Pretty in Pink

Our final day was spent relaxing and exploring what shops the area had to offer. We were in the third street promenade the day before and to be honest they all teh usual chains you get everywhere. We got talking to a shop assistant in Bloomingdales who told us about Abbot Kinsey, in Venice beach where a lot of the local artisans and designers sell their wares.

First time in the whole trip we made it out of our hotel and into a restaurant for breakfast by 1130 am! The shops did not disappoint. We went crazy at Aviator Nation, a Venice Beach born brand with t-shirts and comfrtable clothes all made, dyed and washed in Venice Beach area. Every garment, we were told, is different. The tri-blend cotton was so soft, I wanted to buy the shop. Watch out it packs a punch to the wallet.

Abbot Kinsey is worth spending some time in for food as well and shops. There are also stalls on the road. I spotted a stall selling slightly vintage looking clothes and fell in love with a long white dress. The vendor obviously spotted a target. Zenobia kept her cool and and calmly asked a price. She kept at it until she relented. I was so proud of her bargaining prowess.

So this is the end of our trip. It's been one amazing journey. USA is so vast and I still I haven't seen most of the west coast. There are definitely places I feel I need to go back and would! 

A final thanks for following. And a massive thanks to Zenobia for being a great travel buddy and for having amazing eye for the photos she provided for the blog- it wouldn't have been half as interesting or good.

Xx

Californication

As our night ended late the night before, we started very late as well and went to an organic cafe on Santa Monica. Santa Monica definitely had the vibe I expected from Santa Monica/ beach place. Every other shop on Main Street was a yoga shop, all the cafes were vegan or organic with fresh juices. After a whole month of beef burgers, it was a welcome change. We went to Urth Cafe, a organic tea and food joint and I went for roast beef sandwich!

We were joined by Arnaud, who showed us Santa Monica and Venice Beach on a convertible. It is how Santa Monica is meant to be seen. Great music, sun shining down and wind in my hair! 

We had a few last minute essential shopping to do and Arnaud took us to Best Buy for Zenobia to buy a gift for her brother, after I told her the items were a lot cheaper. Turned out I was looking at the wrong thing. Neither were happy with me for wasting their time. They got their back though, when we were on the beach and I went ahead to walk in the sea. I was aware the Arnaud was stalking, ready to dunk me. Unfortunately, I turned my back for half a second and he ran into me with speed! It didn't end there, he got me again under a pretence of a hug. Zenobia was on the floor laughing. 

We wanted to go on the Ferris wheel on the Santa Monica pier as our final classic American activity. Unfortunately as we were walking into the pier, people were leaving. Turns out there is a closing time. 

Arnaud took us to a nearby Caribbean restaurant, Cha Cha Chicken, he discovered on Pacific Avenue while he was here with his friend. It's a fun place, where people queue for their order and sit down. They also have a bring your own bottle policy. By the time we ordered and sat down, the queue expanded onto the pavement and the food, as expected, was awesome. Can't go wrong with chicken wings and jerk chicken, with plantain.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang- LA/Santa Monica

To change pace we decided to go to Griffiths Park and visit the observatory. It is said to have the best views of the LA basin, and I love the observatory building. It's so unpretentious and cool, in my opinion. Of course, a lot of movies were made here, which always piques my interest.

Last time I was at the observatory, it was closed, so I was looking forward to see what the fuss was about. Neither of us were disappointed. It was pretty simple, but it had a lot physics and chemistry which brought out the nerd in us, especially Zenobia when she saw the Tesla coil and stood there explaining the theory and its uses. Not just a pretty chick! It's a fun place for all ages, just to press buttons and interact. It simply did not disappoint.

 The most popular hike is the Mount Hollywood hike, which starts by the observatory car park. Starting off I was quite perky, determined to go farther, especially we saw many running/ jogging past us. There were also a group of young teenage girls running up and down, some more energetic than others, pushed and shouted at by, I suppose, their coach. We were both tempted to shout "you meanie!" at him, except that he looked like he may make us do push ups as well, so we forged ahead. It was a hard walk- not because of the length or the incline, but more because of the sun beating down on us relentlessly, despite it being late afternoon.

 Our way back was just as slow, partly because we missed the signs for the highway and ended up driving farther up than we were supposed to. Luckily, the roads are straight so we more r less ended up in the right place. One thing I realised about road signs in US is that they don't give much warning about turn offs and it's a blink and you will miss it. And I have missed a few!

 To end our night we went to a bar in Main street, Santa Monica, to meet a new acquaintance- Arnaud, a French sportsman. He shared his adventures in his road trips in USA with us, and we are already starting to plan the next one! He also took us to Bungalow, a bar in Fairmont hotel. It's outdoors near the entrance, with cool music and even cooler crowd, ranging from tourists to movie wannabes. Everyone was chatty and young and free. Very easy to make friends here, if you want.

Cluless- Coronado Island/ Dana Point

We headed off to Coronado island, again after a recommendation we picked up on our travels. We had to drive up a bridge, which was quite boring. We used google maps to get to Hotel Del Coronado- again another recommendation for eats, when we were stopped at a gate. Turned out google wanted us to go through a naval base. When we were re-directed to the hotel, google still took us to the base in a different direction. It felt like we were missing a message from heaven...

Hotel Del Coronado was started in 1886 and it certainly looked old school. It's a resort style place with a shopping section. The food was nice and the view was of the sea. It was pleasant, but I couldn't see what the fuss was about.

En route we saw a few interesting sites including "the boobies"- two domes with waht looked like pointy nipples. I noticed this church below on our way down to San Diego at night, all lit up, it looked like a Disney castle

On our way to dropping off Grace, we headed to thr Ritz Carlton to watch the sunset. It felt very OC and considering it was ten year OC anniversary,  I was happy. The views were amazing, with surfers below us, great food and company.

We decided to stay in Santa Monica as we felt it was a low key, chilled place.

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The secret world of shopaholic and friends- San Diego

The day was a lazy one, spent by the pool and chilling. We explored the shopping mall near us and took advantage of the Labor Day sales. Some were great, some were ok. Some shops had flat 20-40 percent off, while others were more selective.

Grace took us to a funky restaurant she went to previously. It was a cool place, interesting decor and fun and relaxed staff. The main attraction, of course, the food! The best were the chicken wings and bone marrow spread!

For the first time we had a relatively early night, i.e. before midnight!