Of all the places I’ve been, can you believe I have never explored California?! After a weekend trip, I can’t wait to go back…and that is coming from someone who only like to go places once. There is SO MUCH to see, so many cute little stores, delicious foods to try, and beautiful views. I am sure every time I go back my experience will be different and will NOT disappoint.
I could go on and on, but I will highlight my faves thus far. I stayed in Long Beach with friends within walking distance to the beach. On Sunday there was a farmers' market and other days I was able to take a morning walk to do 11am community yoga (free)! Or go for a bike ride along the beach path to Belmont Shore. The restaurants here all look great, each one I tried was! And I wish I had time to try more. To name a few…The most unique was definitely Veggie Grill. This place was a vegan restaurant that had ‘Chickin’ nachos, wings, and bacon that wasn’t actually meat! I was skeptical…being a meat lover…but it was delicious! I would definitely go back!
While biking in Belmont Shore one day we stopped at Frosted, where they have gourmet cupcakes and cookies in almost every flavor! And also, The Spot Cafe to get an açaí bowl...
again, I was not disappointed.
While spending the day at Venice Beach we stopped at Zelda’s for mini donuts, you HAVE to go there! They are fresh, warm, fluffy donuts with cinnamon sugar and they’re the best! We biked down Venice Beach Boardwalk and let me tell you, it looked exactly like the movies. There were actually playing basketball, people working out at muscle beach, and roller bladers…! We continued all the way to Santa Monica where I was, again, so impressed! We got there right before sunset and got to watch the beach sunset from the Pier and see the lights on the Ferris Wheel
My final stop that night before biking back to the car-in the dark I might add- was Pier Burger! I’m not sure if I was just preparing myself for mediocre fast food since we were in a carnival type environment, if I was starved from the day, or what…but this place had a great crispy chicken sandwich! It might be known for their “last burger on land” but they do not only specialize in burgers, YUM!
My last adventure was spent hiking to the Hollywood Sign– the first experience that did not start off as expected. It was bizarre to me to see miles of cars and having to pay for parking to go hiking, but when all of us tourists want to be basic and hike to those letters…I guess it caught on! After we parked, finding the trail to take just to get to the letters was a bit of a mystery. We intended to go behind the letters and look down upon them but ended up making a wrong turn somewhere and fortunately it led us to the perfect picture spot right below the sign! THIS was even better than I imagined, who knew 9 plain white letters could be so cool?! We stopped for pictures and a little too long later we has a nice jog back to the car to get back in time before our meter was up.
This short, last-minute, dual state, road trip/airport adventure was one of the best yet. I just can’t wait to go back when it is warm and do beach things!
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