A lot of people ask me how I chose to go on vacation to California, which for some reason sort of catches me off guard. At first me and my boyfriend decided to go to Mexico in September. But if anyone knows about hurricane season, going to Mexico in September is a major no-no.
We stumbled across a generic travel show where bizarre foods were hunted and cooked in San Diego, and that’s when my boyfriend suggested we should go to California. It sounded like a great idea! None of us had been there before, and we would avoid potential hurricanes. After I did a majority of the research and booking, we were all set to go in mid September. Our trip would include the visitation of three cities – San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
After reviewing instagrammable food articles, I realized that there was a plethora of foods to try, so I was overzealous about experiencing most of these foods for myself. Additionally, I was also excited to put these foods on the gram.
San Francisco
Our hotel was about 30 minutes outside of San Francisco. The city itself was very cold believe it or not.
Since we were so hungry when we got to our hotel in Cali, I figured the only way to rid this hunger was to take a trip to the one and only In and Out Burger!
I ended up trying the bacon cheeseburger with cheese fries and a chocolate milkshake. Because I was so hungry, and anticipated eating from this fast food joint since I was in my early 20s, the food tasted amazing! I have to admit, the fries were pretty bland, but the burger was very fresh and well worth the long wait.
We took a Lyft ride to San Francisco where we had tickets to go to the most instagramable museum in the city, the Ice Cream Museum. We bought our tickets in advance and we visited the museum during the 8pm time slot. The place was very empty compared to what I saw from Yelp and Google. The museum was to be followed in a very specific order, and it sort of reminded me of a hipster Willy Wonka house.
Before going in each room, we were greeted by an enthusiastic museum employee who explained some of the cute activities we needed to do relating to the theme of the room. Sometimes we played silly games, and sometimes we were given treats like mochi balls or ice pops. Each room offered a fantastic photo opp with wonderful lighting.
The next morning, we had brunch at a hidden gem in a downtown area of San Francisco called the Raw Sugar Factory. The restaurant was not even crowded, compared to a tight, hipster brunch cafe we originally planned to dine at. They did not have the matcha pancakes that were advertised on Yelp, but they had very decadent souffle marscapone pancakes that were popular on the menu. This was probably one of the best specially made pancakes I’ve ever tasted.
We then ran very late to our Painted Ladies tour, which I highly recommend. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, famous painted ladies houses from the show Full House, and of course Twin Peaks which was breathtaking.
The temperatures significantly dropped by the time we finished the tour. We visited Fisherman’s Wharf which made things even colder. But even though the temperatures were super low, I couldn’t resist trying dessert at the Baked Bear dessert truck. I tried my first doughnut ice cream sandwich with a Fruity Pebbles topping. Who can say no to that?
We went to Chinatown for dinner, however there was a restaurant we should have waited for, but were too impatient to wait for it. So we unfortunately settled for a not so great one. And San Fransisco sleeps EARLY! I mean extra early. As soon as we left the restaurant, the stores were closed and the lights all around us were basically out. Mind you it was almost 10pm.
Los Angeles
We were ready for warmer weather! Los Angeles gave us the heat without the humidity. We went on a Hollywood Home tour that we found on Groupon. This tour was….very ehhh. Mediocre. It was nice seeing Justin Bieber’s old house and Katy Perry’s pad I guess. I would have done another tour. One of my coworkers suggested it, but it ended up being sort of silly. I would have done an actual Hollywood tour where we could see production studios. But I still appreciate my experience.
The food in Los Angeles was by far my favorite. After the tour, we caught a Lyft ride to the Great White Hut, a food truck joint that I had been planning to try. What sold me were the taco and fry toppings. The pics on Instagram seem much more alluring than what we actually got, but the food was still amazing and did not disappoint.
The next morning, we had brunch at a pretty boho hipster cafe called the Lurchmont Bungalow Cafe. It was hard to find when our Lyft driver dropped us off, and we had to order our food inside before dining outside. The waiter brought out our food when it was ready.
And yes! Those are red and blue velvet pancakes, which were everything you’d think they’d would be!
