From Joshua Tree National Park, were supposed to spend a night in Las Vegas with the goal of driving into Death Valley National Park the following morning – before temps got out of control. We knew we were tempting fate, visiting Death Valley in June, but thought we might be ok if we kept our explorations before 10am.
Nope.
The National Park Service was issuing all kinds of warnings as temps rarely dipped below 100°, even at night, and we realized that even if we actually made it to our hikes, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy them. We called our hotels and amazingly, they both offered us full refunds! The one in Death Valley tried to get us to reschedule for February (they’re predicting a super bloom), but we’re now living in Dakar, Senegal and that is not a trip that would be worthwhile for us!
We couldn’t believe our luck as we planned our next step. We had to be in Three Rivers, CA in four days for our next national park – Sequoia – so we decided to recharge in Los Angeles.
LA had initially been on our itinerary for this trip, but was removed because we didn’t love the city during our 2014 visit and we had decided against including coastal California due to timing and the back & forth required to hit the national parks that we were prioritizing.
But along with the change in temps, we realized that a lot has changed for us in the last decade as well. For one, we have real salaries, not volunteer salaries. So while our buddy Sam no longer lives in LA, this time around we could afford a hotel. We chose the Homewood Suites by LAX for its location, price point, parking, and amenities. We like staying in Homewood Suites while on US road trips because they allow us to do some cooking of our own – something that was wildly unnecessary in the midst of LA’s food scene (but more on that later!).
What really sealed the deal for us were two attractions: Little Tokyo & Universal Studios Hollywood – both being the opposite of what we’d been experiencing in the parks over the summer.
Despite our love of (nearly) all things Japan, it’s a country we haven’t visited yet (though we did buy tickets once! Hello, pandemic).
Dating back to the 1880s, Little Tokyo is an area of about five city blocks. It’s also one of only three official Japantowns in the US (the others being in San Francisco and San Jose).
With limited time in LA, we missed out on the Japanese American National Museum, opting for an afternoon spent wandering through the neighborhood instead. But a return trip would definitely warrant a visit!
Instead, we started in Little Tokyo Mall. With its neon Japanese signs, the area is said to feel a bit like Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood, known for its shops selling all things anime and electronic. Some of these shops are so popular, they require a waiting line outside, so things don’t get too crowded!
When we emerged outside, we wandered through Japanese Village Plaza, in and out of numerous other lovely shops. Some favorites being:
–Bunkado: Our favorite shop! Open since 1945, they sell gifts and home goods, including books, origami, kitchenware, and CDs (and don’t forget to check out their second floor!)
–Mokuyobi: Technically an accessories company, but I loved all of their apparel – everything is bright and colorful and so much fun!
–Pop Little Tokyo: Popkiller’s flagship location, featuring ironic t-shirts packaged like LPs from independent labels and original designs created in-house
-Popkiller Second: A vintage clothing store run by Popkiller
-Ginza-USA Gifts & Music: Incredible Japanese music selection – Chandler bought two CDs!
–The Hob Nob Shop: Unique women’s clothing
–Japangeles: A streetwear line that remixes traditional Japanese iconography with a modern SoCal aesthetic
–Maneki Neko: A gift shop named after the good luck, beckoning cat? Say no more!
–Utsuwa-No-Yakata: A pottery and gift shop
–Kinokuniya: The largest bookstore chain in Japan (we had one in Carrollton too!)
–K-Pop Music Town: Located in the Weller Court Shopping Center (like Kinokuniya), this store has the best selection of K-Pop that I’ve ever seen!
We didn’t pay much attention to the food scene (Japanese food isn’t particularly vegan-friendly), but upon a further re-look, there’s plenty we could have explored!
Outside of going to Japan (which might finally be happening next summer), we couldn’t have had a day like this anywhere else! Another unique part of our time in LA was Universal Studios Hollywood.
I have to admit, I’m not a fan of theme parks (my motion-sickness prevents me from enjoying rides), but Chandler really wanted a studio tour – and then we found out about Super Nintendo World.
