We had the opportunity to visit Los Angeles last week! I've been planning this trip ever since the MLB schedule was released over a year ago and I saw the Twins would be playing both LA teams. Covid nearly thwarted our plans, but we just squeaked by. We only had the kids back home with us for 3 days before flying out. Bless my amazing mom and dad for taking care of them.
I struggled to narrow down pictures to share, so there are going to be a lot! Our flight was pushed back a few hours after we originally booked. This allowed us to drop the kids off at school prior to heading to the airport. I had my times mixed up a little and we left 30 minutes later than we should have. When we pulled up to our normal parking spot, there was a building going up where we normally park. Luckily, they were still doing parking and we were able to hop on the shuttle to the airport. The bag drop and security lines were longer than I had hoped and I was starting to majorly stress! We exited security 15 minutes before the gate closed. We quick bathroom break and water bottle fill-up and we were on the plane with 7 minutes to spare. Luckily, we got a free exit row upgrade and enjoyed the extra leg room.
The luck continued at the rental car pick up. They were having deals on convertibles, so we got to cruise around in a white Mustang all week (and it was cheaper than our original reservation!)
The time snafu and sold out in flight snacks led to me being very hungry by the time we were in LA. First stop was In-N-Out for some lunch. Our pastor moved from SoCal 3 years ago and we ordered his recommended double double animal style with animal style fries. It tasted so good! We stopped at our vacation rental to drop off our luggage and took a short rest before heading to the first baseball game. The notorious LA traffic was going to be a factor. We left a couple hours early and decided to drive Santa Monica Blvd instead of the freeway. It wasn't that much longer of a drive, but a lot more to look at.
Dodger Stadium didn't have quite the curb appeal of the other stadiums we've been to. This could have been because of the side we entered on (left field) or the amount and size of trees around it. Inside was another story. This is the third oldest stadium in the league and it was a beaut! It looks out on to the mountains instead of downtown.
The family sitting next to us ended out living just a couple miles from us back home and we've got a mutual friend.
Dodger dog!
The twins didn't win, but it was still a fun game and we had great conversation with our new friends.
Wednesday morning I enjoyed a Krispie Kreme Boston Cream and coffee on our balcony before heading out for the day.
Our first stop was Grand Central Market which is pretty similar to Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. They have a lot of fun little restaurants and vendors.
This Kobe mural was the first think we saw when we walked in.
eggslut was the impetus for our visit. One of their sandwiches was recommend to us, but once I saw what the "slut" actually was, I had to try it.
cage-free coddled egg on top of a smooth potato purée, poached in a glass jar, topped with gray salt and chives, served with slices of baguette
The potatoes were so creamy and the egg yolk was such a great compliment.
We finished breakfast by splitting a tiger's tail at Donut Man. I didn't realize until today that the Donut Man's name is Jim!
Angels Flight is a funicular on Bunker Hill just across the street from Grand Central Market that's been in operation since 1901. We planned to take a ride, but it was having technical difficulties, so just a picture will have to do.
Our next stop was La Brea Tar Pits. Started as an asphalt min in the late 1800s, they eventually discovered fossilized mammal bones. and modern excavation began in 1913. There have been over 100 excavations since and they are ongoing to this day. Deposits would grow large enough to trap animals like mammoths and sloths. This attracted a large number of carnivores leading to an unusually high number of carnivore fossils compared to other types of excavation sites. The remains of only 1 human have been found on the site.
They had a free walking tour shortly after we arrived.
Pit 91 is an active excavation site along with many crates containing micro fossils that were taken out when a nearby underground parking structures was being built.
The lake pit is left over from the mining days and bubbles with natural methane gas (and asphalt) which is odorless and colorless. It can be harmful, so all of the building in the area are equipped with methane detectors.
Since this is still an active site, asphalt can come to the surface anywhere. They mark those spots with bright green cones so no one gets stuck!
The museum was a fun place, They had an exhibit where you could test your strength against the pull of the tar.
We made a stop for lunch on the way to our next stop. Todo Bien Taqueria serves birria style cuisine from teh Jalisco region of Mexico.
Just up the street was the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We walked the full length of it on both sides which is just under 3 miles. I tried reading as many as possible, but knew exactly where to stop for the important ones like *NSync!
Grauman's Chinese Theater. This is where the handprints in concrete are. I was so hot by the time we got back on that side of the street that we didn't look too long.
On our way back to the house, we drove down Rodeo Drive.
Wednesday night we went to the Santa Monica Pier. It was a little tricky figuring out how to get to the parking lot, but we made it.
We decided to go on one ride, the Ferris Wheel. It was a really pretty view from the top.
We grabbed a hot dog appetizer before running to the shore to get a sunset picture just as the it was ducking behind the mountains.
On the way home we stopped at Ramenya for dinner. We shared shumai (steamed pork dumpling) and basic clear ramen (roasted pork, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and green onion. We've been talking about getting ramen for a while and it was delicious!
Up Next: Disneyland
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