Kontan’s Place

WOW it has been busy this week! I never imagined it would be this difficult to catch up with school stuff and get over the “oh so tired” of four days off! My apologies for not visiting anyone, and if you have been checking in to see how the trip went, thanks…sorry I haven’t satisfied the curiousity. Here is our trip to LA in 13 blurbs. Some deserve their own post and I will certainly add it later.

1. We drove to Bham on Wednesday so that our kids could spend 4 fun filled days with my Aunt. The early morning flights on Thursday were uneventful. I expected security to be much worse than it was. No problems and no major searches.

2. Arriving in LA we were fortunate that our room at the Hilton LAX was ready. Woohoo! Very thankful to have a place to safely deposit our bags and freshen up before heading to Hollywood. Realize, I am a hotel snob. While not the best place I have ever stayed it was certainly not a red roof motel 6! I was concerned that being so close to the airport did not bode well for a relaxing time with my husband. However, we were never disturbed by the take-offs and landings nearby.

3. After checking in we chose to spend the evening in Hollywood. Getting there was an adventure in itself. As I mentioned in my last post there was a red carpet event that night so the area in front of Grauman’s was being secured. We looked at all the stars on the walk of fame and found several that are our favorites.

4. Lunch was at the California Pizza Kitchen. Cute place, good food. We explored various shops then I was able to talk Djembe into a tour of the wax museum. Many were far from realistic. Others were eerily close to the real deal.

5. Our last stop in Hollywood the first evening was Musicians Institute. A friend of Jem’s studied there so he wanted to see the location.

6. As cool as visiting Hollywood was, I was surprised at the fact that it isn’t all that glamorous.

7. Friday Jem had to go to his conference. I decided to take my camera and head to Manhattan Beach. It didn’t feel very touristy. It is more of a residential area with some shops thrown in. Loved it. Lots of sidewalk sales that day and shops to keep me busy. I spent hours exploring, walking the beach, and watching people from the pier.

8. Lunch was a cute cafe where I was able to enjoy a humus and grilled chicken wrap. The temperature was perfect to sit outside to have a great meal with the light ocean breeze.

9. After spending the morning exploring I decided it might be a good idea to rest before spending the evening with Djembe. Good idea. Hate to go to LA and come home to say I thoroughly enjoyed a good nap, but that’s the truth.

10. Glad for the nap because when Jem was finished for the day we went back to Manhattan beach for dinner. Totally different at night! Still not very crowded, but all the places that I couldn’t tell what they were turned out to be restaurants. We found a cute place called the RocknFish and enjoyed dinner in their open air area. Feels like inside, looks like inside, but the ceiling is just beams. Fortunately it wasn’t cold, but I was glad to have my jacket while the pier earlier in the evening.

11. After dinner we made our way back to the trolley stop to go back to the hotel. As I said before, traveling in LA was an experience in itself. There were several singing Italians on the trolley home. They did not let on that they spoke much English. However, they knew many of our favorite childhood songs. Old McDonald’s Farm being the one that will NOT leave my head. The ride home was nothing short of amusing.

12. While Djembe went to meetings on Saturday I took the LA Grand Tour. Mark was our tour guide. Straight-forward, tell it like it is, highly amusing guy. We did a circle of the city seeing Venice Beach, Marina Del Rey, The Walt Disney opera house, MOCA- Museum of Contemporary Art, Hollywood, The Farmer’s Market and Grove, and Olvera Street. Truly enjoyed this day and now have a good idea of many things I want to see when we return.

13. Saturday was our last night in LA. We took the trolley to Manhattan Village for dinner. Living in a small city there isn’t much for teens to do so they go to the mall area. Not the case in LA, too much to keep them entertained.

We had a great time. Even though we are both trying to recover from the catch up at the beginning of this week, it was great to have the opportunity to recharge. It would have been just as fun with our kids, but I’m thankful to have had the time just us. It helps knowing they were well taken care of and fully entertained in Bham…

If you notice, I didn’t mention the flight home. . . still a little bitter about that.

Pics on the photos page if you’re interested…Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!