Pandemic Vacation: Los Angeles Trip from Local SLO Family
Posted by San Luis Obispo Mom on Sunday, June 6, 2021 Under: Los Angeles
Last month, my family and I decided to get away in Los Angeles after I received my second Covid-19 vaccination.
We see a lot of visitors from Los Angeles coming to visit San Luis Obispo County, and I know Los Angeles is a popular destination for San Luis Obispo residents. However, it has been a really long time since our family has really spent some time in Los Angeles. I'm a native San Diegan so usually I am just passing through LA to get to San Diego from San Luis Obispo. I always dread the LA traffic and how everyone seems to be in a hurry. But if my destination is Los Angeles county, it really didn't seem all that bad and long!
Our main points of interest were Santa Monica Pier, eating some seafood and then a last minute visit to the Mattel Store located at the Mattel headquarters.
They also have a Sanrio store in Los Angeles, but you'll have to go to the downtown area in Little Tokyo to find it. It's worth a visit if you love Hello Kitty, Kerropi and other Sanrio collections!
Santa Monica Pier
The picture above was taken while we were buying cotton candy for the kids. As you can see, the Santa Monica Pier was still very busy for a pandemic, judging by the number of cars. Most people wore masks so that was comforting. We stopped by the arcade there and as always, we'd win something and then I would have to be the one holding everything.
The kids had a lot of fun and I was very surprised by how long and large the pier is! Before we even reached the end of the pier, my kids were tired!
Eating Seafood
I didn't care which restaurant I was going to have my seafood fix, as long as it was at a restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier. The most interesting place seemed to be Seaside on the Pier, even though Bubba Gump is usually more well known. The Seaside on the Pier had a second story and a lot of seating in the front, back and upstairs. Usually at a place this huge, there's a high chance that there's room for us without a long wait. We were right. There was no wait when we asked the hostess! I ordered the fried calamari from their starters/appetizer section as my meal.
The food was fresh and tasted great! They also serve California beers on tap!
Hyatt Hotel Stay at in LA
I had some points that I had accumulated as a Hyatt member so we used them to redeem a free night at the Hyatt Place/Los Angeles/El Segundo. It was only a 20 minute drive from Santa Monica Pier and I had just the right amount of points to redeem for a one night stay at this very hotel. The hotel is located right by the LAX airport so traffic could be very congested as you get closer to the hotel location. However, I still enjoyed my stay even with all the bad traffic. I liked that the hotel is located in the middle of it all, close to so many stores and restaurants. Our hotel room was very clean and my view from the window was awesome! (See picture below.)
The check in process was easy and I discovered from my room that I could surprisingly see the Mattel sign and building! Mattel is the company that builds famous toys like Ken, Barbie and Mega Bloks. I did some research about it and it just so happens that Mattel is headquartered in El Segundo and they had a store that is open to the public on the ground level! So, we decided to make an impromptu trip to their store the next morning!
Mattel Headquarters
When we decided to come 15 minutes before the Mattel Toy Store opens at their headquarters, I thought we were going to be too early. To my surprise, there were already 20 - 30 people there waiting in line already! I didn't know it was a popular place to visit! It's such a unique experience to buy toys straight from the headquarters and there are only 2 Mattel Toy Stores in all of U.S., even though Mattel toys are sold is many major stores all over the country. I even saw two guys brought their Ken Dolls while they were waiting in line. I can see how this place could be an excellent photo op and destination for collectors!
I'm a Game of Thrones fan so when I saw that there were Mega Construx dragon eggs I could buy, I snatched one of these Drogon ones. This is the very one that I bought at the Mattel Toy Store at their headquarter store. See the video clip of my Drogon egg. I highly recommend visiting this Mattel Toy Store at the El Segundo headquarters if you have the time and are already planning to visit Los Angeles county or El Segundo anyway!
Miyako Hotel, a Little Tokyo Hotel
Several months later after our initial Los Angeles trip, we decided to come back to explore more of LA because there's so much to see. We stayed at the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo this time. The unique hotel is smack in the middle of all the wonderful Asian restaurants and shopping. Notably, it's a short walking distance to the Sanrio Store. It was very cool stay here at the Miyako Hotel. We had a large window from our hotel room that allowed us to see all the busy action at night and people getting in line to order their ramen.
