Sunday we woke up a little groggy, but that was quickly remedied with a delicious brunch at local chain, Jinky’s. Part of me wanted to run around and see the town, but Hayley and Ryan work really hard all week and wanted to take the day easy. I quickly melded into Narnia (their massive, incredible couch) and enjoyed a lazy day of snacks and TV. (Particularly awesome because I got to introduce Hayley and Ryan to VEEP and American Horror Story.) Then we managed to watch the Golden Globes (Jaquline Bisset!) before crashing for the evening.
And I’m super glad we took it easy, because Monday was a BIG day; my ankle is still recovering from all the walking. (Damn injuries and their long-term healing time!)
Monday morning I rode into Santa Monica with Hayley. She works on Wilshire Blvd so I hopped out there and make my way over to Montana. Montana Blvd reminds me a lot of West 4th in Vancouver, all boutiques, coffee shops, and women toting yoga mats to and fro. I had my laptop with me and was looking for the perfect to eat breakfast and surf the web. (So naturally I ended up wandering for hours.)
I headed down Montana until I hit the beach. Santa Monica Beach is a beautiful sprawl of white sand, tall palm trees, and highway. With the pier in my sights, I turned left and walked down Ocean Ave toward the 3rd Street Promenade. I found the promenade (three blocks, on 3rd street, natch, between Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds, of shops and restaurants) and moseyed around looking for breakfast. Long after my growling stomach demanded, I settled in to a little bakery with a pretzel croissant breakfast sandwich and a vanilla latte to send emails and read the post Golden Globes roundup.
Digression: no one uses the term “washroom” in America. It’s “bathroom” or “restroom”. Also, every store seems to have a public restroom. Great news for this small-bladdered tourist.
After breakfast I continued to wander, this time with a mission to find a field guide to the flora of Southern California. I searched Barnes & Noble (identical to Chapters), REI (identical to MEC), and TJ Maxx (identical to Winners), but had no luck. Alas, it was time to meet up with Nisha and her dad! I sauntered on down to the Santa Monica pier and found my little roomie and her pa waiting in front of Bubba Gump’s Shrimp (Tom Hanks’ restaurant chain). We decided on slightly more classy fare and headed into La Mare for lunch. A delicious lunch was had and our first celebrity (Lindsay Price) was spotted. We then bid adieu to Nisha’s dad, sending him off in a cab to the airport, and walked over to Hayley’s work.
Hayley had to drive off to see a client but she dropped us off in Westwood to wander around. At the base of UCLA*, Westwood is a cute little area with lots of shops and restaurants. Nisha and I debated going to see Her but decided to find some Mexican food instead. Margarita Monday! We enjoyed some nachos and margaritas and chatted about how exciting it is to be in L.A. That excitement mostly kept up as we navigated our way home — walk, bus, metro, walk — an hour and a half journey.
*Edited to say UCLA (not USC – thanks, Hayley!).
My little ‘chilla has gone home now. (Miss you boo!) But more updates of our adventures are coming soon!!
Kelly Tatham 