Past POIs - Santa Monica Pier [Los Angeles, California]

Located in California is Santa Monica Pier, one of the most well known tourist attractions in the Los Angeles area where crowds will gather for the views, the ocean, the muscle area, and more.

Parking isn't cheap, but there are plenty of options in the area and if you grab a local tourist map, it actually tells you where the nearby parking lots are and how far it is walking distance to the pier which was great!

On the pier itself, there is a small amusement park which has a roller coaster and a ferris wheel! Definitely worth a visit and best of all, it is free!

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

2017 - California Summary

We were in California from Saturday, September 9, 2017 to Saturday, September 23, 2017. I decided to just write one post because we moved around so much instead of one for each place that we visited.

Duration: 15 days (Saturday, September 9, 2017 to Saturday, September 23, 2017)
Distance Travelled: 1,300 miles (from Los Angeles, Sequoia and King's Canyon, Yosemite, Monterey Bay, to finally San Francisco)

Highlights

Universal Studios Hollywood

Disneyland

Disneyland

Theme Parks (Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland) were something that were a bit of a mystery to me. I walked in without understanding the appeal and walked out with an appreciation of the end result, however, I think I only enjoyed it because it was a slow period. If there was lines to wait for, I'm not sure how I would have fared.

Yosemite National Park - Yosemite Falls in the background

Yosemite National Park - Nevada Falls in the background

Yosemite National Park - Glacier Point with Half Dome in the background

Yosemite National Park did not disappoint. One of my first big American National Park and it was outstanding beautiful, with well thought out signage and shuttle buses, however, the parking can be a bit difficult depending on the time of day that you go.

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco - Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz

San Francisco - Crooked Street

San Francisco was a delight. The beautiful row houses, the nice wharf area, the Golden Gate Bridge, I can see why people love this place so much. Unfortunately, with nice places, come difficulties like driving in traffic is really bad, parking is even worse, and cost of living is absolutely insane.

Lowlights

Los Angeles was not as nice as I expected it to be. Or rather, Hollywood Blvd seemed very old and run down once you leave the main tourist attraction portion. Maybe it is because we didn't visit the touristy areas, but it left a sour taste with us.

Food Suggestions

Trestle - cauliflower soup on the left, pear salad on the right

Trestle - Salmon on top, lamb on the bottom

Trestle - chocolate cake on the left, toffee pudding on the right

Trestle was a lovely restaurant to eat at. Make reservations beforehand since it does get busy and it isn't a big restaurant, so it will likely fill up quickly. The menu consists of a 3 course fixed prix menu which has two items for each courses which makes trying out everything quite easy since you only need to come with one other person. As a bonus, it is fairly inexpensive! Only $35 per person and if you like, you can add a pasta course for an additional $10. Very good food and service.

1850 - Fry Bread

1850 - Tri-tip

1850 in Mariposa was a great restaurant to try. The portions are big and the food was very good.

Tips

Travelling within San Francisco is fairly difficult by car. Not only is it slow, but it also very costly to park. If you can, try to pick a place where you can leave your car and take local transit.

Final Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. There was a bit of driving compared to some other trips, but also less than some other ones. The sites overall were very interesting and it didn't get boring. It started with theme parks, followed by National Parks, then the beach and finally the city life again. The only change I think I have would be if we shorted San Francisco by one day since our last day, we didn't really know what to do. If you are into wine, I can see how Napa would be appealing, but it wasn't for us.

Until our next trip!

2017 - California Day 2 (Los Angeles)

Sunday September 10, 2017. Today we visit the Griffith Observatory, look for the Hollywood sign and wander Hollywood Blvd.

Breakfast was included with our stay at Hollywood Downtowner. Oddly, it is not part of the hotel but actually part of a restaurant a few shops down. The food was okay, it was saved with the waffle maker.

Hollywood Downtowner breakfast

We made it to the Griffith Observatory just before 9:00am. When we went at this time, there was plenty of parking and it cost $4 per hour but it starts after 10:00am. We paid until noon thinking that it would be enough time.

Hollywood sign! From Griffith Observatory.

View from a hike at Griffith Observatory

We hiked for roughly 1.5 hours to see the sign and the observatory itself. The observatory is free to visit, however there are shows that you can pay to see. We looped the observatory and finished at 11:30am.

Griffith Observatory

*Insert glowing finger here*

Made it to The Broad by around 12:10pm and went to try to look for lunch but it seems like downtown Los Angeles is very dead on Sunday. There aren't many cars on the road, but all the parking lots seemed full. We had no idea where people were. Ended up parking at 2nd and Olive for $8 for the day.

