The Long Road to Cabo, a Carnival Panorama Review: Day 3 – Los Angelesfeatured

After a late night and then a very full Disney day, getting six and a half hours of sleep may as well had been a ride on the Benadryl train — I was rested and refreshed and ready to explore Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, the weather Gods had other plans. The rain we changed our Disney plans for was creeping in and we had a very small sliver in the morning that was forecasted to be dry. We threw some clothes on, grabbed some coffee in the lobby and plotted out our day.

First stop: Huntington Beach Pier. The pier was right across the street from the hotel, and there are so many shops and restaurants nearby. It really was in a great location. The weather was cold and windy, but there was just a hint of light on the horizon as the local surfers took to the waves. High tide was approaching and we were fascinated watching these people glide across the water. I don’t understand the dynamics of it but I couldn’t look away!

We headed back to the hotel to change before the skies opened up and then Stephanie and I split to head out to Los Angeles for the day. As we started driving, that famous LA traffic crept in and our short 12 mile drive took over an hour! I don’t know if I can ever complain about Chicago traffic ever again.

It was well after noon and we were overdue for breakfast, so we headed out towards Echo Lake to a brunch spot I found on Instagram, All Day Baby. As we rolled up in the (by this point) torrential rain, we found out they were closed for indoor dining this week because of Covid. I was super sad, but we were still able to place a takeout order to enjoy their famous biscuit sandwiches from the car.

Afterwards, we snapped some pictures of the Micheltorena Stairs and some nearby murals from the car, but it was really coming down and everything I had on my list for the day melted away in the rain. It just wasn’t explore-a-city weather.

Willing to rally through the rain, we headed downtown to visit The Last Bookstore, a must-visit for any book-lover traveling through LA. I really loved this store — it reminded me of Shakespeare and Company in Paris, and nothing quite goes with a rainy day like a bookstore does. The selection is massive and there are even local artisan boutiques on the second floor.

Last on our list was a drive through Beverly Hills. I wanted to do some shopping at Tiffany’s for a new bracelet and see the decorations at Via Rodeo. The rain had other plans. We drove by and I snapped a pic out of the window. I was so sad. Like, we could have seen and experienced so much and the day felt a little wasted by the weather.

Making matters worse, apparently people don’t like driving in the rain, and our 45-mile drive back to Huntington Beach took over two hours. Believe me when I say, if you’re trying to go anywhere in LA, take the time you think it’ll take you and multiply it by like four.

Mom had wrapped her work day by the time we got back, so we picked her up and headed out to a TJ Maxx because, fun story, guess who didn’t pack for rain, and guess what was forecasted for embarkation day!? I needed a backup rain outfit. And because I was on vacation, I completely lost track of time and forgot it was the day before Christmas (but also to be fair, we’re Jewish and Christmas isn’t our thing). The line to check out literally wrapped around the entire store. I’ve never seen anything like it.

We contemplated going for dinner near the hotel to some place more local. A taco shop, maybe. There were a ton by the hotel. But Mom really wanted one thing: Outback Steakhouse. We were too tired to argue so we settled in with steaks and wedge salads and dried off from the drenching rain that soaked us on the walk in from the parking lot.

The rain meant no s’mores (one of the amenities included in the hotel’s resort fee was nightly s’mores at the fire pit) so we headed back to the room, where we watched surf documentaries, sorted our documents and made a plan for our embarkation day!