LA Weekend Trip

I Love LA (Remember That Song?)

It was a great song, and a fantastic video, which really dates me, doesn’t it?

Sweet Husband is from Los Angeles County, specifically from a small beach town where the harbor is located. He is, as a matter of fact, there right now. We were there just a few weeks ago, and it made me think about the extremely high number of weekend trips we’ve made to that area over the decades, and how we have learned to manage our time and maximize our enjoyment from the various parts of that beautiful county. 

Let’s take a look at a variety of plans, schedules and suggestions if you’ve got just a few days to explore the area in between your convention or Disneyland vacation. 

Driving Or Flying?

We do both, depending on the plans for the weekend. If you are in Las Vegas (or even Phoenix), you have the option of a four- to six-hour car trip or a quick one-hour flight. I frequently price both of the options out, and they are pretty close even when I include parking at Harry Reid Airport for the weekend. When you factor in the time in the airport, waiting for take-off, even if you don’t have any delays, you end up around that same four- to six-hour timeframe. 

Your mileage may, actually, vary.  

Whichever way you choose, it is almost a certainty that you will need a car. No doubt about it. The attractions and area of the greater Los Angeles area are very diverse and quite far apart, making Uber a pricey alternative even for a few days. Plus, if you’re heading to the beach, it’s hard to pack everything you need in a suitcase on that plane.

Once we have evaluated every trip for decades, it turns out the only time we reliably fly into Los Angeles is when we are jumping on a cruise ship. 

Salient point: You need a car for an LA weekend trip. 

LA Is A Really Big Place…

I mentioned above that Los Angeles is a very large and diverse area, even if you are just doing a comparison of a few beaches. When you add the infamous LA traffic, it can take you quite a while to navigate from one area to another. 

Unless this is a “once in a lifetime never coming here again” trip, I strongly recommend you choose one or two things in the area that are “must do’s” for you, and focus strictly on those two areas for this trip.

Los Angeles isn’t going anywhere—you can always come back to find different things to do and see.

Coming In On Friday Night

For our purposes, we are going to assume you are going for a LA weekend trip, leaving in the afternoon of the first day—Friday in our example—and returning to your original location by Sunday evening. This might not at all be your plan, maybe you’re flying home directly from Los Angeles, but this will give you a good idea of things you can accomplish with two nights and two half-days of exploring in front of you. 

Checking In

With any hotel stay, I recommend checking in online in advance, and having your requests either in writing or by phone call directly to the hotel. This way, I don’t have any surprises when I show up, considering it would be about 10 pm by the time we drive to Los Angeles following work on a Friday.

Grabbing A Bite

Coming from Las Vegas, this is sometimes harder than you might think for us. We are used to things being open 24 hours a day which isn’t really the norm in many other places. As a result, I try to pack my favorite drinks and a few snacks when we travel anywhere. We will eat on the road heading to California, and whatever snacks I bring will keep us going until the next day.

Did You Make Sunset?

If you are flying, or getting in earlier in the day and heading to a beach area of California, I can’t stress enough to make yourself available for the sunset. Whether there are beautiful colors and clouds of every shape, or it is a simple dropping of the sun into the ocean, it is always stunning, and very specific to the California coast. If you miss it on Friday, don’t you dare miss it on Saturday!

Hit That Hot Tub

Whether you flew or drove, you were stuck in a seat for hours. You need a good soak! One of the things I always look for in a hotel is a hot tub, specifically for lounging in the evenings with a cold beverage. That screams “weekend getaway” to me! 

What Will We Do Saturday?

There are entire books dedicated to visiting the greater Los Angeles area, and I freely admit that I am biased on several levels: I like where Sweet Husband grew up, so we visit there frequently, I haven’t done nearly everything in any suburb of LA, and I know what I like so I gravitate to it. So, these suggestions are far from exhaustive, but should give you a few ideas of what to do or where to go during that nice long Saturday you are relaxing in the area. 

Hitting The Beach

I got engaged on Manhattan Beach. I’ve bodysurfed at Huntington Beach. I’ve gawked at Venice Beach. I love to relax at Bolsa Chica or Sunset Beach. I could go on and on, but I think you already know my point. Hit the beach, my friends! If you don’t actually want to lie on the beach, consider a beach with an activity instead. We recently spent time at Torrance Beach, where there was a paved path, bathrooms and benches where you can sit and relax waiting for sunset or watching the surfers. Steps off the beachwalk were multiple restaurants and shops to explore if that’s more your style of beach-going. 

My Favorite Museum

I grew up outside New York City, and museums are among the few things I miss living in the desert. Years ago we found The Getty Museum (https://www.getty.edu/museum/) and we have been there numerous times through the years. Not only is it a spectacular museum…it’s free. Free. You pay a small fee to park, but all of the displays and gardens and works of art are absolutely free. It was the perfect way to introduce our children to museums before visiting Washington DC, because we could talk about museum etiquette, and see how high their interest or tolerance were for those types of places. 

It’s A Shopping Mecca

We were pretty poor for a lot of years in the beginning, but I’ve got champagne eyes—I liked to look at high-end stuff, even though we couldn’t buy it. Actually…I still just look. So, we would go to Beverly Hills to shop on Rodeo Drive. We would walk up and down the streets, drive the palm tree lined streets looking at mansions, and just enjoy the ambiance of the beautiful town. Every year, I would go into the shops, and, every year, I would buy one thing. Every year Sweet Husband would buy me a bottle of perfume from a high-end store. It was all I could afford, but it served to make me smile and remember our trips every day. Try it!

There’s Always A Theme Park

Yeah…I had to slip this in, didn’t I? While I think a weekend trip to LA is nowhere near enough to fit in some city and some Disneyland, I have to mention it. The original Disney park, the one Walt Disney oversaw and walked daily, is just thirty minutes from the beach, and well worth your time. Maybe not this weekend…but it needs to be on everybody’s bucket list. 

Don’t Overlook The Restaurant Scene

Did you know we aren’t foodies? At all.

Maybe it’s because we live in a food mecca here in Las Vegas, or our generally frugal nature, or maybe it’s because we are both pretty good cooks, but we don’t go crazy on our food budget when we travel.

But…I don’t miss Waffle House down South, and you can’t skip In n Out Burger in California! Okay, definitely lower budget items, but the point is the same: Do things you can’t do at home. We do our best to avoid chain restaurants when we travel anywhere, choosing to eat small and local as much as we can. Not only does it support the local economy, but it helps us get a flavor (did you see that?) for the area, as well. 

It’s Sunday Morning

Breakfast, Anyone?

While I virtually always choose a hotel with a free breakfast, I love a good diner breakfast. One thing we do not have here in Las Vegas is a good diner scene, so we will indulge in that when we travel. If you are near the beach, I highly suggest finding a small café on the beach where you can relax, have a nice big breakfast, and watch the early morning surf crowd. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the country.

Half-Day Touring

We try to leave Los Angeles by 2 pm, to make it home at a reasonable time so we can work the next day. As a result, we do have some time on that final day. While getting sandy and salty after checking out of the hotel might not be your style, this is a great time to indulge in any of the other items I listed above. The important thing is to use your time to the best of your ability, and not spend extra hours just sitting at the airport.

Getting Home Sunday Night

 So, for a weekend trip to LA, assuming traffic isn’t bad, Sweet Husband will roll into Las Vegas around 8 pm tonite. He will be relaxed, rejuvenated, and maybe slightly sore from all the boogie boarding he did yesterday. He will have stories to tell me, and I’ll bet he brings RobberBaron a few burritos from their favorite place by the beach.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. What’s your plan?

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Thank you for reading all about LA weekend trip!

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