Summer tales II - Hollywood and Santa Monica

I am recapping the wonderful times that I had with my family here in the States this summer.
See all related posts under the category: summer tales.

We started today (7/1) off with breakfast at ‘The Busy Bee‘, a 50’s Diner on Main Street in Ventura where J took me for the first time many, many moons ago. My sister remembered the cafe from her first visit to the US in 2004 and so of course, we had to go back there!

Afterward, we drove further south to explore the Los Angeles area. I know, we would have needed much more time to do all the things I wanted to show my family in the city where we once lived for a little while, but we just had too much on our agenda to spend an extra day. So, we ended up doing what people do when they come to LA for only one day… we walked the Walk of Fame (and I found the relatively newly instated NKOTB star!),

ooh-ed and aah-ed at the Hollywood sign,

the kids met Spiderman and we admired the Grauman’s Chinese Theater and Dolby Theater.

Then we drove to Venice. My Mom and I took the kids to the ocean right away because they were in desperate need of getting some energy out, my Dad, sister and BIL explored the Board Walk for a little while before joining us.

Then we drove over to Santa Monica. It’s hard to believe that this is where we lived a few years ago (and I feel like I didn’t really take advantage of it while it lasted), but it’s still nice to come back here and feel a bit of a sense of home.

We walked on the beach, the kids enjoyed the many swings, rings and other acrobatic equipment, and then we walked over to the Santa Monica Pier.

We didn’t really know where we wanted to go for dinner and ended up wandering around 3rd Street Promenade in hopes of finding a restaurant without long wait times (for some reason we always ended up having a late dinner despite traveling with two kids under 7). We got lucky and found a table at Barney’s Beanery, which looked kind of bland from the outside, but turned out to be a really cool sports bar on the inside. My BIL was pleased! :)

Definitely a place I have to keep in mind for future visits!

Linda
September 9, 2015 at 12:00 pm

What a perfect summer visit. Love how happy the kids look at the beach.
1. San
  September 10, 2015 at 8:04 am
  
  Thanks Linda. It was quite overcast that day, but the kids loved it!
Jenny
September 9, 2015 at 2:02 pm

I used to love NKOTB haha! And Birkenstocks FTW! Looks like it was a really great family day out :)
1. san
  September 10, 2015 at 8:06 am
  
  NKOTB forever! Ha :) And yes, it was a great family day!
katelin
September 9, 2015 at 8:22 pm

love love love this! you did SoCal right! Looks like a fabulous time with your fam xo
1. san
  September 10, 2015 at 8:07 am
  
  Thanks friend! There is always a next time…
Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
September 10, 2015 at 4:56 am

I love the pics of the kids in the ocean! Looks like they had so much fun! We saw some of the same sights when Phil and I were there in February. I really liked the Santa Monica area. I did not realize you had lived there before! I liked how quirky that area and Venice Beach were!
1. san
  September 10, 2015 at 8:07 am
  
  I love the Santa Monica/Venice area. We lived there for about two years, before moving back north. But it feels like forever ago…
Marie
September 10, 2015 at 7:52 am

I so miss the beach! That all looks like loads of fun!
1. san
  September 10, 2015 at 8:08 am
  
  Thanks friend. It was!

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Summer tales II – Hollywood and Santa Monica

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