We see a lot of visitors from Los Angeles coming to visit San Luis Obispo County, and I know Los Angeles is a popular destination for San Luis Obispo residents. However, it has been a really long time since our family has really spent some time in Los Angeles. I'm a native San Diegan so usually I am just passing through LA to get to San Diego from San Luis Obispo. I always dread the LA traffic and how everyone seems to be in a hurry. But if my destination is Los Angeles county, it really didn't seem all that bad and long!
Our main points of interest were Santa Monica Pier, eating some seafood and then a last minute visit to the Mattel Store located at the Mattel headquarters.
They also have a Sanrio store in Los Angeles, but you'll have to go to the downtown area in Little Tokyo to find it. It's worth a visit if you love Hello Kitty, Kerropi and other Sanrio collections!
Santa Monica Pier
The picture above was taken while we were buying cotton candy for the kids. As you can see, the Santa Monica Pier was still very busy for a pandemic, judging by the number of cars. Most people wore masks so that was comforting. We stopped by the arcade there and as always, we'd win something and then I would have to be the one holding everything.
The kids had a lot of fun and I was very surprised by how long and large the pier is! Before we even reached the end of the pier, my kids were tired!
Eating Seafood
I didn't care which restaurant I was going to have my seafood fix, as long as it was at a restaurant on the Santa Monica Pier. The most interesting place seemed to be Seaside on the Pier, even though Bubba Gump is usually more well known. The Seaside on the Pier had a second story and a lot of seating in the front, back and upstairs. Usually at a place this huge, there's a high chance that there's room for us without a long wait. We were right. There was no wait when we asked the hostess! I ordered the fried calamari from their starters/appetizer section as my meal.
The food was fresh and tasted great! They also serve California beers on tap!
Hyatt Hotel Stay at in LA
I had some points that I had accumulated as a Hyatt member so we used them to redeem a free night at the Hyatt Place/Los Angeles/El Segundo. It was only a 20 minute drive from Santa Monica Pier and I had just the right amount of points to redeem for a one night stay at this very hotel. The hotel is located right by the LAX airport so traffic could be very congested as you get closer to the hotel location. However, I still enjoyed my stay even with all the bad traffic. I liked that the hotel is located in the middle of it all, close to so many stores and restaurants. Our hotel room was very clean and my view from the window was awesome! (See picture below.)
The check in process was easy and I discovered from my room that I could surprisingly see the Mattel sign and building! Mattel is the company that builds famous toys like Ken, Barbie and Mega Bloks. I did some research about it and it just so happens that Mattel is headquartered in El Segundo and they had a store that is open to the public on the ground level! So, we decided to make an impromptu trip to their store the next morning!
Mattel Headquarters
When we decided to come 15 minutes before the Mattel Toy Store opens at their headquarters, I thought we were going to be too early. To my surprise, there were already 20 - 30 people there waiting in line already! I didn't know it was a popular place to visit! It's such a unique experience to buy toys straight from the headquarters and there are only 2 Mattel Toy Stores in all of U.S., even though Mattel toys are sold is many major stores all over the country. I even saw two guys brought their Ken Dolls while they were waiting in line. I can see how this place could be an excellent photo op and destination for collectors!
I'm a Game of Thrones fan so when I saw that there were Mega Construx dragon eggs I could buy, I snatched one of these Drogon ones. This is the very one that I bought at the Mattel Toy Store at their headquarter store. See the video clip of my Drogon egg. I highly recommend visiting this Mattel Toy Store at the El Segundo headquarters if you have the time and are already planning to visit Los Angeles county or El Segundo anyway!
Miyako Hotel, a Little Tokyo Hotel
Several months later after our initial Los Angeles trip, we decided to come back to explore more of LA because there's so much to see. We stayed at the Miyako Hotel in Little Tokyo this time. The unique hotel is smack in the middle of all the wonderful Asian restaurants and shopping. Notably, it's a short walking distance to the Sanrio Store. It was very cool stay here at the Miyako Hotel. We had a large window from our hotel room that allowed us to see all the busy action at night and people getting in line to order their ramen.
Reading Suggestion:
Read about our Spring Break Trip to Universal Studios Hollywood after Super Nintendo World opened and our first ride experience on the Mario Kart.
In : Los Angeles
Tags: http://www.sanluisobispomom.com/blog/los-angeles-trip-from-local-slo-family
Originally from San Diego, California, I'm a San Diego State University alumna, veteran's wife and mom of two kids who were born two years apart. After living on the East Coast for 6 years, we now reside in San Luis Obispo County and here, the exploration continues. In between work and momming it, I like to exercise.
@sanluisobispomom