8 Hours in LA
Back in February, Shane and I took a kid-free trip to Austin as part of our decision making process for our impending move. On the way home, we had an 8 hour layover in LA… We knew we wanted to get out of the airport for two main reasons:
1) We’re not fans of LAX - I think it is the least favourite of all the airports we’ve been to.
2) We like to experience where we are and had no desire to stay in the airport and shop or just wait.
With that in mind, we decided to make a break for it and head to the beach. I had done a bit of research ahead of time and knew that, even with the LA traffic, the airport was literally spitting distance from the ocean, and mama wanted to put her toes in the sand! We hailed an Uber and decided to head to Venice Beach.
Our Uber driver had actually lived in Canada for several years and was great to chat to on the almost half an hour it took us to go like literally 3 miles! And he dropped us off at a cafe he recommended. We grabbed a much needed coffee and a chocolate croissant and hauled our carryons the two blocks to the beach. It was a beautiful morning and I thoroughly enjoyed the people watching on the beach, and the sun on my face! I only felt moderately guilty that we were enjoying such beautiful weather while my mum and the kids were literally experiencing a polar vortex back home in Edmonton!
In a crazy coincidence, Shane’s parents happened to be vacationing only two hours away so we gave them a call, and they were able to come meet up with us! Kinda crazy to live twelve hours apart from each other, in Canada, and be able to go for lunch in Venice Beach, California!
We had a lovely lunch overlooking the ocean (I had fish tacos and a corona cause #vacation), went for a walk by some of the ocean front houses and then the pier, and then Shane’s parents dropped us off back at the airport.
My encouragement is this: leave the airport if you can! It honestly felt like a whole extra mini vacation and I love when I get to experience a place I’ve never been before, even if it is just for a few hours!
Until I blog again,
Alex
