A month before my son headed to the University of Virginia to start his freshman year I did something I hadn’t done in years. I took my two kids, Nick and Bella, on a trip that was just the 3 of us. For years as a single parent we traveled for spring break, trips to see family in Delaware and weekend getaways here and there. When the kids were little my minivan was a magical invention to entertain and keep my kids “socially distanced” before it was ”a thing“ preventing the inevitable “ He touched me” or “ She did this or that”. I rarely had to use the universal parenting favorite “ Don’t make me stop this car” on them.
When I started planning the trip to LA I was excited because after getting remarried our family trips included 7 people including 4 teenagers all thinking the world revolved around them. One time on our yearly family trip to Cape Cod while all 7 of us were waiting to deplane from our flight another traveler piped up “ Looks like the Griswolds are heading to the beach“. At first I was considering a snarky reply but laughed as this was pretty close to accurate.
Fast forward to our arrival in the City of Angels last August. Neither of my kids had been to LA and it had been years since I had been there for a short business trip and then once passing through heading to Hawaii. Both were excited but for different reasons. As a mom, this was a dream trip to have such great bonding time with children that had their own lives and a daughter that had been away at school for 2 years. Typically a planner, I decided this time to go with the flow with a loose agenda with the only exceptions being a few reservations for activities and dining to insure availability.
[Photo Credit: Susan Hansen]
All I will say is the three of us had the time of our lives on this trip. We were the quintessential tourists hitting Tinseltown and unapologetic for it. We walked the Hollywood walk of fame, took a TMZ guided tour hoping to see a celebrity, cruised around Beverly Hills, ate a couple of meals at the famous “In-N-Out” fast food burger restaurant where Bella was randomly stopped to provide feedback from a “YouTuber” doing a review of the restaurant. Only in L.A !
We also hit Dodgers stadium to catch a game and I was surprised to see how unchanged it was from what I imagine it looked like in the 70’s. As iconic as it is, Dodgers Stadium could use a facelift and it was an unusually steamy LA day sending me under the bleachers to cool off and guzzle some water. This short hiatus made me miss the best play of the game and my chance to make the ESPN highlights Bella and Nick managed to be on when a pop up fly ball headed straight to the section where our seats were. I literally looked like a hot mess so not making the highlight reel may have been a blessing in disguise. Just Sayin’
[Photo Credit: Susan Hansen]
Next stop was Malibu beach crowded but providing a beautiful back drop of mountainous terrain but the people watching was the best part. We saw it all and more than we wanted at times. On our way back to L. A. proper we made a quick detour to the college campus playground and beautiful views of Pepperdine University. UCLA came the next day and although impressed it made me appreciate the beauty of east coast colleges and beautiful more traditional campuses. We also made it to Venice Beach which is a treat if you have never been. Possibly one of the most eclectic mix of people I have ever encountered with the exception of #Vegas. The homelessness is real there providing a grim look at one of LA’s biggest problems. It was disturbing to see but at the same time I wanted both of them to have a better understanding of this real problem that plagues our big cities and urban areas. We even managed a quick half day road trip down to one of the most renowned Zoo’s in San Diego. A little bit of a drive but another worthy stop on our whirlwind tour.
Our big dinner night out was at a #Bravo TV famous restaurant named SUR. If any of you watch #LisaVanderpump and #VanderpumpRules you are familiar with this place. It’s a now famous high dollar restaurant and celebrity hangout with GREAT food but mostly we booked a reservation to check out Bella’s #1 LA must see. All of us were hoping for a celebrity sighting during dinner that never happened. However, on the way to #SUR we did have a Lil Dicky sighting who was randomly walking along a street near West Hollywood that my son and Uber driver spotted. They were all about discussing him for the rest of the ride while I sat in the back seat wondering what all the fuss was about . If you don’t know who #LilDicky is , and of course I did not, he’s a rapper & comedian. Who knew?
[Photo Credit: Susan Hansen]
Our last day we decided to do the Warner Brothers studio tour at the last minute cementing our slightly cringeworthy tourist status but not caring one bit and with a dynamic tour guide we visited the Ellen Show set, saw the real Batman “Bat Mobile” , sat in the Central Perk set from #Friends as well as seeing costume displays from #HarryPotter and #Aquaman. Another highlight if you are a “Shameless” series fan was the chance to check out the set including Patsy’s Pie restaurant and the Alibi bar. For a minute I was expecting Fiona to step outside for a smoke in front of the restaurant or see Frank getting kicked out of the bar again.
We packed a lot of LA “touristing” ( I made that up) into 4 days and a lifetime of memories the 3 of us will remember forever. The flight back had me feeling a lot more prepared to send my son off to school having had so many laughs together, watching my children bond like they hadn’t done in years and watching them explore a new city seeing the good, the bad and the ugly in LA and surrounding areas. In fact, I have decided to do a trip every year with them for the foreseeable future before fiancé’s, spouses & grandchildren arrive. We all agreed it was a special time and enjoyed our stay but as cities go it was a great place to visit but loved coming back to where we live even if we don’t have a famous restaurant on every corner or the chance to see a rapper walking down the street on the way to run very ordinary mundane errands.
XO & #StayCurious
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