Lots to see in Los Angeles and it’s more than the rich and famous! Hiking to the Hollywood sign, seeing the Melrose Avenue street art and taking in the Venice Beach sunset are among the highlights!
Los Angeles, California Highlights over Veterans’ Weekend 2017
- Santa Monica Pier
- Venice Beach (sunset, street art and bread pudding)
- Venice Canals
- Third Street Promenade and Sidecar Donuts
- Hike to the Hollywood sign and Bronson Caves
- Graffiti at the Old LA Zoo
- Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard
- Street art on Melrose Avenue and Alfred Coffee on Melrose Place
- View from the Griffith Observatory
When we find a great flight deal we go for it! We took a direct Spirit flight from Baltimore (BWI) to Los Angeles (LAX) and arrived shortly after noon on Friday, November 10th. We picked up our cheap rental car from Payless since we got a great deal through CarRentals.com. While it wasn’t the fastest service and we caught them trying to charge us the wrong price, everything ultimately worked out and we were on our way without being upsold on any of the extras. We parked the car at the Convention Center by the Santa Monica Pier and met our friends. (Traveler tip: If you go on a weekday, park at the Santa Monica mall instead. The Convention Center is a good cheap spot on the weekend.) The pier was fun to walk along – enjoyed the street performers, checked out the roller coasters, got our picture with the “66-End of Trail” sign and saw the fishermen at the end of the boardwalk. We especially enjoyed watching the sunset here.
We moved our car to Ocean Boulevard street parking part way between the Santa Monica beach and Venice beach to a meter that was free after 6 p.m. We walked along the pedestrian and bike path, which was lit. When we got to Venice beach where all of the stores are, we found lots of homeless and seemingly homeless people. While we felt safe, it didn’t seem like our kind of scene (read to the end to see how our opinion changed on our second visit here). We continued from here to the Venice Canals. The houses along the canals are beautiful and if you’re lucky, people will have their lights on so you can get a peek inside their living rooms. I’d love to find an AirBNB here!
I saw a picture of the Sidecar Donuts on Instagram and I knew I had to try one! We parked on 5th Avenue, paid the meter and made the short walk. I tried the maple bacon donut and it was SO GOOD! From here we walked down the Third Street Promenade. It reminded us of carless streets like the 16th Street Mall in Denver. We watched more street performers here, saw a Barnes & Noble with the old school signing and found huge hedge dinosaurs. We also poked our head down 4th Street which had trees decorated with colorful changing lights. Before calling it a night, we took a quick detour to Rodeo Drive and saw all of the fancy designer stores.
Instead of carsleeping this trip, we stayed at our friends’ place nearby, ate a lovely homemade breakfast, got serenaded by their 3 year old with Let It Go and headed out the door by 8 a.m. We arrived at 3200 Canyon Road by 8:30 a.m. and were able to secure a parallel parking spot for free. It’s a steep hike, but a rewarding hike from here to the Hollywood sign.
While it was a bit foggy, we did enjoy seeing downtown LA from the top too. Before returning to our car, we made a left past the Smokey the Bear sign and made the very short trip up to the Bronson Caves. They’re cool to walk through and if you walk all the way around, you’ll get another view of the full Hollywood sign. We were back in the car by 11 a.m. and made a short trip to the Old L.A. Zoo in Griffith Park. The parking was plentiful and free. After a few minutes of seeing the old cages that were abandoned in the 1960s, I was ready to go and didn’t see the appeal. It didn’t look like the Instagram pictures I had seen that showed graffiti. The trick is you have to climb the stairs in the second exhibit or come down from the top. The graffiti work is really cool and it’s a bit eerie to crawl through what used to be animal enclosures.
From here we headed to see the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd. Luckily we found two hour free parking on Emmet Terrace. Hollywood Boulevard is extremely touristy with some inappropriate stores, but for us, we had to at least see some of the famous stars. We enjoyed calling out names and noticing the different symbols depending on the person’s industry (e.g., entertainment, music, television, etc.).
After we got our fix and checked this off the list, we headed to Melrose Avenue. We found free street parking on North Orlando Avenue nearby. I really liked the vibe of Alfred Coffee on Melrose Place and they had nostalgic Lisa Frank cup sleeves. Melrose Avenue was perfect for taking pictures! We headed up and down the street so I could take pictures of the pink building, the famous wings, “Made in LA” wall, comedian wall by the Improv, the Marilyn Monroe portrait and much more!
From here we spent two days around Santa Barbara and the Pacific Coast Highway. Check out my next article to read more about that part of the trip. On Monday afternoon, we returned to Los Angeles and drove to the Griffith Observatory. The Observatory was closed, but we paid $4 to park and take in the view from here. The Observatory is beautiful and the walk around the building is superb! Even with some light fog, we still got some great shots of the skyline. You’ll get another chance to see the Hollywood sign. We also spotted a mom and two baby deer wandering around.
With a few hours left on our trip, we returned to the Venice Canals. We parked for free on N. Venice Boulevard near the LA Public Library. Since we made it before sunset, the lighting and reflections were perfect! The houses are all really unique and beautiful. Lots of people own little boats and we even saw a flamingo paddle boat!
