LA VACAY PART TWO

Welcome back to the second part of my LA VACAY! It only gets even more entertaining from here. We did so much within four days that it made sense for me to split my articles into two, that way I can go into as much detail as I need to, without a supper long poSt. Got it? OKAY! I’ll pick up where I left off.

To get to the park entrance, we walked along the City Walk (basically a large shopping strip) for about 3 minutes before we got to the actual entrance of the park near the giant revolving “Universal Studios” metal logo over a water fountain. We walked down this long red carpet to hand in our tickets, and then made our way toward a day of fun. Charlie and Jade are season pass holders, so when we got in to the park, the only form of identification they needed were thumb prints (which I think is disgusting) but it’s supposed to be quicker than scanning physical tickets.

The first thing on my agenda was to get a Fast Pass for ALL of the rides. I love amusement parks, but absolutely hate having to wait in line for hours. The great thing about Universal Studios is that they have a “single rider line” which can cut your wait time from 150 minutes, to 15 minutes. The terrible thing about Universal Studios is that Fast Passes aren’t free (such a first world problem…) and they cost between $35 – $100. I found this to be complete bullshit because Universal Studios is NOT that poppin to charge $35 a fast pass. This is the type of behavior I expect at Disney World, BUT DISNEY FAST PASSES ARE FREE; long story short, I didn’t pay $35 for a damn fast pass on top of my $109 entry ticket.

What drew our attention to the park today, was the new Jurassic World ride! It’S brand new and there were commercials everywhere promoting it. But honestly, the ride wasn’t that great. It’s like a water raft ride, and you get to see the giant Mosasaurus as soon as you enter (via screen). It starts off as a tour of Jurassic World, but then (of course) something goes wrong, a dinosaur gets lose and blah blah. At the very end of the ride, we see Blue (the raptor), the Indominus Rex and then a Giant T-rex jumps out at everyone before we exit the ride. I felt like it was the exact same thing as the Dinosaur ride in Disney World (but less scary; the Disney ride makes me shit myself), so Charlie and I weren’t phased while Jade was pleased with the ride.

After Jurassic world, in order, we rode the Transformers roller coaster which was 3D 360, The Mummy roller coaster (one of my favorite movies btw), The Harry potter 3D 360 Roller coaster (super enchanting!), a Minions 4D ride (Bob is my favorite minion), the Walking Dead attraction and then the Studios Tour. The only ride I didn’t get on was the Simpsons ride, and none of us really wanted to ride it. But, we went through the Simpsons park and it was really cool. If you’re a Simpsons fan, I’m sure this park would have amused you! I saw Lad Lad Doughnuts (do you spell it as “doughnuts” or “donuts”?) , and they were selling giant doughnuts bugger than your head. Moe’s Tavern was up and running with a long line at the bar and I took a picture with a giant taco on a taco truck (the first picture above). It was a fun park to walk through and very animated.

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My #1 favorite park within the park, was Harry Potter (#teamhufflepuff). The park looks EXACTLY LIKE THE ACTUAL DIAGON ALLEY. All the shops looked the same, there were children running around wearing capes and holding wands. I saw the train that takes you from London to Hogwarts and the train cart filled with all the magical candies (so many chocolate frogs) . The only thing missing was the actual train station where you run your cart into the brick wall. The first thing we did was run to the closest bar we could find inside the park and ordered a round a Butter Beer with a shot of Fire Ball (we originally wanted rum or tequila but the bar tender insisted we pair it with fireball). The Butter Beer was absolutely fantastic, but we ended up having to suddenly chug the cold drink. We got in line for the Harry Potter roller coaster, located inside of Hogwarts and realized that there was no one in line for single riders. So, we stood on the side of the line and let everyone get in front of us until we finished chugging (which took longer than expected because we kept getting brain freeze). But, within due time, we got on the ride (even though Jade thought she was going to throw up)!

Afterwards, we went to a “wand show.” We walked into Ollivander’s wand shop and was greeted by an actor who talked about the history of wands and how one comes about choosing a wand (or a wand choosing you). Every inch, every corner, every shelf in the room was filled with boxes of wands! They literally had thousands of wands at their disposal. Then, we walked through a door in the shop where the actual “magic show” happened. A woman used her wand to make flowers die and then come to life again. She made the lights flicker on and off and she made thunder roar throughout the building. At the end of the show, one person was picked so that they can “find their wand” (and I presume keep it for free). When the exit door opened, we walked into another part of the wand shop, but this time we could buy our own wands. Every wall was dedicated to a different character in the movies and ranged from $25 to $50 (ridiculously priced). There were some wands that you could connect to your lights and TV to turn them on and off. I honestly wanted to buy a wand, but I talked myself out of it (I was saving my money to buy myself something from the minion gift shop!)

