We have been talking about visiting Sequoia National Park for several years. Ever since we read Jason Chin's Redwoods, Henry in particular has been fascinated by the giant trees (both redwoods and sequoias), so when Gene's cousin announced that she'd be getting married in LA this summer, we decided to combine a family wedding with a national park adventure and a few extra days to explore LA's museums. At the very end of June, we packed for a wedding, beach time, museums, and hiking in the mountains and jetted off to southern California for a grand adventure!
Our first travel day was full of mishaps -- our plane was delayed, meaning we had a high likelihood of missing our connecting flight, so we re-booked on another flight, which was also delayed. We ended up spending over 6 hours at the airport before we even boarded a plane, but we had free passes to the United lounge and we were all in good spirits.
Guess who also had a pass to the United lounge? We didn't expect to see Pop, but he and Nana were traveling to San Diego for a family visit prior to the wedding, and with our delay, our time at the airport overlapped.
By the time we arrived in LA, checked into our Airbnb apartment in Venice, and went grocery shopping, we were ready to collapse!
On day two of our vacation (our first full day in LA), we headed to La Brea Tar Pits, which made a big impression on me as a kid. The tar pits formed around 50,000 years ago as natural asphalt seeped up from the ground. Animals that became trapped in the tar pits are preserved, and there are literally thousands of fossils with excavations still underway. Mammoths, dire wolves, bears, sloths and saber-tooth cats are among the fossils found in the pits.
Tar pit
The tar lake behind Will is what I remember from my visit as a kid.
The museum
The tar pits were fascinating for all of us; it is a remarkable place and a highlight of our trip!
Located right next to La Brea Tar Pits is the LA County Museum of Art, but we didn't have time for a visit beyond this outdoor sculpture called Urban Light by Chris Burden. There are over 200 restored street lamps here!
Across the street is the Petersen Auto Museum, which we knew would be a hit with Henry, who has become obsessed with cars of late.
There are over 100 cars on display throughout the museum, including cars from movies like The Great Gatsby,
Batman,
and Back to the Future.
We saw idea cars
lots of Ferraris,
and Bugattis. Henry was in heaven!
Henry is now trying to figure out how to get back there with Grampa and Uncle Tom, as they are both obsessed with cars too!
After lunch, we visited Children's Book World, an indie book store devoted to books for kids!
And in the late afternoon, we walked one block from our rental apartment to the beach.
For dinner, we found Wurstkuche, which is a German sausage restaurant with craft beers. With everything from bratwurst and kielbasa to rabbit and rattlesnake sausages, this place was incredible!
Dinner was delicious!
More California adventures to follow!
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