Travel Diaries: Beverly Hills

     If you follow along Instagram, you know Matthew and I just got back from California.  He had a work trip to Laguna Beach, so we went an extra day and spent two days and one night in Beverly Hills.  We LOVE taking our girls on all of our travels, but I have to say, traveling to LA with Matthew and being free to get out and explore and do whatever we wanted was heavenly, and knowing the girls were back home having a blast with my parents was a win, win for everyone!
     We flew into John Wayne airport because we would be flying home early Sunday from Laguna, so it made sense to fly into this airport instead of LAX, but I would not recommend this airport if just going to LA.  We had tons of LA traffic from the airport, just as you would expect!  We rented a car from a car service we've used quite a few times, Silver Car Service, and love it.  It's a rental company owned by Audi, so we had an Audi convertible, which made the traffic and drive in sunny LA weather all part of the fun!
     We arrived at our hotel around 3:00, checked in and went exploring.  When planning the trip, we decided to stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel.  With the history of the hotel and iconic pink and green decor, I was eager to spend a night in such a beautiful place I had seen in pictures and movies!  The Beverly Hills Hotel opened on May 12, 1912 before the city even existed to give people a place to stay when looking for property to buy.  It is close to Rodeo Drive and lots of other interesting streets, so walking was perfect after traveling most of the day.  We had a 7:30 dinner reservation at The Ivy, which was also a fun experience.  The staff at The Ivy was beyond lovely and I cannot describe how beautiful the many fresh roses were all over the restaurant inside and on the patio.  I highly recommend the crab salad!  I have other restaurant recommendations at the bottom of the post, but The Ivy will be our first night out when we take our girls back.  We loved it!

The Citrus Garden at the hotel

Rodeo Drive The Ivy      The next morning, we went running and then got ready for the day.  The day was beautiful, so we got in the convertible and drove around.  We went all through Bel Air (could not find The Fresh Prince!!), so we drove on to Santa Monica.  We walked around The Pier and ate lunch at Shutters on the Beach, a gorgeous boutique hotel.  With limited time left in the area, we drove over to Hollywood Walk of Fame to glance at the fun stars while in town and loved seeing the Hollywood sign in the hills.  We enjoyed passing by The Chinese Theater and Pantages Theatre, both must see places, then went to the Melrose Avenue shops.  We loved going in places like "Wanna Buy A Watch" to try on vintage watches and jewelry and enjoyed a coffee at a cute coffee shop.  At this point, it was time to head to the hotel, where we enjoyed sitting by the pool looking at the pink and white cabanas.  After a short time at the pool it was time to check out and travel to Laguna for the work part of the trip.  We wished we had more time in the Beverly Hills area, but we packed a lot in and until next time....that's my recap! Santa Monica Beach

P L A C E S   T O   S E E

Rodeo Drive

Petersen Automotive Museum

Melrose Avenue Shops

The Grove

Universal Studios

Chinese Theater

Pantages Theatre

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars

University of Southern California

Natural History Museum

CA Science Center

LA Sports Arena

Dodger Stadium

Santa Monica Pier

R E S T A U R A N T S

The Ivy

Polo Lounge

Fountain Coffee Room

Shutters on The Beach

Little Prince (Santa Monica)

Rosaline

Fundamental LA

Laduree

Pizzana (Brentwood)

S H O P   T H E   P O S T