An East Coast girl to my core, I anticiapted my first trip to California as if I were going to Europe; a foreign country of strange and unusual sights. I hopped off the plane at LAX (three points if you caught my Miley Cyrus reference!) and boy, was I in for a culture shock.
Nine in the morning and women in leather mini skirts and stiletto heels, how will one survive? Well don’t fret my ladies from Boston to Richmond-I survived LA! Follow a few tips, tricks, and words of wisdom and you should be just peachy.
- Embrace suburbia. LA isn’t like most East Coast cities. The downtown area of the city is not the happening spot; Unlike Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, the suburbs are where it’s at. Look for places to stay in Culver City, West Hollywood, and Pasadena.You’ll get the neighbhorhood feel and local culture while not being deserted downtown (trust me, it’s a ghost town.)
- Rent a car. Don’t try walking. While Californians are known to be among the elite of the health conscious, they are very car dependent. Walking two miles in my city is a commute to work but not in LA. With everything seperated by a freeway or the Pacific Coast Highway, if you want to enjoy everything, you’ll need a car. And no, there’s little to no public transit. I never even saw a metro/subway/train while there.
- Relax. My type- A, constantly rushed, East Coast self couldn’t fathom how I was eating lunch at noon on a Thursday and everyone sported jeans and flip flops (with the occasional sport jacket). Where were all the business suits? The pencil skirts?! People don’t work the traditional 9-5 out there. They enjoy the sunshine, make their owns hours, and approach life at a healthy pace. I had to take a step back to not be so go, go, go the entire trip!
- Confidence. I spent the week before trying to calculate outfits that wouldn’t immediately label me as a tourist (my best friend strictly told me nothing J.Crew!) I pillaged through every unstructured, beachy, hipster item of clothing I had, which was like three things, and still worried about how I looked. But I quickly learned in LA, everyone is just happy, happy to be there, happy to be alive. Maybe the year round tan helps with those endorphins, but either way, they don’t care.
And if you need recommendations on where to go in LA, here are some of my favorite places during my four day stay in the City of Angels:
- Villa Blanca- had no idea this was famous through Real Housewives of Beverly Hills until after the fact but man, was it goregous!
- Griffith Observatory- See all of Los Angeles and hike to the Hollywood sign.
- Venice Beach- kept coming back here for people watching and adventures galore.
- Grauman’s Chinese Theatre- Thorougly geeked out when I put my hands in the hand prints of Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, and the like. Plus spotted a few celebrities down there at night!
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