Seattleites often dream about Los Angeles weekends in the the wintertime. We have a lot of grey days here and if they get too rainy or too dreary we miss palm trees and sunshine. Sometimes we forget we don’t have to go for a whole week to make a trip to LA “worth it.” You can often get a roundtrip flight to LA for a fraction of the cost of planet tickets from Seattle to Hawaii so you might even do two weekend trips for the price of a week in Hawaii during Spring break. A few weeks ago, my family was flown to California for a weekend trip with Paramount Pics for the new Sonic movie that opens soon. Even with a busy schedule full of activities around the movie we had some hours to explore on our own and we came back from this Los Angeles trip wondering why we don’t just jetset to sunshine more often, even if (especially if) we only have a couple days.
If you want tickets to the Broad Museum in Los Angeles
The Broad museum is a free art museum in Los Angeles but you need to get tickets in advance through the link on the Broad Museum website. I didn’t get tickets for this trip and I noticed it was all booked up the weekend I was in LA so I wanted to make sure I remember to check for tickets the next time we decided to weekend in the area.
The Griffith Observatory is Free and has stunning views
We were based in Hollywood for our last adventure so the Griffith Observatory is not that far of a drive from where we were staying. And the Griffith Observatory also happens to be free to visit. We arrived just before sunset and there were signs saying that the parking lot was full but that was just the main lot beside the Griffith Observatory-there was a lot of street parking available but it was spendy. (I think we paid maybe $10 for an hour but I wasn’t paying much attention because the sun was setting and I wanted to take pictures). The museum is free though so I feel like it kind of offsets the cost.
There was a Tesla Coil demonstration at the Observatory when we visited and that was pretty cool to see. I noticed that there are also Public Star Parties and sunset walks that might be fun activities if you are into learning more about the area. We were just happy to catch some phenomenal views of the city and were surprised at how many hundreds of other people were there taking in the sights too.
I also considered a hike in Runyon Canyon Park that is supposed to have great Los Angeles views but we were lazy and took a leisurely breakfast and did the pool instead.
Where we eat when we are in LA
Being from the In-N-Out void that is Seattle, we always have to stop at In-N-Out when we are near one. The best In-N-Out arguably in California is the one right next to LAX. There aren’t many other places in the world where you can watch airplanes fly directly overhead while you eat.
We also like to eat at Soup Plantation when we are in LA. It’s a chain we used to have in Washington but I don’t think we have it here anymore. It’s easy to eat here with families because it has salads, pastas and soups and it’s a little cafeteria style so kids can have a lot of independence. They also like the ice cream station for dessert. And for some reason whenever are in an area near one we end up with a coupon in my husband’s email about a day after we get there, so we can’t help but go. (And I totally wonder if this is coincidence or if this is some crazy email magic…..)
We tried True Food Kitchen on our most recent trip and enjoyed our dinner here. I actually made the reservation about an hour before we got there while we were hanging out on Santa Monica Beach and this was helpful because there was a bit of a line when we arrived. This cafe is a chain we don’t have in Seattle but I have seen it in Chicago and I like that they have locally sourced foods and a variety of meal options from pizza to tofu and vegetable bowls. Variety like this makes it easy for everyone in the family to choose something they enjoy.
There is also a Flower Child restaurant in the Santa Monica Pier area and the kids and I found one on a visit to Carlsbad a few years ago, in Del Mar and I really loved this cafe. We didn’t get to eat there this time but I like to remember that it’s in the area, and it’s a little similar to True Food Kitchen so I added it to this list.
Santa Monica Beach is one of the closest beaches to Hollywood
Santa Monica has a gorgeous beach, walkways, places to rent bikes, a pier with a Ferris wheel and lots of places to eat and shop. Of course my family could just spend hours on the sand. But it’s nice to know that when everyone is done with the beach and the family needs food ASAP, there are plenty of places to grab a snack or meal nearby. This last trip we just ran around on the beach for a while so we didn’t even explore the pier. And I got a zillion photos that I absolutely love. So sometimes even though it might seem like you have to spend big dollars to get big memories, some of the best memories are just sand, water, sunset and a bit of time to play.
If you need more “free” things to do, check to see if you have Reciprocal admission with local memberships
We are members of the Seattle Art Museum and this museum has reciprocal entry at many other art museums in the USA including LACMA in LA. We also have a Seattle Pacific Science Center membership which is part of the ASTC reciprocal museum program and we have visited the La Brea Tar Pits for free before using this membership.
Have you ever been to LA? And If you have a weekend in Los Angeles with kids, where else would you go?
(Next time we have to visit Botegga Louie too. Blink and 5 years go by. This is totally how life goes. I also have the Last Bookstore on my bucket list.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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