Villa Moreliana - Menu

Villa Moreliana - Tacos!

Ended up at Central Market for lunch which is just like St Lawrence Market in Toronto. We wanted to try EggSlut but that failed since the line up was insane and ended up getting food at Villa Moreliana where we got 5 tacos with a large drink which came out to $18.11. While in line, you actually get a sampler for free! There isn't a lot of seating in the area, so odds are, you'll be eating while standing.

The Broad - Giant Balloon Dog!

Went to The Broad thinking that we could see the Infinity Room but it was fully booked by the time we got there. I guess it is really popular. Oddly, there were a lot of people just waiting to get in which is weird since the tickets are free if you order them online.

The Broad - Small part of a mural

The Broad is actually quite a nice art gallery with a large variety of art with some really cool things to see from painting to the giant balloon dog to the giant dining table. We ended up spending an hour there.

Musso and Frank's - Grenadine of Beef

Musso and Frank's - Liver and Onions

Drove back to the hotel to rest and then we headed to Hollywood Blvd on foot. We headed out at 5:00pm and wandered Hollywood Blvd and ended up at Musso and Frank's grill for dinner. Ordered the Grenadine of Beef and Liver and Onions which came out to $62.27 after tip. Food and service was very good.

Jackie Chan!

We ended up at the Chinese Theatre and took pictures and wandered back to the hotel to call it a night.

Tomorrow, we got to Universal Studios Hollywood for the day.

2017 - California Day 1 (Los Angeles)

Join us for our journey in California which took place from September 9, 2017 to September 23, 2017 where we start in Los Angeles, visit the theme parks, the national parks, and then San Francisco.

Our departure took place out of Toronto at 10:10am and we arrived at 7:00am and it only took about 20 minutes to get through customs. We actually got randomly selected for a security check which was a first for me, but I guess I haven't flown through or to USA for a long time. Nothing happened other than them swabbing our bags. Speaking of bags, this was our first time trying to travel with just carry-on bags since our flight did not include checked bags and we didn't want to pay for them. Oddly, my GPS holder flagged their automatic system but nothing came from it other than them scanning the bag another. We made it to the lounge (thanks that Alex for the free guest passes) by 7:25am.

Air Canada Lounge breakfast

The lounge was nice, although in the morning, they don't seem to have much to offer. Just some toast, muffins, and drinks. It was a good way to spend our time since we were fairly early for our flight though. The flight itself was uneventful and we made it to California at 12:00pm local time.

We got our rental car from Hertz and surprisingly, I was a Gold member with just this one rental. Since I didn't know, we lined up in the ordinary line and we spent about 30 minutes there. Gold allows you to select any car from the Gold lot which started from compact cars and ranged all the way to SUVs. It was just the lower end ones (Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota) but it worked for us. Ended up with a 2016 Nissan Sentra since I didn't want to worry about parking a larger vehicle and was hoping for better fuel economy.

First stop, food! We made it to El Tarasco which was a short drive away and ordered the enchilada and taco combo, and the burrito. The meal came with free taco chips and salsa which were nice. The food was really good and the portions are very generous. Lucky for us since there was no food on our flight. It came out to $21.52 before tip.

El Tarasco - Burrito

El Tarasco - Enchilada and Taco combo

Santa Monica Pier is our first stop and we ended up parking at the Civic Center which cost us $5 which is actually the max for the weekend. It is a short walk to the pier. The pier itself is pretty nice and I can see why people like it here so much. There is a fairly large beach, an area for people to train on equipment like double poles, swings, and more. And then there is the pier area itself with lots of shops, a small amusement park area with a rollercoaster and ferris wheel as well as some nice views.

Santa Monica Pier

Santa Monica Pier

After the pier, we drove to our motel for the next few days which is the Hollywood Downtowner, located on Hollywood Blvd. The motel itself has parking included which is why I chose this one. It is okay.

Carousel Restaurant is where we had dinner where we ordered the Fool Mudammas and the Stuffed Kofta. The food was good, it is a decide sized place, although the parking lot is not large enough for the amount of restaurants and shops there. Dinner came out to $23.49 after taxes.

Carousel's appetizers (included).

Carousel - Stuff koftas on the left, Fool's Mudammas on the right.

Went back to the hotel and called it a night. Tomorrow, we visit Griffith Observatory, Hollywood Sign, The Broad, and wandering around town.