Travel

Where you lead I will follow

by Another Slice

I’ve just returned from an epic girls’ trip with my lovely daughters that should last me a good long while.

We started most mornings with a hike, wound down each evening watching an episode of Gilmore Girls and, in between, we filled ourselves up with everything Los Angeles offered.

Spoiler alert: L.A. offers a lot.

We hiked Temescal Canyon, met family for brunch on the beach, accidentally toured the Getty Villa and intentionally toured the Getty Center, enjoyed a free jazz concert in the park and had a taste-bud wakening dinner at Osteria Mozza that was so delicious we had to pause several times to exclaim.

That was just Friday.

We took a four- (counting us) -person yoga class, rode the peddle swans in Echo Park, munched on Milk Bar treats, strolled through some sweet neighborhoods, salsa danced in a park, hiked up to the Griffith Observatory, enjoyed a sunset picnic in Barnsdale park, costume shopped, attended a musical Sunday service at which the pastor began his homily with a call and response spiritual, ate another brunch, saw a movie, book shopped and then took our purchases to a park to enjoy them.

We attended Katherine’s friend Sarah’s burlesque show Sunday night and then took Sarah’s intense workout class Monday morning. Afterward, we dragged our exhausted selves to Home State for some breakfast tacos.

We planned the trip to celebrate Katherine’s 30th birthday, my 55th birthday and Molly’s graduation so we toasted all of that Monday night with dinner at Yamashiro.

Molly and I rolled in last night thoroughly exhausted and extraordinarily grateful for such an epic visit.

Thank you L.A. for your gorgeous vistas, delicious food and warm people.

Thank you Vince for holding down the home front.

Thank you Molly for being such a game travel companion.

And thank you Katherine for being the kind of host that greets us with homemade cookies and the kind of daughter who enthusiastically invites us into your very cool world.

(I took so many photos that I’m worried you’re going to feel liked you’re trapped in a stuffy living room watching vacation slides, but I can’t help it. Pictures are my souvenirs.)

If you scroll fast it might look like a flip book 🙂

A view of LA and the Pacific Ocean from our first morning hike.
As it happened, my nephew Phil was in town from Seattle, and my sister in-law Elaine was in town from Florida, so we all met for brunch. Small world, big family.
We accidentally arrived at the Getty Villa, which turned out to be one of those really cool detours you wished you’d have planned in the first place.
Then we wandered over to the Getty Center, our original destination. It’s a beautiful place, full of priceless work.
Even the stairs are works of art.
Katherine led the hikes. There are all sorts of initials carved into this branch, which I thought was pretty sweet.
We rode the peddle swans which gave us pretty decent exercise and offered great views …
…like this.
There are free jazz concerts every Friday night. Katherine’s a regular there and we loved it too.
Molly said this dinner, at Ostaria Mozza, was the best meal she’s ever eaten and that’s saying a lot. She’s a big fan of the Netflix Series Chef’s Table and that’s where we learned about the extremely gifted Nancy Silverton.
Milk Bar is another place featured on Chef’s Table. Innovative chef Christina Tossi uses cereal milk as the base for her desserts.
We worked off those goodies by salsa dancing. It was good sweaty fun.
Sunday night we attended a burlesque show at the famous Rainbow Grill. Come on! How often can you say you sang spirituals with a pastor in the morning and attended a burlesque show at night? Katherine’s friend Sarah is an elegant dancer. I really enjoyed it.
I thought I should document my first visit to the Rainbow Grill.
The next morning we sweated through a grueling workout led by the tireless Sarah, and then enjoyed some well-earned breakfast tacos.
So long Los Angeles and thanks for a wonderful weekend.

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