There's no denying that Los Angeles, California is an ideal place to visit. With endless amounts of options for restaurants, bars, nightclubs, beaches, & hikes to name a few, there is something for everyone!
Over Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend, Richie & I took a quick trip to visit my best friend & her boyfriend in LA. They are both travel nurses so they are living in LA for 3 months - what a dream! It was our first time visiting LA & we loved it! We only had 48 hours to spend there, so here is what we did to make the most of it.
Friday
Left CLE at 7:30pm & arrived in LA around 9:15pm, and Tay was nice enough to pick us up from the airport! If you want to take an Uber from LAX to your destination, word on the street is that you have to get on a bus to get to the Uber location, which takes at least 10 minutes.
Plans for our first night consisted of going out for a night cap! We tried to go to Harriet's Rooftop, which has amazing views, but we couldn't get in without buying bottle service, so we looked for a new place to go. We found a speakeasy called Employees Only, which had amazing cocktails. Then we bar hopped across the street to The Hudson, and ended up staying out until close! Both of these spots are worth checking out!
Saturday
It was on my bucket list to hike to the Hollywood sign, so that is what we did! Our plan was to hike the Hollyridge Trail, but we ended up hiking the Brush Canyon Trail (the maps when we got there were confusing lol), and it took over an hour/about 3.5 miles to get to the top. It was a good hike, obviously uphill but easy terrain, and the views were amazing. I would recommend this hike to anyone visiting LA. I can't wait to go back & try another hike! It was about 70 degrees so I could have easily been wearing shorts & a tank top since the sun was out!
We had a nice photo shoot at the top of the mountain & Craig's roommate met us there, who took a shorter trail (I'm not sure what the trail is called, but part of it was through a neighborhood) so we decided to take that way back down since the hike up took longer than expected. Since we ended up at a different location, we had to get an Uber to Tay's car, and the Uber took forever to find us, so I don't recommend doing that haha. We were starving at this point, and getting In-N-Out Burger was also on the bucket list, so we decided to go there for a late lunch. The burgers did NOT disappoint. In-N-Out definitely lived up to the hype & it is a must-go place if you're on the West Coast.
Then it was back to Tay's to get ready for the night! We saw a show at the The Comedy Store & it was great. Our favorite comedian was Orny Adams! This is an iconic place & definitely worth checking out. It was something I wouldn't have picked to do myself, but we are all so glad that we went & tickets were only $25/piece for the 7pm show!
Following the show was a late dinner at one of the oldest Mexican restaurants - El Coyote. The food is traditional Mexican (which isn't my favorite so I wouldn't go back there) but it is an iconic restaurant & we had a nice time!
Then we were off to Sound Nightclub to see one of our favorite DJ's - DJ Vice! We bought tickets in advance for $22/person - which I thought was a good price! DJ Vice was seriously AMAZING live - I've never seen a DJ so hype. The club was SUPER loud with a lot of fog machine's which we didn't really like, but we ended up getting a booth & bottle service which made it extra fun. Bottle service was not cheap, but it was definitely worth it for the 6 of us.
Sunday
Richie & I woke up earlier than everyone else, so we walked down the street to the cutest cafe - Paper or Plastik - and split an amazing avocado toast. Then it was time to head to Santa Monica!
In Santa Monica, we stopped for breakfast at Jinky's, which is a pretty typical breakfast place (wouldn't call it brunch since they didn't serve mimosas lol). Then we walked the Santa Monica Pier, picked up some white claws, & headed to the beach for a few hours! It wasn't warm enough to layout in our bathing suits (60s & windy in Santa Monica in February), but being on the beach & spending time with Richie, Tay, & Craig was really enjoyable! So I highly recommend going to a beach near LA when you're visiting!
The last things on the agenda were packing to go home unfortunately! then dinner & drinks before our red eye flight home. Tay & I wanted salad, so we all decided on Granville & their cocktail menu was the most impressive! I forgot to snap of photo of the drinks I tried since they were delicious, but the salad was good, too!
We left for the airport around 9:30pm to catch our 10:45pm flight home just in time. In hindsight, we should have payed the extra money to take the 1:00pm flight home the next day, but we survived the red eye (barely), and we were able to come home and take a nap on Monday morning. We had so much fun visiting Tay & Craig, and we can't wait to visit them in their next city! Shout-out to some new friends (Kyle, Ali, & John) we made, too!
Overall notes about LA
The weather is amazing. Coming from Cleveland, how could you complain about highs in the 60s-70s and lows in the 40s-50s in the middle of February?
The scenery is beautiful. Almost every street you go on has palm trees or cacti.
The architecture is really pretty/diverse. Lots of Spanish style & modern houses.
LA traffic is real, y'all. No matter how far away you are driving (like 2 miles), it took at least 20 minutes to get everywhere!
Travel tips for weekend getaways to maximize your time
Book direct flights (avoid the red eye if possible, it is just brutal)
Only pack a carry-on (roller size carry-on suitcase & a purse) & make sure your liquids are smaller than 3.4 ounces so you don't get stopped going through security!
Try to only pack the clothes you will need (this is hard for me because I like to have options) & especially don't over-pack shoes since they take up the most space. Plan what you want to do in advance too, so it helps you pack less!
General travel tips
Invest in TSA PreCheck. It is only $85 and lasts for 5 years. It will save you time & headaches.
Bring an empty water bottle so you can fill it up at the airport. This saves you money and it is always helpful to have water in case you are stuck on the plane longer than expected.
Invest in a travel credit card. We have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. It has a big annual fee, but it has already paid for itself with the benefits. They will even pay for your TSA PreCheck!
Outfit: dress & shoes from Amazon
We wish we could have stayed in LA longer, but we 100% made the most of our time there, and this post is proof it is worth flying across the country just for a weekend! We know we will be back to LA someday too, since it is such a big city & there are things we missed, so if you have any recommendations, please share! And as always, send me a message if you have any questions!
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