We walked back to Venice Beach and found ourselves having a completely different experience from our first one. Venice was a happening place! We found amazing street art along the strip and closer to the water. I ate the most amazing classic cinnamon and salted caramel bread pudding from Espresso Yo’self. The skate park is a must see! Watching the skateboarders is completely mesmerizing as they dodge one another, flip their boards and stick their landings. By 5 p.m. the sun had set and the sky changed to the most magnificent colors. I couldn’t put my camera down!
Before we knew it, it was time to return our car to Payless, shuttle to the airport and fly home on the red eye flight. California is incredible and we will be back! Remember to check back to read about our two days around Santa Barbara and the PCH.
Renting bikes probably would have been a great idea, but we chose to walk the path up to and around Navy Pier before continuing to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Another notable animal included the pygmy hippo, which you can see a video of its snack time on my 
Michigan Avenue was fun to walk along, full of people, especially marathon runners sporting their completion medals. It was pretty exciting to learn that an American won the men’s marathon earlier in the day. One thing to note about Michigan Avenue is the stores close around 7 pm on Sunday nights.
We took a few more Bean (aka Cloud Gate) pictures and then started our walk along the Chicago River from the Michigan Avenue entrance. 
The skyscraper reflections, public art and river pathway make this a great stroll. We loved stumbling across the oversized deer statue.
On the top level, you can also peer out the window and get a good look at the “Broad Street Market” sign or do like us and stand in the middle of the street for a good selfie.
We continued along State Street to the Susquehanna River. This part of the Capital Area Greenbelt is gorgeous and I definitely want to return to bike the full 20 miles! Make sure not to miss the bronze statue of a man sitting on a bench reading his newspaper. It’s a perfect photo op! Put your arms around him, give him a peck, go crazy! Given the two hour parking limit, we arrived back to our car, set the GPS and were on our way to Chocolate Town USA!
We also really enjoyed the Reese’s Cup Xtreme Challenge and the new Hershey’s Drop Tower. One thing that was amazing is that after certain rides, they give you almost 2 ounces of free Hershey candy like Reese’s Crunchers! I tried some delicious treats this way. We stayed at the park until about 10 pm on a night where they closed at 11 pm.
The line took about 30 or so minutes, so be prepared to wait. We jogged back to the car using our phone flashlights as our guide given there are no street lights. Luckily, the area felt safe and we didn’t have any issues getting our car back at the Hershey Story. A touch before midnight we were back on the road and into our beds by 2 a.m. Can’t wait to spending another day this summer at Hersheypark to finish riding the rest of the roller coasters and further exploring the waterpark!
favorite. While driving around, we were fortunate to see a few horses at two different camp sites as well as a deer (one of the campsites is the one across from the Life of the Marsh parking lot).
We found parking to be quite a challenge, so make sure to pack your patience. Ocean City has a 
While almost everything was closed, the “Island Creamery” ice cream shop had a huge line! It was fun to window shop the antique stores, look at the home sale flyers and notice the cute coffee shops like “On What Grounds?” on the main street. After we got our steps in (yep, we counted them on the Garmin and got over 36,000; Mike got 40,214 with his run) we were ready to call it a night.
After taking in the sunrise, make sure to jump back in your car and continue along the main street. We got to the roundabout and saw four ponies and then on our way out saw at least 10 more. Again, have your camera ready! 
Having taken it all in, we decided to drive to Salisbury, Maryland to check out this small town. If you decide to roll through this small town, I highly recommend a stop in (or drive thru) to Rise Up Coffee. Their seasonal lavender latte was delicious! We drove by and saw the beautiful campus of Salisbury University while we waited for the free Salisbury Zoo to open. The zoo is very small, but if you’re zoo people like us, that won’t deter you from at least checking it out. The macaws were funny to watch flip around on their rope. Hopefully if you go, more of the cool animals like the sloth and jaguar will be out and about.
Make sure to wear your walking shoes, because the zoo is a bit spread out, yet relatively easy to traverse and see everything without really having to retrace your steps. Also, there’s an indoor wildlife area where you actually leave the entrance to the zoo as if you’re heading to the parking lot and enter the botanical gardens which you don’t want to miss. Some of the highlights included the:
didn’t want to spend $15 or $20 on parking for a few hours. Once you arrive to the park, there are kiosks as well as the normal will call area where you can buy tickets from a salesperson if you don’t find a good deal for tickets ahead of time. 
As with any baseball park, make sure to spend time walking around to check out the statues, different views of the city and other nuances. The night we went the Frank Robinson statue was unveiled as part of Heritage Park. It’s also fun if you can spot or get a picture with Slider, the pink bird looking mascot for the Cleveland Indians.
We did this because it’s a small parking lot that tends to fill up fast. It’s definitely worth walking along the boardwalk and stairs to get relatively close to the waterfalls to take some pictures. There are also lots of nice trails (paved and unpaved) to walk along. If you’re on the unpaved paths, make sure to bring your hiking boots in case it’s muddy. I love my 
beautiful big rocks and like the woman at the Visitor Center told me, has a feel like something out of Jurassic Park. Take a big loop around after jumping from big rock to big rock at the overlook. Take some goofy pictures peeking out from behind the rocks or like you’re falling off the rocks. Well, there you have it, our weekend in Cleveland and Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Treat Yourself to Travel 