8 DAYS IN LA

Me and my husband recently went on the best holiday ever to LA, and I think the key to our holiday being living la vida lovely was good planning, and knowledge from a local.

One of our friends lives in LA, and she was actually in London at the time we went to visit so she let us stay in her incredddddible house for the week which was a total blessing. She wrote us a really long list of great things to do, and I'm not going to show you the full list because I think she could sell it as part of a tour guide one day but I will share with you all the things we did!

Need to knows (all costs are total for 2 unless it says per person)

Time: 8 days at the beginning of October.

Spending money: Between £500-700

Flights (per person): £752

Car Rental (incl. insurance + petrol): £270

Accommodation: £222 (saved massively here because our lovely friend let us stay for free!)

DAY 1 (Arrival, Cheesecake Factory)

Flight from London @11.15am. Landed in LAX at 2.30pm. Time difference worked in our favour here so we got an extra half a day! For our first 2 nights we stayed in a hotel near the airport so that we could explore a few things around that area before heading up to our friend's house in Silver Lake.

We were pretty tired from the travelling but SUPER hungry, and as it was our first night we stuck with what we semi-knew and went to the Cheesecake Factory to stuff our faces with burgers and sweet potato fries! It was freezing inside because of air-con (we forgot that this is normal for warmer climates and didn't bring any jumpers/jackets) but it worked out fine because we got to sit on their outside deck and enjoyed a lovely summer's evening.

DAY 2 (Mosaic Church, Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, Baja Fresh)

It was a Sunday so we made our way to a church in central Hollywood, Mosaic! We had wanted to visit ever since we heard the pastor, Erwin McManus speak at our church's conference in London. It's an incredible church and we had a fabulous time! 

Afterwards we made the most of the church's free parking (This was probably REALLY naughty of us so I feel bad even writing it!) and took the opportunity to check out Hollywood! 

We wandered down the main strip and spent the whole time looking down at all the stars on the pavement. We had a little look in Sephora and went up the elevator in that nice circle bit (you'll know what I mean when you see it) to get a nice view of the Hollywood sign. 

Our tummy's were rumbling again and with so many restaurants to choose from it was a surprisingly difficult decision. We went with cheap and cheerful and had Baja Fresh Mexican. It was legit one of the best meals I had the whole time I was there. I'm not sure if this is because I was really hungry or because it really was that good. 

As we were in the area, we thought we should get a better look at the Hollywood sign and drove up to Griffith Observatory. It's completely free and you get the most beautiful view of the whole of LA! Parking is a little tricky because it's very hilly (lots of people go for hikes up there!) but you can get parking quite close to the top so keep going if you can hold your nerve. It's quite dusty/sandy up there though so maybe don't wear white. 

My camera wasn't too good at catching the Hollywood sign but it was much bigger and clearer in real life, you'll have to go and see for yourself!

We then made our way back to our hotel and had a 30 minute nap which turned in to a 5 hour sleep, completely missing dinner time, and waking up at 1am and going to the hotel bar to get chicken wings. Jet Lag 1 - 0 Borquaye's.

DAY 3 (Newport Beach, Balboa Island, Lemonade, P.F Chang’s)

We had a chilled morning (after the jet lag drama the night before!) and then made our way to Newport Beach to visit our friends Matt and Beth who moved here from England for an extended stay! We had our first drive on the freeway which was terrifying.

Newport Beach is a bit more out of the way from all the hustle and bustle and it is absolutely stunning. Our friends took us to a great spot for lunch called Lemonade, which I later discovered is a chain so you can get it elsewhere in LA too! #Winning 

The restaurant is a bit like a really really nice canteen/buffet because you can 'mix & match' what you have. They also do the yummiest Lemonades (hence the name) but with all different flavours, and they are HUGE. Actually, everything in America is huge, remember that when you are ordering...

We then took a drive to Balboa Island which is apparently famous for frozen bananas...Lol! You drive your car on to a little boat which ferries you across to the island. It's tiny and really cute. If you've seen the film 'Safe Haven' it'll remind you of that. Of course we had to try a frozen banana ($3.50 for medium), it was surprisingly tasty!

