Do-It-Together: A Day Trip in L.A.

Disclaimer: I was partially compensated for my stay at The L.A. Hotel to write this post as part of the Day Trip in L.A. that my husband + I shared. All experiences + words are our own. Scout’s honor.

We recently returned from spending a vacation day in L.A.

Insanity, right?

Well, the job took me to L.A. for a few days + the hubby couldn’t resist coming along. It was his first visit {my second} so the plan was to have a work-cation + see all of the things in Hollywood. Between our flights + the actual stuff that I was being paid to do, we ended up having one day to see all that we could!

We both believe in making the most out of life + since we had no idea when {or if} we’d ever get to come back, I wanted to make sure that he experienced as much of the area as possible…

But have you ever been to L.A.? The traffic is maddening. There are so many people + so much that you want to get done. It’s totally possible to see a bunch of the city in a 12-hour period, but you really have to be on your game.

What to Do on a Day Trip in L.A.

1. Pacific Coast Highway. First tip, it’s known to the locals as PCH. Drive up PCH from just south of LAX, around the Redondo Beach area. You’ll get to see some amazing views of the coastline, as well as, drive past Venice Beach + Santa Monica pier. Venice Beach has some amazing boardwalk real estate + you can meander over to Muscle Beach. Hop back in the car, drive 3 miles up the coastline to get to Santa Monica pier. There’s an amusement park there. If you’re trying to see more of California, just take pics of the park, put your toes in the sand, + hop back in the car. There is also a shopping area about a block west of the beach, which is actually pretty nice.

 

2. A studio tour. We blocked out 3 hours of our day to spend touring the Warner Brothers Studios. Because we knew that we’d be touring for a while, we grabbed lunch just outside the studio gates at Doghaus. I was on serious celebrity watch, but I think the closest we got were with script writers. The tour was really informative + our guide Paul was the absolute best! I also found discovered during this tour that I watch way too much TV… 

 

3. The infamous Hollywood sign. From the piers, or after a studio tour, you can navigate back into the city to your next destination. There is an option to hike up to the sign, but you can see it perfectly fine from the Griffith Observatory parking lot + take awesome pictures there. The Observatory also has telescopes that allow you to look out over all of Los Angeles. *Disclaimer: on my solo trip, I got out at night. There were so many people this time around, he just wanted to see it with his own eyes + keep moving. We slowed down enough for him to say “Oh, ok cool!” + then moved on to the next location…

4. The Chinese Theater + the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You know where the stars get their stars + the big movie releases happen? It’s just around the corner! Head over to the Chinese Theater {paid parking is on an adjacent street} + find the sidewalk stars of your favorite celebrities. Keep along the trail to end up in front of the Chinese Theater + see if you can find the celebrity with the same hand/shoe size as you!

 

5. The San Antonio Winery. It’s the oldest winery in the city + in 2017, they’re celebrating 100 years of being in business! The winery offers tours of their facility/process, $10 tastings, + an amazing restaurant. Seriously, the kid’s meal is more than enough for one adult… Read more about the winery here.

6. The L.A. Hotel. After all of that running around, make sure that you have a really comfortable hotel bed in which to crash! We ended up staying at The L.A. hotel in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Spacious room, stunningly beautiful artwork + decor, incredibly friendly staff, + a world class restaurant all made it worth it…we couldn’t have picked a more exquisite location to lay our heads!

The first thing you notice at the L.A. Hotel is all of beautiful + unique artwork inside! The hotel’s flower is the purple orchid + it’s literally my favorite flower on the planet! I’ve tried + failed to keep them alive, but they’re so beautiful to look at!

This amazing art installation is on the far wall across from the restaurant. I walked past it + thought in my Indiana Jones movie voice, “That’s a nice tapestry!”

 

I walked past it again + was like wait a sec… I walked up to it, astounded by the sheer dedication that it took to complete it! This thing is huge!

But this is what impressed me….

 

It’s made of thousands of nails…!

Just amazing!

Winding Down the Day

So once we settled in, we went back downstairs for dinner. The Ziran restaurant is in the lobby of the hotel + it’s definitely a 5-star eatery!

For our meal, we had lobster beignets with a citrus dijon cream; honey miso bass with roasted fingerling potatoes, watercress + tomato salad, topped with vanilla saffron cream; + cavatelli pasta with braised short ribs, tossed in truffle demiglace + topped with hand-grated asiago cheese.

 

 

 

We were stuffed, so for dessert, we shared a slice of creamy cheesecake, topped with berry salsa.

 

After dinner, we went back out to take a stroll down Rodeo Drive + try to burn off some of those delicious calories. Since all of the stores were closed, there was no chance to be shocked by the prices!

 

We again headed back to The L.A. Hotel to get some rest. Since it was our last night, we packed, showered + turned in to get ready for our flight home the next day.

Hopefully we’ll get to go back + do more, but one day was definitely enough for us to see a ton of stuff!

You can totally space out your activities + see so much more if you’re out there for a while. If you find yourself with limited time to explore, make it happen! Take advantage of the time that you do have 🙂 Here’s what you need to do to get it done in a day:

• Map out your plan. Decide where you want to do + literally find it on a map. It’s easier to get to all of the places if you know where you’re going.
• Be flexible. Because of the traffic, your plans might change a little but you can do it!
• Get up early! The beaches along PCH didn’t have Hours of Operation, so we could head over as early as we liked to get our day going! That way, we were able to squeeze so much in!
• Wear comfortable shoes. If you’re planning to dine somewhere nice, just bring the fancy shoes along with you.

Day Trip to L.A.

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Check out lots more of our photos from the adventure here!

Have you ever done a speed vacation before? How was it? Let me know in the comments below!