After getting on the minions ride and ending up at a random “minions dance party” we ran towards the Walking Dead attraction! It’s essentially a haunted house but more post apocalyptic and less animated (if you’ve ever been to the Eastern State Penitentiary on Halloween and was randomly chased by the Easter Bunny holding a chainsaw, you’ve been to an “animated haunted house”). It starts with us standing in line inside of the hospital that Rick randomly woke up in. There was blood, dirt and grime everywhere, desks and computers were flipped upside down, and some doors were chained and locked shut. It was your worst nightmare! Once we were able to enter the actual attraction, there were zombies coming out of dark corners trying to jump scare us (sometimes chasing us), and twice there were men with guns trying to kill off the zombies so we could get past, and I surprisingly was laughing the entire time UNTIL SHIT GOT REAL! All I know is I saw a man smoking a cigarette and shooting zombies, Jade was holding my hand when a LARGE GROUP of zombies started running towards us, my fingers got caught on a shopping cart (idk where the f**k this shopping cart even came from) and nearly broke my fingers snatching my hands out of it. Ran down the remainder of the attraction until I got to a hallway that was maybe 1 foot thick but there were zombies inside of cages with their arms reaching out towards me. I heard Charlie scream “The sun!” and I KNEW we were at the end of the attraction, so I ran at the speed of light, knocking over everyone in my way until the sunlight finally touched my brown skin again. I then ate a churro in celebration of my bravery.

The last attraction I”ll touch base on is the Studios Tour. If you ever have time to visit a studio set, I 100% recommend it. The tour was maybe over an hour long but it was so interesting. We saw the studio buildings where The Voice is hosted and a handful of others! We saw the street view set from How I Met Your Mother, Back to The Future, Captain America, and Bruce Almighty. It was really interesting is that all of the buildings were made of Styrofoam but they looked like actual brick and stone buildings! As the tour continued, I saw the set of the water fall scene from Big Fat Liar (remember the iconic scene in Lady Gaga’s music video, Judas, where she’s standing by a rock and a large body of water hits her? It took place here, and rumor has it Lady Gaga got that shot on one try), the town of Whoville from The Grinch, an airplane crash scene from War of the Worlds (they purchased an actual Boeing plane to create the set), the set for Jaws, and the studio room that’s set as a Subway Station. There was even a King Kong reenactment ride and a Fast and Furious ride within this studios tour that rode. I also saw all of the cars from Fast and Furious, The Flint Stones, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park. This was probably the best attraction of the entire park and it was super memorable. (I wish I took pictures, but I wanted to live in the moment).

As the day came to an end, we left the park and went to this Italian restaurant called Buca di Beppo that Jade was dying to go to. It was a family style Italian restaurant (very similar to maggianos) and it wasn’t the best. The fried calamari was good, the garlic bread was good, the chicken stuffed cheese and pesto was good, but the pasta we ordered tasted like burning plastic. After dinner, we went to Voodoo doughnuts, where I ordered 2 VERY LARGE AND THICK doughnuts for dessert (one pink frosted and one blueberry). On our way back, we got news that not there was a bush fire that broke out near the apartment, and there was an armed robbery in the area as well. This put us all a little on edge considering the number of mass shootings that happen so frequently, so we went back to the apartment, smoked a blunt, attempted to watch the uncut version of Bridesmaids as we ate left over dumplings, garlic bread and the big ass doughnuts. I ended up falling asleep within minutes.

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The next morning, my last day in LA, we started our morning at a yoga studio, then ended up at the Santa Monica Pier! After our yoga session, Jade and I made our way to Santa Monica (can be anywhere between a 45 minute and 2 hour drive) and I saw the “Hidden Vally” (not where Kim Kardashian lives) which was really cool to see. The scenery was essentially huge houses on the edge of a vally, and apparently it’s difficult to get to the residency because the streets are “hidden” or “secluded” or whatever (Siri was able to get me a direct route to the residency within seconds lol). After getting through The Valley, and passing The Getty, we finally made it to Santa Monica! The first thing I noticed in this city was the immediate temperature drop. It was hot as hell and humid in Burbank, but the minute we got within a mile of the ocean, the air was cool, there was a slight breeze and we were no longer hot and sticky.

