Two Days in Los Angeles and Malibu

On day 5 we woke up from our Disney haze and checked out of our hotel. We were now LA bound. First stop.. breakfast at the Grand Central Market in Downtown LA. 

We had heard that the downtown area was a bit rundown and shaddy and that was not an exaggeration. Most shops were closed and boarded up.. we found some street parking and made our way to the GCM hoping that this was not a bad idea.

The best thing to do when in a food market is to divide an conquer. We took a walk around the place as a family and made mental notes off everything we wanted to eat. Then the boys found a place to sit (D being older and in possession of a phone has made things like this easier) and M and I started our buying spree. Insta Reel Here

Oh these chamoy and tajin covered sour gummies were so so good.. for of something for us then the kids.. they had quite the kick.

And the Egg Slut egg sandwhiches were some of the best we have ever had.. they were buttery and melt in our mouth pure deliciousness.

 

The Donut Man's peach donut is it's most famous donut and they were out of it so we chose a few others.. they were fine.

Full bellies and happy hearts.. we headed over to somewhere that makes us even happier.. The Last Bookstore on Earth. 

 

This bookstore was like the bookstore of dreams.. two floors.. a book tunnel, flying books.. books books books!

We ended up spending a lot more time in the downtown area than intended and needed to skedaddle quick. We next headed towards our hotel in Santa Monica. We stayed at The Huntley. 

We checked in and dropped off all over our things and after a quick refresh we headed out. The hotel offered a car service that would drop us off anywhere within a three mile radius. We had the driver drop us off near the Venice Canals. 

These I would next time pass on.. dirty water and just not worth the time. Especially if you are short on it. Afterwards we headed to Abbot Kinney Boulevard.. It is a street located in the southern part of Venice and is lined with fancy eateries, boutiques and galleries. 

We stopped at Salt and Straw (we had eaten this ice cream before when we were in Portland) I didn't really take any other pictures.. From there we headed towards the Venice Beach boardwalk. 

 

We bought spicy mangoes from a street vendor.. we had last had them in Mexico City and are so delicious.. I am going to remember and make some at home when mango season rolls around. 

We walked around for a bit longer.. I expected Venice Beach to have a louder vibe but it was pretty tame. We stopped for burgers at HiHo and after another stop at the hotel and a refresh we headed out again. This time to Griffith Park Observatory. 

It was a 40 minute drive that took us just about two hours. They really aren't exaggerating when they say LA traffic sucks. We got there close to sunset which was now obviously a horrible idea because the traffic to get into the park was insane.. there were cars everywhere.. so place to stop.. we drop around in loops hoping to find somewhere to park and then walk the rest of the way.. but it was no use.. such a fail. Defeated we headed to dinner

Many many years ago when M and I were in Vegas we ate at Yard Bird and had liked it so when we found out that there was a Yard Bird in the Beverly Grove area we decided to check it out. 

The next day we headed out to Malibu. But what was supposed to be a sunny day was cold and foggy :(

We ate at the Malibu Farm. So good. The restaurant was on the Malibu Pier. There was a separate dinner restaurant as well as a gift shop on the pier.

 Afterwards we stopped at the Vintage Grocers to pick up some fruit and snacks for our day. Next stop Point Dume. Parking is very tricky here.. there is space for only about 8 or 9 cars so we drove by a couple of times hoping to find a spot and we did.. phew.

It was a quick little hike. The sun was finally starting to come out. 

If you look closely you can see seals lounging on the rocks.

Afterwards we headed to El Matador State Beach. 

This beach was gorgeous.. 

The tide was high so there was very little dry sand but everyone squeezed in. 

We ate our snacks and enjoyed the rugged terrain, rocks and little caves.. a naughty seagull dove into my snack bag and almost got away with a bag of popcorn.. no joke. It was wild.

After a couple of hour we gathered our belongings and headed to our next location, Leo Carrillo Beach. This was another stunner. A lot more sand and gentler waves. 

The California surf culture is not an exaggeration.. I have never seen more surfers in my life. 

We ended our day in Malibu in the late afternoon and made our way make to Santa Monica. We got cleaned up and then headed out for dinner.

H had a ramen craving.. we found the most slurpaliciously delish ramen at Silverlake Ramen. The night had turned a little chilly.. we were not appropriately dressed. But we still headed down to the Santa Monica Pier. 

We had some hotel money to spend on food and so we did the obvious and ordered some dessert.

Cause sometimes that's just what you do!

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