We went back with Matt, Beth and the rest of the fam for some dinner, and we had the most delicious Chinese takeway from P.F Chang’s. After a wonderful day spent exploring and catching up, we made our way to our second place of residence for the rest of the holiday - our friend's house in Silver Lake!

DAY 4 (Millie’s, Echo Park, Sizzler, Bad Boys Reunion Concert @ The Forum)

On our friend's list of to-do's Millie's for breakfast was a definite, and within walking distance! Seeing as we had driven everywhere since being in LA we took the opportunity for a little stroll. Millie's was incredible. They do breakfast burritos, sweet potato pancakes, everything you never knew you loved! (roughly $15pp). If we didn't have such a long list of things we wanted to do and see we would have definitely come back here.

In the afternoon we went to Echo Park and rented some pedal boats (aka pedalos). It was something like $15 for an hour, but because it was quiet the guy looking after the pedal boats said there was no time limit. At first we were like ‘waheeeeeeeey what a deal’ like the typical English people we are, but after about 45 minutes our legs were tired and we had been around the large pond a number of times, even directly through the water fountain at one point - we got drenched! So we got off and had a little wander around the park and made our way back home to get ready for our evening of fuuuuuuuuun!

This was Isaac's most anticipated event of the whole trip... The Bad Boy Reunion Concert at the Forum in Inglewood. I won't go in to too much detail here because you can't actually go anymore if you visit, but you can see other artists perform there! So a top tip would be to look up who will be performing at different venues before going away and book yourself some tickets! There’s not much in the area so for a pre-show dinner we went to the ever classy Sizzler. I wasn't a fan. More so because the man on the table behind us was in my direct view and was eating very vigorously with his mouth wide open. 

DAY 5 (The Grove, Rodeo Drive, Bludsos, Staples Centre For Basketball Game)

We had heard that The Grove was a must-see so of course, we visited! It’s a really beautiful place to shop, it’s a bit magical in a Disney Land type of way. However, there wasn’t a majorly vast selection of shops and eateries and it was rather expensive so we didn’t hang about long. I wouldn’t say you HAVE TO go there unless you love shopping, it’s just a nice thing to do if you have a bit of extra time. 

We also stopped by Rodeo Drive on our way home to see how the other half live and shop! It was juuuust like the movies, sparkly and glamorous. We actually went in a few shops and pretended to be rich, scanning through the items and then strolling out saying something like 'no, not exclusive enough for me' LOL!

On our list of good places to eat was Bludsos BBQ. When we arrived it wasn’t open for another 20 minutes (we were eating quite early because of the basketball game later on) However, this was sooooo worth the wait. They do all sorts of meat, mac and cheese, corn bread and more! We got lots of things but in smaller portions so that we could taste as much as possible! It’s really relaxed, they have sports playing on big TV’s around the restaurant and a friendly bar where you can get some drinks. You can expect to pay around $25-$30 per person.

Everyone knows you can’t go to America and not see a basketball game, so we had pre-booked some tickets to see the LA Clippers VS Toronto Raptors. Because it was a pre-season game the tickets were really reasonably priced, for two tickets we paid £78 (incl tax). 

This was one of the highlights of the holiday for me, it was so entertaining and it felt very American! I bought a large coke just for the fun of it, and some nachos. When I bought the coke the lady asked me if I wanted to get the refillable option for an extra $2 and I looked at the size of the coke and thought no way am I finishing that, so I declined. But oh. My. Word. IT’S A TRICK! The Nachos are so salty, and the game is so exciting that you just get really really really thirsty! By half time we had finished the whole thing! So I went out and asked the same lady if I could pay an extra $2 and get my coke refilled now…she was not impressed. By the look on her face I think this is a question she gets asked often. But the answer was no. Always no.

