Treat Yourself to a Retreat! (Or, L.A. 3.0)

Growing up in Catholic school, I've been on my fair share of retreats, and I loved every single one of them. But none of those retreats could've prepared me for the amazing experience I had with my fellow Dressember interns in beautiful Venice Beach! 

By this point, I had already been to L.A. two times, but because I'm a stickler for not missing work or school, they had been quick weekend trips for a fun convention. Much like our favorite L.A. food-chain, those trips were In-and-Out. We usually had one day for exploring the city and one day for the convention before we were forced to head back to Louisville. But when this trip came around, I had graduated from school and was able to get a week off from work, so we has a lot more time to explore!

I usually begin my trips with meticulous planning, but I'm always open to switching things up if it fits better with our schedule. The most important thing to do before you visit a massive city like L.A., New York City, or even Chicago, is to plan out all the things you'd like to do or see while you're there. Usually you'll have more plans than you have time to accomplish, but once you have everything written down, it's much easier to decide what's most important to you. I also recommend checking travel guides and blogs to see what experts recommend, but remember to take their suggestions lightly. For instance, on my trip to Boston, every travel guide recommended against visiting Faneuil Hall Marketplace, calling it an overrated tourist trap. But when we were there, a local recommended it to us, and we ended up loving it! The lesson there: if you really want to try something or visit a certain spot, try it! If you don't like it, you can always move on to the next thing on your list.

With that in mind, I (cautiously) consulted travel guides and blogs to narrow down my list of places to

The Getty Villa

visit in Southern California. We ended up deciding to visit Griffith Park, Warner Brothers Studios, The Getty Villa, and Disneyland! 

Once you narrow down the places you want to visit, it's important to choose a hotel that's central to those locations or to book a different hotel for each city (i.e. one in Burbank, one in Malibu, one in Anaheim, etc.). When you're travelling, it can be tempting to splurge on a luxurious hotel. Having once stayed in the worst AirBnB in the greater Massachusetts area, I can't say I blame you there. However, if you're going to spend a lot on a room, try to keep in mind how much time you'll actually be spending in it. If you like to dedicate a day or two of your trip to relaxation, go ahead and splurge! But if you're just looking for a place to store your luggage, get ready, and pass out at the end of the day, my best recommendation is a Holiday Inn Express. I've never once had a bad experience at a Holiday Inn Express: most of them are modern and renovated, impeccably clean, and they have the BEST showers. They're not particularly luxurious, but definitely a comfortable and clean place to catch up on your rest.

When travelling around California, it's important to remember that travel times can be fairly unpredictable (read: long). Los Angeles in particular is typically very congested. However, because we went during the New Year's holiday and on a weekend, traffic was very light. So, if you're going from L.A. to Anaheim, for example, you may want to get an early start on a Sunday morning if you're trying to avoid traffic. This also goes for getting back to the airport at the end of your trip.

We flew into L.A. on New Year's Eve because ticket prices were way cheaper than leaving on December 30th. And since we're just oh-so-cool people, we ordered Five Guys and watched the New Year's Eve countdown on tv. We were so confused about what time it really was and if the countdown was live, but we still had a very unique New Year's that we'll never forget!

One of the downsides to travelling during a major holiday is that some sites and attractions will inevitably be closed. Because the Getty Villa was closed for New Year's Day, we chose to schedule that visit the morning of the 3rd and headed to the Griffith Observatory first.

The Griffith Observatory sits in the stunning hills of Los Angeles atop Griffith Park. If you're looking for a place to hike, picnic, or just check out the views, this is definitely the spot! You can catch an amazing glimpse of the Hollywood sign as well as the L.A. skyline and snow-capped mountains in the distance. Keep in mind that parking at the observatory does cost after a certain time of day (as does parking at most places in and around L.A.). I believe we arrived before noon, and parking was free before then. Be sure to check the signs posted around the lot to determine if you need to pay.

The cost of parking also brings up a popular question: should you get a rental car? Of all the cities I’ve visited, L.A. is definitely the best for out-of-state drivers. Even with congestion, you shouldn’t be too uncomfortable driving (unless you just happen to hate driving). We were visiting places all over Southern California which would’ve meant incredibly costly Uber rides, so car rental was pretty much the only option for us. But we really ended up enjoying driving ourselves around Southern California in the beautiful hills. It was a lot of fun, and I definitely recommend a rental car if you’re comfortable getting one. If you fly into LAX, the shuttle at the airport will take you directly to your rental car provider. It’s that easy!

