Our last day in LA involved some last-minute sight-seeing and souvenir shopping as our flight was at 7pm that evening. We left our luggage at our hotel as it obviously impractical to lug it around all day with us. Whilst we waited for our Uber we took a quick look around the pool and I wish we’d booked an extra day in LA to soak up some rays and just relax...
Our aim for the day was to see Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey and try to find Mariah Carey and Britney Spears’ star on the Walk of Fame. We got an UberPOOL to Santa Monica beach and the other passenger in the car was on a conference call the whole journey. It was a blessing when he got out as our driver turned the music up and told us a little bit about LA…
Santa Monica Pier is exactly how it looks in the movies except bigger, prettier and so very American. The only other pier I’ve been on is Brighton and if I’m honest it doesn’t compare. What I loved about being in LA at this point was how calm and laid back everything was. As I walked out and stared into the Atlantic Ocean, I could understand why so many get infatuated with all that is La La Land. It has everything one could want – the ocean, miles of beaches, palm trees, mountains and the twinkling skyline that resembles NYC on a smaller scale. Would I want to live here? I’m not sure; I’m a strong believer in having four seasons to get me through the year as I don’t really like hot weather, I reckon I would struggle in the heat all year long.
As we walked back down the pier, we spotted Bubba Gump and were drawn in by their brunch menu. Skimreading as I usually do, it was only available on weekends so we had lunch instead. My last Bubba Gump visit was after I’d come back from Vegas in 2015, I decided to try the London branch and it just didn’t compare. It was basic, unseasoned and still tasted frozen – I’m just gonna let it go. Anyway, my Santa Monica Bubba Gump experience was the exact opposite:
After stuffing our faces, we checked out the Marina Del Rey are and this immediately reminded me of the Dubai Marina Yatch club. It was very pretty, chilled out and I loved the little playground area nearby. Who doesn’t love a bit of swinging?
At this point it was around 12pm and we realised we only had about 3-4 hours left of exploring before we had to the airport. On top of that it started to warm up and the idea of wearing layers, carrying a backpack and exploring started to dawn on me. We got an Uber back to Hollywood Boulevard for some souvenir shopping…
The journey from Marina Del Rey to Hollywood Boulevard took around 45 minutes with traffic; it made me realise that we really did need another day in this city. I don’t mind being in an air-conditioned cab but when you wanna try to shove in exploring against the clock it can begin to make feel a little nervous.
The area around Hollywood Boulevard had attracted a large amount of traffic as it was the Latin Music Awards was on. Oh hey J.Lo!
We tried to find Mariah and Britney‘s stars but of course my life is a series of misfortunate events as they happened to be covered by a construction site at the time. Also if you’re looking for cheap souvenirs, the further down Hollywood Boulevard you go (aka it starts getting a bit dodgy), the cheaper they’ll become. Why pay more when you can pay less? Especially when they’re all selling the same tat. I picked up a shot glass, Beverly Hills license plate and keyring as I hoped it meant I’d be living in that neighbourhood one day.
We got an Uber back to hotel to chill in the lobby (and cool down), collect our luggage and head to the airport. This draws my LA adventures to a close as I had another flight to catch to…
Char xo
Sincerely Sarah says
Santa Monica sounds wonderful, and looks incredible!! Have really enjoyed your LA musings, babe xx
Sincerely, Sarah xx
http://www.sincerelysarah.net
Memoirs & Musings (Char) says
Thanks so much Sarah xxx