By: Samie

Travel Dates: June 1st-4th, 2022

Day 4

(Departing Airbnb, Hiking to Griffith Observatory, Hollywood Sign, Hollywood Boulevard & Souvenir Shopping, Venice Beach)

We knew that when we originally booked our trip to Los Angeles, 4 days would go by quickly and wouldn’t feel like enough time with our beloved family. Yet, when our eyelids fluttered open on the last morning in LA, it was hard not to feel an impending gray cloud hovering over our thoughts. The first goodbye we had to make was to our lovely little Airbnb. One of the little perks was that the host had granted us, as guests, access to all the seasonal fruits, herbs, and vegetables from the garden and even fresh eggs from the chicken coop if we wanted. Unfortunately, our schedule had been so full with such limited time that we were unable to take advantage of that. However, there had been something very pleasant about coming “home” each night to an extensive garden and content, clucking chickens. It was definitely a wonderful stay and bittersweet departure because there’s nothing quite like sleeping in our own bed, but it had been a very enjoyable place to lay our heads each night.

After meeting up with Alyssa and Evan around 8:30am (aka them having to come pick us up since we didn’t have any transportation), we made our way over to fuel up with some morning coffee while sitting down to make a plan for our final day together.

We wholeheartedly trusted the recommendation of our favorite Los Angeles residents and stopped at a quaint little place called Red Window Coffee for our caffeine pick me up. With veins pumping full of possibly the world’s best drug, we decided that one thing we just couldn’t miss since we were hitting a lot of the tourist hot spots on our first trip here was the Hollywood sign. Alyssa and Evan knew a nice little hiking trail that would take us up to the Griffith Observatory with a good view of the iconic sign. Then we would make our way over to Hollywood Boulevard and possibly visit Venice Beach if time allowed before our 5:40pm flight.

We made the drive over to the beginning of the hiking trail that would lead us to Griffith Observatory around 10:00am. It was a moderate hike. The elevation wasn’t too terribly steep, and it was mostly a well-maintained trail. However, there were definitely some more challenging uphill moments and some areas that required us to watch out step. It was a good workout for those of us that could definitely be in better shape (ahem, me). It took us close to half an hour with stops and a little traffic congestion closer to the Griffith parking lot to reach the summit.

Once at the top, we took a little time to recover our breath first. We used the public restrooms waiting for us at the top and walked around the grounds for a little while. It was very cool to see the backdrop of Adele’s 2021 “Adele One Night Only” in person!

Then, Alyssa and Evan encouraged us to check out inside, even if only for a little bit. Luke and I masked up and made our way into the beautiful Griffith Observatory building. Neither of us are necessarily big into space, but we still enjoyed taking a quick peruse around and seeing a lot of the history mentioned and preserved inside. We spent about 20 minutes exploring and meandering around, during which time a helicopter flew close by overhead while we were out on an observation deck, before making our way back out to Evan and Alyssa.

We had them take a few pictures of us outside the beautiful building (and Luke decided to take some candid shots of Evan before handing him the phone). Then we made our way over to the best lookout area we could find to get some pictures with the Hollywood sign. Then it was time to hike back down to the car so that we could make our way over to our next place. It was around 11:00 by the time we left.

It was perfect timing for lunch when we parked and made our way onto Hollywood Boulevard. We took our first steps onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame as we made our way over to a quaint little pizza shop for some lunch! We didn’t have any definite plans here. We had just come to say that we had and experience it. As we strolled along, looking at some of the famous names carved into the stars below our feet, we walked in front of the TCL Chinese Theater. It was one of the most packed areas and had lots of street performers and merchants set up around it as well.

After about half an hour, we started to make our way into souvenir shops to do some shopping. One of the stores we went into was absolutely HUGE, and you could find just about anything you might be looking for! I was able to find a very comfy crew beck sweatshirt, and it still one of my favorite go-to items to wear. It was around 1:00 when we felt as though we had accomplished everything we had set out to do here and we’re ready to make one last stop before our flight!

We made our way over to Venice Beach. It had been cloudy all morning, but the sun finally started to peek out when we parked at the beach around 2:00pm. It was a bit of a drive over and tough to find a parking spot, but we finally got lucky and made our way over to the busy part of the beach. It just so happened to be even busier because there was a Pride event going on. We didn’t even think about how it was Pride Month and that there might be some festivities going on. There was a fenced off area that required tickets to enter and participate in all the extra things going on. If we had known, we definitely would’ve made a plan around coming earlier so it would be worth it to buy tickets and enjoy the fun. However, since I think it was $20 per person, and we only had about an hour, it wasn’t quite worth the cost at that point.

Fortunately, there was still plenty for us to do! We made our past a plethora of shops and different retail and food vendors. We stopped into a few places, like a giant bookstore. At one point we crossed paths with a church group hosting a peaceful protest, and we stood to watch the minor and non threatening events that unfolded. There was lots of shouting, reciting of bible verses that truly had nothing to do with people being allowed to love who they want, and a few public displays of affection between some same-sex individuals intent on proving a point.

After a while, we moved on and found some delectable items we desired. I got a Thai milk tea and a cup of fresh mangoes. Both were absolutely amazing, and the mangoes filled me up a surprising amount. Before too long, it was time to make our way back to calmer area of the beach and back toward the vehicle. The clouds started to cover the sun again, almost like they were trying to make leaving a little easier for us. We used the public bathrooms at the beach before starting to make our way to LAX.

The one time we would’ve wanted a longer drive was the one time it wasn’t granted. It only took about 15 minutes before we were in line for the airport drop off. Because it was just a drop off since parking would be too much of a pain, we knew it would have to be a brief farewell. I’m not sure if this made things easier because we didn’t have time for the emotions to fully sink in or harder because we couldn’t do a proper goodbye to people we love so much that live 1,600 miles away, but we didn’t really have a choice either way. One tearful goodbye later, we were once again masked up and being shuttled to our terminal.

There isn’t too much to say about our time at the airport before departing for home. It was a quick trip, but we were very grateful for every minute and so thankful to have people in our lives we love so much that it’s hard saying goodbye. We will always think of the trip fondly and know we will be back again someday!