the jacuzzi. We made the most wonderful family memories sitting, talking, and laughing in that jacuzzi! Even though we were not thrilled with the house in the beginning, we did thoroughly enjoy the time we had there! We definitely made memories that will last a lifetime!Take the trip! You are never too old, and the kids are never too young!
Your Bibbidi Bobbidi Bestie,
Jamie
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