We may not have seen any celebrities during our visit, but the weather and company were top notch. Several friends from different times in our lives have ended up in Southern California. Nick had already visited the city as a kid and Channel Islands as an adult. So, we did a mixture of touristy things he had already seen, a few attractions he had not yet experienced, sprinkled with visits with friends. Now that I've seen the city, and the traffic (people really aren't exaggerating about that), I can't wait for us to go back to visit more of the islands and hike the surrounding mountains!
What We Did
Los Angeles
La Brea Tar Pits: An active oil seep that has existed for millions of years and has trapped many animals throughout history. There is also an active dig site and a museum. We highly recommend visiting
Hollywood: Strolled the Walk of Fame (stars), stopped in front of the Chinese Theater, etc. Didn't care to do much other than people-watch.
Runyon Canyon Park: Easy hike up to one of the peaks with great views of the Hollywood sign, Hollywood, and downtown LA.
Sunset Strip and Rodeo Drive: We really just walked around to take in the sun and ambiance of celebrity life. Rodeo is super bougie and is big for shopping.
Santa Monica
Santa Monica Pier: Walked the pier and a bit of the boardwalk. It was such a beautiful evening capped with an incredible dinner at Sushi Roku.
Oxnard
Channel Islands National Park: The main reason for this inaugural visit to Southern Cali. Advice: Book boat tickets far in advance (at least for the popular spring season), and you'll reserve your island transportation through Island Packers. We visited Anacapa Island for half a day, which is all you need for that particular island. We hope to return to visit Santa Cruz to kayak and camp for a couple days.
Food
Los Angeles
Rusty Mullet: A solid "meh," which is what we expected being in one of the most tourist-rich parts of LA. I wasn't very hungry, so I ordered the grilled cheese. It was literally melted sliced cheese on a warm burger bun.
Santa Monica
Sushi Roku: Setting the bar low after our Rusty Mullet experience, this place greatly surpassed expectations. The sushi and sake were phenomenal.
Culver City
City Tavern: Stopped here for a drink with some friends from college. Great atmosphere, appetizers, and beer.
Manhattan Beach
Manhattan House: The set-up is a little less intimate with mostly four-person tables, but the food and wine were really good (I had the gnocchi). We met up with a friend from Houston here, and the staff was very friendly and accommodating.
Glendale
Creamy Spoon French Bistro: We met up with the final set of friends planned on our agenda at this place. It's very cozy, and was able to accommodate our friends' three young kids. The food was very tasty, and there were plenty of veggie options.
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