DAY 6 (Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, Abott kinney, Intelligentsia)

We set off early-ish to make the most out of our day at the beach and made our first stop at Santa Monica. We walked up the pier and had an iced coffee, then went and laid out on the beach for a bit…well, I laid out, Isaac can’t sit still for two minutes so he bought himself a football and did some kick-ups for an hour or so! I even went in the sea, it was freeeeeeeeeeeeeezing though! We then went along to Venice Beach. It’s really close to Santa Monica so you can walk down, or ride a bike, but we knew we wouldn’t want to walk back later so we took the car.

We had a bit of lunch at Venice beach, the restaurant was alright but nothing great – I can’t remember the name! We then rented a two-seater bike to ride along the boardwalk. This is not for the faint-hearted. I sat on the back and was gripping so tightly my hands turned purple. I was so tense and every time the bike wobbled I screamed… I laugh now because it would have been fine, but I just wanted to enjoy the scenery and have a nice meander along the seafront, so we swapped the tandem for 2 single bikes ($6 for 1 hr) and this was much more enjoyable!

After Venice Beach we didn’t want to drive straight home because of the traffic at peak times, so we went to Abbott Kinney which was near by. It’s famous for ‘cool’ shopping, however as it was now evening the shops were closed. But we did get a nice coffee from Intelligentsia and sat and relaxed and chatted about all the fun we had!

DAY 7 (Malibu, Los Liones Canyon, Malibu Farm’s Café, Camarillo Outlets, In ‘N’ Out)

Our final full day turned out to be the best day ever. We drove up to Los Liones in Malibu to do a hike! It’s totally free, and a wonderful thing to do. Some of the locals do it as part of their fitness regime, and others go to see the sights. There are different stop-off points along the way anywhere from 1.5 miles to 10.6 miles. But that’s only one way… so if you make it all the way to the top and back down you’ve almost done a full marathon on a canyon. We stopped at the earlier check-point where you still get an incredible view, but leave far less sweaty! It’s very dusty/sandy so be prepared to get it all over your legs and shoes as you walk. Most people will wear some type of gym gear/loose/cool clothing.

After our miniature workout we went to Malibu Farms Café. Again, absolutely beautiful! The pictures speak for themselves! We got a bit of lunch and visited the shop on the pier. It’s pricey but lovely. I bought a postcard.

We then drove down to Camarillo Outlets. It’s pretty far out but the drive is stunning if you take the coastal route so it doesn’t even feel long when you’re taking in all the scenery. The outlet is amazing, Ashford is nothing in comparison! I got some Nike Free Runners and a MICHAEL KORRS BAG!!!! I’m not really that in to bags, but I had been looking for a good black leather every day one for a while that won’t break when I piled all of my things in it every day. I saw this one in Michael Korrs and it was exactly what I was looking for and suuuuuuch a good price! Isaac also got some trainers and sportswear.

We ended our day with In ‘n’ out burger. I only like chicken burgers but I forced myself to have a hamburger and it was actually okay. The chips are weird there though, I think you either love them or you hate them.

DAY 8 (Alcove Café, Roscoes)

Wahhh it’s the final day! Hats off to you if you’ve read this entire blog post so far, if you’ve skipped a bit I understand, it is preeeettty long.

We went for breakfast at Alcove Café in Los Feliz, they do an amazing selection of baked goods and the restaurant is lovely. They have an outdoor area in the front where you can sit at tables surrounded by greenery!

We then popped back home to pack our final bits and then Isaac drove me toward the airport. He was staying for an extra 2 weeks as his band were flying out and they had a few shows to do, I needed to return to work but was so grateful for the most wonderful holiday! 

Before my flight we used our final dining opportunity to get Roscoes House Of Chicken & Waffles. This was the one place Isaac had wanted to eat at the whole week, so I couldn’t deprive him of that. I went for the thing on the menu that said it was Barack Obama’s favourite. It was surprisingly tasty but also a bit sickly. I was actually sick on the aeroplane home (awful experience) and all I could think of was the chicken and waffles. I don’t think it was actually caused by this though, but I’ve been scarred for life. Like the time I ate Cookie Dough ice cream when I had the flu... It’s tainted the flavour forever.

So that’s it! You made it through 8 days of LA. I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Emma
  xx