Santa Monica Memorial Day

With the melodic strains of ‘Children’ by Robert Miles, through my headphones, gently ushering us into LAX, just as it did 30 years ago, we arrived in Los Angeles as the sun ☀️ was rising over the city. Back to the past — arriving three hours before we left Melbourne!

All those YouTube travel tricks ’n tips instantly proved useful ℹ️ We headed straight to the Metro Transit Centre and jumped on the Big Blue Bus 🚎, taking us directly to Santa Monica for just $1.25 — a cheap and surprisingly easy start to the trip.

It was Memorial Day in the States 🇺🇸 today, so everything felt unusually quiet and relaxed. We struck gold when our quaint little hotel, Hotel Carmel — just one block from the beach and Pier — had our rooms ready for our 8:30am arrival. A long hot shower 🚿 was heaven after the 14-hour flight.

A wander along Ocean 🌊🏖️ Boulevard to Venice Beach, shoes off and feet in the sand, with a drip coffee and tuna melt in the warm California sun, was the perfect tonic for the jet lag.

We continued on to Muscle Beach and wandered back at a leisurely pace, stopping at a sidewalk café for a refreshing cider and a chilled Chardonnay while soaking up the atmosphere.

We “…traveled down the road, and back again…” to see 245 Saltair Avenue — the The Golden Girls house! Mark’s only wish-list item! A selfie stick was bought specifically for the purpose of reaching over the owner’s fence, which honestly made the moment even funnier, trying to dodge the owner’s security cameras 😜

We wandered around the Santa Monica Mall before heading out for dinner at Albright’s Beach Club on the Santa Monica Pier for a delicious meal, lingering just long enough to capture a magnificent sunset 🌅 over the beach and that lovely feeling that our first day had already been packed with memories.

After 36 hours with virtually no sleep 💤 and 31,000 steps, we are both absolutely exhausted, slightly delirious, and more than ready to hit the hay.Read more