Goin’ back to Cali (part one)

Last weekend we made our annual pilgrimage to California to pick up Little Man. It’s something we look forward to every year. We love traveling and exploring new places together. We try to do at least one new thing every year. This year we did several.

We flew Vigin America for the first time. It was pretty neat. You come on board and they have neon lights and music. They have a fabulous in-flight entertainment system. We’ve seen something similar on larger Delta planes, but I think they’re standard for VA. So I got to watch all the trashy E! that I wanted. The only small complaint I have is that they only bring the drinks cart around once. Even on 6 hour flights. I think they want you to use the console to put in orders for drinks sandwiches and things. It just seems a little cheap to me. Especially considering they charge $4 for HALF a peanut butter sandwich!

We had a nice two hour drive to pick up Little Man. It was so fantastic to see him! We chatted for a while, gathered his gear, and went on our way. Our first stop was very close to his house. We wanted to check out this pizza place that he always talks about. The staff was really nice and the guy behind the counter knew LM. The pizza and potato wedges were pretty tasty.

We drove back down to L.A. and stopped by the Griffith Observatory. We couldn’t find parking anywhere close, and by this time Jason and I were on around hour 15 of traveling. We decided we needed to head to the hotel. But we stopped by the side of the road and snapped a few pics. It was really gorgeous and I hope we can go there next time.

We checked into the Custom Hotel. It has a really neat modern look with some retro thrown in to warm it up.

This was the first time we’ve stayed there. I really wanted to love it, but it had some major drawbacks. Like the AC didn’t work. Both nights. I’m not sure if we’ll stay there again. But it did have some pretty cool decor.

We went in search of dinner and found it right down the street from the hotel. Beach Pizza was fantastic. So fantastic that we ate there two nights in a row. Nice staff, great pizza, and close to the hotel. Can’t beat that. We ate and watched a basketball game. Relaxing way to end a super busy day.

This will count as one more thing off the 52 in 52 list. I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about Day Two.