After Griffith Park, we headed to the Warner Brother’s Studio Tour since they’re fairly close to each other. Normally, we wouldn’t have been particularly interested in the tour, but they were getting ready to close down the Gilmore Girls set as the holidays came to a close. We knew we couldn’t miss that! We loved having the chance to walk around the Stars Hollow set and see all the important sets from the show. The tour also features sets from popular shows like Friends and The Big Bang Theory as well as props from movies like Harry Potter and Wonder Woman. 

The next day of our trip was consumed with Disneyland! While I’ve been to Disney World several times now, this was my first time at Disneyland, and it was magical! Not to ruin the fun of Disney, but I definitely recommend checking out some of the Disney bloggers on Instagram before heading to the most magical place on earth. They have a lot of great tips and recommendations that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. For instance, there aren’t charging stations or outlets at Disneyland, but there are stations that will dispense portable chargers. I believe they cost around $20-$30, but when you use one up, you can put it back in the machine and get a fresh charger for free.

If you’re planning on staying in the park all day, and your own portable charger tends to run out quickly, this is a great tip to keep in mind! (We used it twice!)

We stayed at Disneyland all day and ended up staying at a super swanky hotel near the park for the night. After a long day in the sun, the best option is to stay in Anaheim overnight rather than attempting to drive all the way back to L.A.

The next day was the first of my intern retreat with the Dressember team, but we had most of the day to ourselves before we had to split up. So, we headed to the Getty Villa for some delicious lunch and stunning views of Malibu! The Getty Villa is distinct from the Getty Center; while both are museums, they contain different kinds of art and are located in different areas of SoCal. We chose the Getty Villa because it was highly recommended by tour guides and we were excited to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The Getty Villa is a peaceful oasis in the middle of Malibu. It wasn’t overly crowded, the food was wonderful, and we loved the art (not to mention the unequaled views of the ocean). If you’re planning on visiting the Villa, be sure to make a reservation for the time slot you desire ahead of time. (We forgot, but they luckily had spots still available! Most likely because of the holiday weekend).

After the Getty Villa, we stopped along the Pacific Coast Highway at one of their many parking lots for the beaches. We waded in the water briefly, but keep in mind that the Pacific is always cold, even in the summer. We were there in January, so I didn’t dare put on my suit to go all the way in.

After a fun morning in Malibu, we separated so that I could join my Dressember team for our intern retreat. We had an amazing few days at a lovely house in Marina del Rey (near Venice Beach). We spent the days riding bikes up and down the beach, shopping, and eating delicious SoCal food. At night, we sat on the roof of our AirBnb, made s'mores, and shared stories. We also visited the Santa Monica

Pier, which is a must-see if you're in the area. I imagine parking is awful, but we biked it there from our house, so we avoided that experience altogether. The pier has food, rides, and shopping, and you might even catch a glimpse of a seal if you're lucky! Also, if you're in the Venice area, be sure to check out Abbot Kinney Boulevard. It's the best place for shopping and eating! After all of that, the retreat turned a wonderful bonding experience that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

And it’s not a visit to L.A. if you don’t have a celebrity sighting, right? Not to brag, but, being a fangirl, I’m pretty good at spotting celebs (I made eye contact with Billy Porter in New York once, no big deal). So when Grant Gustin, ya know, The Flash himself, almost hit me with his gorgeous and outrageously expensive car, I was pretty starstruck. He smiled big and laughed it off, but that’s definitely something I’ll never forget.

So, after all that, what’s a girl to do on her last day in California? Well, it’s something I’ve never done on a trip before. We went back to the hotel and…relaxed. First we grabbed In-N-Out, because you just

can’t go to California without eating there. One of my fellow Dressember interns recommended the Neapolitan shake, which isn’t actually on the menu. But, goodness, that shake is life changing! Not to mention the cheese fries and burgers. Sheer perfection.

After getting another shake…and more cheese fries to-go, we headed back to the hotel and watched the Golden Globe Awards. It’s a bit surreal to be able to watch an award show and think “Wow, this is all happening half an hour away from me. The cast of Succession is half an hour away from me. Greta Gerwig is getting snubbed half an hour away from me.” And although we didn’t do anything particularly exciting that night, it’s still forever one of my favorite vacation memories.

So, that’s a wrap on my third trip to California, and it was definitely the best yet! What should I do on my text trip to the Golden State? Comment and let me know!