Back in January, my nineteen year old son moved to Los Angeles to attend school and pursue an acting career. After not seeing him for almost six months, we decided to go to Cali to pay him and visit and do some fun family stuff. California, and Los Angeles specifically, is a wonderful place for family travel. There is so much to see and do! We only had three days during the Memorial Day weekend to fly to L.A. to visit him, so our schedule was packed with activities and places to visit, but we made the most of it. And I will tell you, this was probably the best family trip we’ve had in a long time.
Par for the course for visiting Los Angeles is taking a trip to Disneyland. But we also wanted to do some other things, like visit the beaches (Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach), the Grammy Museum, Universal City Walk, Hollywood and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and of course Beverly Hills.
We were given a sleek, fun, and fully loaded 2013 Mazda Mazda3 i Grand Touring to drive, compliments of Drive STI. Not only was the car a joy to drive, but it handled the Los Angeles freeways effortlessly and got amazing gas mileage. I didn’t want to give the car up!
My daughter and I stayed at the LAX Hilton, and I really liked the hotel. I am a fan of the more boutique, smaller lodging hotels, but for $99 per night, my daughter and I had a fabulous upgraded room with all of the amenities that we needed. And, to be honest, we weren’t in the hotel much since we were all over Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, so for what we needed, the LAX Hilton was a great spot for the price.
Below are some photos from our trip, including our visits to the Santa Monica Pier, Universal City Walk, Disneyland, Hollywood, and more.
My son and my daughter reunited again at the world famous Beverly Hills sign.
Santa Monica Pier
Universal City Walk Los Angeles
Entrance to Disneyland
Disneyland Electrical Parade
Walt Disney Statue at Disneyland
Disneyland Princess Castle
Mark Twain Boat Ride
Sleeping Beauty Castle
It’s a Small World
Waiting for a ride but can’t remember which one. My son is “thrilled”.
Main Street Disneyland at night
Disneyland Castle at night
Our vehicle for the trip—Mazda Mazda 3 i Grand Touring (thanks Drive STI)
Michael Jackson Hollywood Walk of Fame
Mann’s Chinese Theater
Whitney Houston Tribute Grammy Museum
Mind you, I wasn’t supposed to take any pictures during our Grammy Museum tour, but I just had to take a pic of one of the displays at the Whitney Houston exhibit. It was simply amazing seeing all of her memorabilia up close.
Our trip to Los Angeles, California was fabulous, and I certainly had a ball enjoying spending time with my two spacers. They are truly the loves of my life, and I can’t wait for us to do another family trip together. Hopefully before the end of the year.
I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures from our trip!
Great photos. I plan to visit LA this summer for a solo trip and you’ve given me some great reminders of places I want to see!
Joyce, you will have a ball. Los Angeles is huge and there is so much to see and do. I can’t wait for you to go an experience it on your own. I will be staying tuned to your Twitter and FB feeds.