Jade and I immediately ate lunch at Bubba Gump on the board walk. Walking down the pier, I had the honor of officially seeing the Pacific Ocean with my own eyes and I loved every second of it. I loved the wind in my hair, the smell of salt water, and the endless view. Afterwards, we drove to Lincold Blvd in Venice for some sight seeing. Our first stop was weed dispensary called MedMen and it looked exactly like a Apple Store (just with a red exterior). I really wanted to try a CBD oil for the times I randomly get overly anxious, but I couldn’t find a black owned company (Whoopi Goldberg’s line wasn’t in stores yet) and apparently, you can only buy from dispensaries with debit or cash (apparently, because marijuana is legal under federal law only, credit card companies distance themselves from dispensaries… super confusing). Then, we walked to go get this crazy flavored ice cream that everyone apparently craves from Salt and Straw. This business mixes crazy flavors together into ice cream that people crave like Dracula Blood Pudding, Black Cat Licorice & Lavender and Pear & Blue Cheese. I got a scoop of the Honey Lavender because I have too much anxiety to deal with these exotic flavors lol.

After I paid for my ice cream, I noticed a tea shop across the street that had a wall filled with vines and bushes, and a lit pink sign that read “Love you Matcha.” Naturally, the art geek in me insisted that I took a picture. The sign was beside a matcha cafe called Cha Cha Matcha that looked very swanky and hipster-ish. If I liked matcha, I would have gotten myself a cup just because of how cute the cafe looked. We shopped at a few really cute trinket, touristy shops where I did some shopping. Once of the shops had a really cute patio seating area with a bunch of plants and mirrors surrounding the patio. On our walk back to the car, we noticed this giant cactus (it was actually my first time seeing a cactus that wasn’t tiny and potted inside of someones house) and it had these beautiful roses blooming out of it! It was so beautiful to the point where I thought it was fake and had to google if cactus’s can actually flower (they can and now I’m shopping for my own damn cactus!)

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Our day ended with a barbecue by the pool during the sunset. Jade brought a rack of ribs from the market and had them marinating for the entire day. She also made some rice, and this avocado and corn type of salsa that was actually really good. BUT CATCH THIS! We went to the grocery store to buy the avocados for the salsa, and how about the avocados were a whole $1 less than the avocados in Burlington. There’s avocados that are grown in California so I guess they’re cheaper than the avocados I have in the north east… but anyway, I also tried Mochi for the fist time (got it from the grocery store) and it is NOT worth the hype. It 100% tastes like plastic wrap dipped in flour…

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When we got back to the apartment, we changed into our bathing suits, put the stack of ribs on the grille, and jumped in the pool while they cooked. About an hour later we ate the ribs, then got right back in the pool and then the hot tub for an hour. It felt really bitter sweet to leave LA because I missed my boyfriend and my kitten soooooo much, but I also wanted to stay on vacation forever (If I didn’t run out of money, I probably would have stayed). I was getting a flood kitten pictures everyday during my trip and I slowly became jealous of the relationship my boyfriend and my cat was creating.

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At 9am the next morning, my LA vacation ended with a Salted Caramel Mochiato Cloud and LA traffic on my way to the airport .One thing that was particularly memorable from this trip, was actually my Uber driver on my way to LAX. The ride was at least an hour and a half long, and I had a wonderful conversation with a woman that was full of love and experience. She had a degree in Interior Design (Bachelors and Masters) and she traveled the world to visit different art museums. She was so passionate about life, and being youthful, and taking advantage of yourself by traveling and meeting new people. Her husband worked for Warner Bros and whenever he went overseas for business, she took her ass right along with him and toured the world. When she dropped me off at LAX, she got out of her car and gave me the biggest grandma hug that I truly needed.

I never had the urge to go visit the West Coast, but I’m proud of myself for visiting TWICE this year (Vegas and California) and I honestly can’t wait to go back. Believe it or not, it’s actually cheaper to fly to LA for a weekend than it is to fly to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving, so I will be back sooner than I think. My boyfriend wants to desperately visit Charlie and Jade next year for vacation, and we’ve already stared planning. Traveling is something that humbles me and forces me to appreciate my life and where I am today. I never, in a million year, thought I’d ever visit California, or even Las Vegas. I can’t wait to go back and visit that beautiful cactus!