I can’t say Los Angeles is a place I’ve ever had a huge desire to go to, but my dear friend Kadie is living in Calabasas and there isn’t a better reason to travel than to see friends, so I found myself in LA for Memorial Weekend last year. I booked my ticket just a few weeks prior to going, and I had planned to be at the airport at 5:30 am for my 7 am departure. Instead I found myself WAKING UP at 5:30. I raced to the airport and made it with a few minutes to spare. Phew!
I arrived in LA on Saturday morning, and Kadie picked me up and drove us towards Venice Beach to find some brunch. We went to a little place called Egg Slut that had quite the line going out the door. After getting our sandwiches, we went over and sat on the beach for awhile. I think I had expected the California beach to look more like Florida’s beaches, but nope, it’s definitely still the Pacific Coast!
We had a few hours, so we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway towards Malibu. The parking police are quite diligent in that area, so we stopped to watch the waves but we couldn’t stay too long.
I wandered around Calabasas on Saturday evening while Kadie was working. A friend of mine had told me about a place called Health Nut and she insisted I HAD to go there because the salads were amazing. It was only a mile from Kadie’s place, so I walked down there for dinner. As I’m sitting there eating a salad, which actually was incredibly good, I’m wondering why on earth my friend would drive from LA all the way up to Calabasas specifically to go to this restaurant that’s located in a strip mall. I texted her and asked. Her answer? The Kardashian’s eat there on their TV show! Aha! That made a little more sense. But no, I didn’t see any of them. :)
I spent a couple hours wandering around the Commons at Calabasas. It’s a super nice little area! Also it had Starbucks. So I went there every day.
The ponds there were full of turtles! I generally do not like animals, but I have a weird thing for turtles. They’re so cute!
The next morning, Kadie and I hiked up to Wisdom Tree. I believe the story is that this tree is the only one to survive a 2007 wildfire, but I haven’t done the research to back that up. :) It was cloudy, but I was still glad I hauled my camera up with me!
After the hike, we went over to Hollywood to see the Walk of Fame. This was a quick stop because it was pouring rain, and really, once you’ve seen one star, you’ve seen them all!
From Hollywood we drove back up the coast to Malibu in hopes of catching a bit of sunset. It was blocked by the hills to the North but I didn’t even care because the blue hour light was so beautiful!
Santa Monica was my favorite place. It was Memorial Day and the weather was beautiful! We went to a few stores, ate lunch out on the pier, and stopped to watch and listen to the talented street artists that were performing on the Third Street Promenade. My favorite was the older man playing his guitar with a sign that said something about it being his retirement plan or hobby. :)
Thank you to the random strangers who helped complete my sunset frames. A simple silhouette can add so much to an image!
Once again, the city at night was the best part. Warm air, a good friend, yummy coffee… <3
A friend said once that something caused cancer in California, and I asked why only there. He pointed above my head, did a whoosh motion, and says “It’s like a freeway up there.” 😂Once I was in LA, I saw the signs everywhere that things like coffee were known to cause cancer in the state of California, so that was my AHA moment on figuring that one out. :) Also, we did eat at In-N-Out Burger, and I don’t at all understand the hype. Seemed like a normal fast food burger place to me.
Now to order the photo book I just made with all these photos! :) I can’t wait to get it!