For the remainder of the trip we had no other tours planned. We ventured to Santa Monica Pier and Venice beach. Santa Monica was more of a family friendly, theme park beach. Venice was more adult with some near by bars. Lots of vendors and organizations were on the sidewalks of the beach and near the shops. It was interesting. And the skate park was pretty cool to see as well.
I also really wanted to visit historically black areas, and on a Sunday we went to Lemairt Park where they have street sales from black vendors, and a drum circle that takes place. This event takes place every Sunday, so definitely check this out and buy something from one of the vendors. I bought two jars of locally made Shea butter. I also found the “We Got Y’all” building from Insecure. When I screamed with excitement, my Lyft driver seemed very confused. He clearly wasn’t a fan.
We went to Rodeo Drive, which was actually very boring, and as a black woman, I didn’t feel comfortable going into an expensive store to glance at the clothes without buying anything. We were hungry and I wanted to go to the Ethiopian section of Los Angeles for dinner. I ordered a Lyft ride, and we went to one of the restaurants from the show Insecure. This was from season 1 episode 1, where Molly and Issa celebrated Issa’s birthday. The restaurant was called Merkato….in case you were interested. The food was amazing! I had already fallen in love with Ethiopian food during my trip in Amsterdam, and my boyfriend was very happy with our choice.
Later at night, we went to a few bars in Hollywood, and ended up getting some charcoal churro ice cream at a parlor that was on my list called Little Damage. They even had pitch black cones to go with it. But me and my boyfriend wished we ordered two flavors instead of the one. While it was delicious, it was also a very overbearing flavor. But it was an experience for sure! You’ll also notice that the charcoal will show up on your toilet paper when you go to the bathroom. Don’t be alarmed!
The next day, we rented a car to drive to our next destination, San Diego! But first, I wanted to try ube desserts at a cafe called Cafe 86 in Pasadena. This place featured different ube desserts everyday. I chose the ube cheesecake and the ube crumb cake. Me and my boyfriend both ordered the famous ube monster shake, topped with Oreos and boba at the bottom. I loved it and loved the beauty of it.
On our way to San Diego, we decided to go to the beach. Not just any beach, but Laguna Beach. It was a very quaint town with a mountainous terrain, which I wasn’t really expecting. The parking was easy and the view of the ocean looked beautiful. But me and my boyfriend were worried about the amount of black people we did not see. We took our chance, and nervously went to the beach. As we walked over, we greeted a black man who walked past us, and I felt much better already. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. This beach is breathtaking!
San Diego
San Diego was by far my favorite city. I wasn’t expecting this at all to be honest. We stayed in Old Town and the La Quinta Inn and Suites was one of the cutest and nicest hotels we stayed at. They also gave us coupons to some of the local restaurants.
The downtown area of San Diego had lots of nice bars and night clubs all in close proximity. And the city itself was gorgeous. Old Town was very beautiful as well. It really reminded me of an actual old Latin city.
My boyfriend and I hiked at the los Penasquitos Canyon trail , and later on we traveled to Coronado beach which was beautiful.
We also had decent a brunch on our full day before going to these destinations. It wasn’t very memorable, but I did feel like it offered a taste of San Diego.
For our dinner that day, we ate a very authentic taco hut. It was phenomenal, and right by our hotel.
Just like the other cities, we spent 2 days in San Diego. However, me and my boyfriend both felt very sad leaving San Diego. There was so much more we wanted to do! We didn’t have enough time, but we did want to go back together some day.
Closing Thoughts
The experience as a whole was very fulfilling and exhilarating. These cities in California are the places to visit! I did however feel that the cities were very expensive. My boyfriend was also not as adventurous as I was when it came to public transportation. We took Lyfts and rented vehicles for most of our trip, which added an extra $600 to our overall cost.
Since California is so expensive, you will see a lot a lot of homeless individuals, which was very heart breaking to me. I would probably be homeless myself if I were living in such an expensive state. The average rent in all three cities was about $3,000 for a one bedroom apartment.
Visit these famous cities in California, and explore it for yourself. And please don’t forget to try all the unique foods that are special to each city.
Lisa. Your writing today spoke to me opening my heart in casting off worldly things and just focusing my eyes on the Lord. Thank you. Morgana Ambros Iveson
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