SoCal Sight Seeing

First we made a list of all the beaches we went to during the summer in our blog post SoCal Beach Expeditions, so here is the list of all the fun places we explored that weren't the beach! This includes everything from famous restaurants, to good views, to museums. We didn't hit up every major tourist sight in LA (many of them didn't interest us much, to be honest), but we did a lot! This blog post will be much more succinct though. It is organized by time, starting when we arrived in California in mid-May to when we left toward the end of August.

Ruby's Diner

Home of the best oreo shakes (as you probably heard in our beach blog post). They are all over the southern California coast. We personally visited three of them--Redondo Beach, Huntington Pier, and Corona Del Mar. Be prepared to spend a little more than a typical beach snack shack, but it's delicious. Also, good burgers and fries.

Newport Beach Temple

Went to this temple for PJ and Katie's sealing! Gorgeous temple, I think one of the only LDS temples that is pink, not white. This temple is also teeny tiny!

Sherman Library and Gardens

Following the Newport Beach Temple sealing, we went to a very fancy reception at the Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar. Beautiful setting with gardens, some animals, and delicious food.

Hollywood

Hollywood really isn't that exciting, to be honest. We saw the famous sign (actually much farther away and smaller than you would imagine), the stars Walk of Fame, the handprints outside the TCL Chinese Theater, etc. We had to go once though, right? We're just more into the whole outdoors and food scene.

Rodeo Drive

We only drove down this famous road in LA, but we definitely got our fill. This road is home to all the famous and expensive brands. You get some dirty looks from the people there who know you aren't actually wealthy enough to shop there, haha. We're talking like $700 t-shirts.

Los Angeles Temple

We walked the grounds of this temple once, and went back again to do an endowment session. This temple, as all temples, is beautiful inside and out. One of the largest and tallest temples in the world. It is also probably the only temple with a dead grass lawn due to the California drought.

KBBQ

I guess Korean BBQ is a big thing in LA? Well, it is delicious! We went with one of my good friends, Rachel, who grew up in La Canada near Pasadena and she took us to all you can eat KBBQ. It was SO GOOD and fun, because you just grill it yourself. I'm sad we never went again.

Science Center

I went to the LA science center with the children I nannied for the summer. It was a blast! We took the metro/train there and it dropped us off right at the entrance. Aside from any special rides, movies, or exhibits, the Science Center is free to explore. There was a lot of fun little activities and exhibits. We easily spent the whole day there.

Venice

Venice (a small suburb of LA) kind of encompasses a lot of things to explore. There is Abbot Kinney, a famous street with lots of cute shops and restaurants. The Venice canals, which is rather self explanatory and copying the actual Italy's Venice canals. Then there is a boardwalk with tons of shops and odd people. Venice is also known for its "Muscle Beach" with a full gym right on the beach where males like to show off their muscles (or lack thereof). Venice is THE place to go people watching.

Santa Monica Pier

One of the more famous piers around. It has a few rides (rollers coaster, ferris wheel, etc.) that were our of our price range, but we did enjoy walking around. There are also lots of arcade games and restaurants/food stands. We did eat at the expensive but delicious Bubba Gump Shrimp from Forest Gump for a friend's birthday though.

Downtown Disney

We didn't splurge and spend the money to get a couple day passes to Disneyland, but we did go to Downtown Disney a couple times when friends were in town. We would watch the fireworks from the park, maybe grab a treat (beignets from the Jazz Kitchen are delicious), and walk through the shops.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

A short hike leads you to a great overlook of the greater Los Angeles area. We wanted to see the sunset, but it was a bit cloudy and smoggy that evening.

Randy's Donuts

The famous donut shop that Iron Man crashes into. Not the most amazing donuts we have ever had, but still really good! Our favorite was the glazed buttermilk which actually was one of the most delicious donuts I've ever had.

Griffith Observatory

Another overlook of Los Angeles, but must closer to downtown. The whole Griffith Observatory was pretty neat. There is a little museum about space and the history of the observatory, as well as some huge telescopes. The night we went, there were some free viewings through these telescopes, which was pretty neat. And under the direction of some of the astronomer workers/guides, we also were able to be present when the International Space Station passed by in the sky, lit up by the sun! It was awesome.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

Famous cupcakes. Not much else to say about them. They also cupcake vending machines throughout the city though, which is funny. Very good!

Rooftop Bar at the Standard

This was our last adventure before leaving SoCal. We went into downtown LA on the metro/train to go to a bar on the roof of a hotel. And just like the internet said, this bar had some stellar views of the city! It also had a pool, water bed pods, foosball and ping pong tables, and comfy couches. Best part is, we didn't even have to order any drinks to get in! We just sipped our water.