For the long Martin Luther King weekend, my family decided to travel to LA to visit my brother, who lives there. My parents are staying for two weeks, but since I am in college, I have had a quick four days to hang out with my family, and let me tell you, we did a lot in those short four days.
Day one, January 12th
The first day started off nice and early, at 4:30 am. I had a tremendous hour-and-a-half morning drive to the Indianapolis airport to catch my 8:00 am flight. After a 5-hour flight, I landed at LAX around 10 am LA time. My family picked me up from the airport, and we started on our LA adventure.
We first went to a restaurant to get brunch because I was STARVING. We went to the Silverlake area where my brother lives to get food at Millie’s Cafe. I had a turkey sandwich on gluten-free bread with sweet potato fries (my favorite)! After brunch, we explored the Silverlake area, and I saw my brother’s apartment. We also traveled to Erewhon for the famous Hailey Bieber $18 smoothie!
We then settled into our apartment rental and relaxed for a bit before we got to be in a live audience for a taping of a TV show called The Conners. It was fantastic to see how a TV show is taped behind the scenes and got to be a part of the audience experience. After being there for over six hours, we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant called The Village in Studio City. We then ended the day relaxing and watching TV to rest before our busy day tomorrow.
Day two, January 13th
On the second day, we also started nice and early since we had to prepare for our 9 am tour at Paramount Studios. This two-hour tour included the history of the studios and how movie studios work in general. It was fantastic to see where famous movies and TV shows have been filmed, like The Godfather, Big Time Rush, iCarly, and more! We also got to see famous movie props and even hold an actual Oscar award!
After our tour, we made our way to The Grove and the outdoor shopping mall (one of my favorite stops). This outdoor shopping mall had your primary store on top of some LA exclusive stores, like La La Land Kind Cafe, and a farmers market filled with small family-owned businesses.
After a few hours at The Grove, we made our way over to Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive streets in the world, located in Beverly Hills. This road has stores like Channel, Gucci, Parada, and more. We did a lot of looking but no shopping on this road. We ended the day at a local Thai restaurant called Good Goose, where I enjoyed some chicken satay. We also got dessert from Salt & Straw, which had great dairy-free options that were so good!
Day three, January 14th
On my last full day in California, we started at the Walk of Fame, where we saw all the stars on the ground. We saw people like Walt Disney, Jimmy Kimmel, and my favorite, the Jonas Brothers! Afterward, we went to Santa Monica to walk on the pier, see the ocean, and shop locally. We also stopped at In-n-Out to try the famous West Coast burgers. Yum!
The last day was chill as we played card games. Rummy 500 is a personal Dobson family favorite. We cooked some at-home tacos and played some Nintendo Switch Sports.
Day four, January 15th
My final day in LA was sweet and short since I had an early afternoon flight to catch. We went out as a family to a breakfast restaurant called Larchmont Bungalow Cafe; it was super cute inside and had quick service and great food! We then headed to the airport, where my family dropped me off as I returned to Muncie, Indiana!
Traveling is always one of my favorite things, and seeing my whole family is rare. With my brother living across the country and I having a busy college schedule, seeing my family and relaxing was a lovely long weekend.