We arrived at the park just before it opened and there was already a pretty large crowd. However, once the gates opened, everyone spread out. We had learned when looking into the studio tour that the only way to do it is to buy a ticket into the theme park – the tour is actually more like a ride.
We did drive through some of the filming locations, but most of the drive is through permanent exhibits. We experienced a bit of Jaws, visited the Bates Motel & house from Psycho, the gold rush-themed amusement park from the film Nope, and posed for photos with two iconic Fast & Furious cars: Brian’s 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 from 2 Fast 2 Furious and Dom’s 1970 Dodge Charger from Fast X.
The only thing really missing was Courthouse Square from Back to the Future. The tour took about an hour and then we were off to Super Nintendo World.
I have to admit, I was not prepared for the magic that is Super Nintendo World. Like I said, I’m not a fan of amusement parks, but they nailed it. The sights, the sounds, the joy? All present. Starting with the green warp pipes at the entrance:
No photos can really do this part of the park justice – and I only had my phone with me this day! But we watched kids (and adults) run around collecting coins for their power-up bands. We also saw Princess Peach and Toad posing with fans for photos. Honestly, it was perfect that we’d just gone on the studio tour, because it felt like we were on the set of a Mario film (just not the 1993 Super Mario Bros. disaster!).
The main thing to do is, of course, the ride – Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. We made our way to the line (dismayed at the length – maybe we should have started with Super Nintendo World) and joined it. It probably took about an hour, but to the designers’ credit, most of the line is indoors/shaded and you’re constantly seeing new things while you wait. Including the locker room:
The ride was, in fact, incredible. A real life Mario Kart? Literally my dream. And the fact that I scored 10 more coins than Chandler? Icing on the cake. The only downside? I feel like you’re learning how to play the game the first time you go on the ride. But then we couldn’t bring ourselves to hop in that line for an additional hour. So there was no way to play for real.
It was ok though, we had a few more stops in the park, starting with the Revenge of the Mummy ride. That line took less than 15 minutes (though the ride itself made me super nauseated, so it probably wasn’t the right call). It was fun though, because I had watched the original Mummy movie this summer with Chandler.
The last section we visited was Jurassic World. Chandler and I both love the films (old and new). We opted out of the ride here (it’s a water ride), but chanced by the “Raptor Encounter.” We had a good time, but there’s no comparing it to Super Nintendo World. With that, we felt like we’d done everything we wanted to at Universal Studios.
With Little Tokyo and Universal Studios visited, there were still a number of other things on our to-see list. Chandler was incredibly excited about the Petersen Automotive Museum. During the pandemic, they put videos up of their extensive car collection (including the ones in the vault). Chandler had watched them all and was now ready to see them in person.
Anyone who knows me knows that cars aren’t something that wow me – but Chandler had a surprise. The museum has an exhibit titled Hollywood Customs: Modified for the Movies and it included Suki’s 2001 Honda S2000 from 2 Fast 2 Furious (I was truly loving my F&F connections in LA). The exhibit also had a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 “Time Machine” from Back to the Future for Chandler.
Other highlights included the 1966 Ford Thunderbird from Thelma and Louise, a 1957 Jaguar XKSS formerly owned by Steve McQueen (below), and the motorcycle collection, which had a 1952 Speedtwin Custom Triumph (below) modeled after a painting made by David Mann.
The absolute gaudiest (and most fun) room was Best in Low: Lowrider Icons of the Street and Show exhibit. The artistry and craftsmanship in these cars was bonkers. There was even a 1979 Lincoln Continental MK-V that was casino-themed, but my favorite was a 1957 Bel Air “Double Trouble” (below).
We didn’t spend too long at the Petersen Museum, so we also had time to visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as well. The locations of the museums are nice – we kept our car parked at the Petersen and walked over to the Academy museum.
As the largest museum in the US devoted to the arts, science, and artists of moviemaking, it seemed like something we couldn’t miss. Funny enough, there was plenty in the museum that didn’t hold our interest – whole rooms we practically skipped through.
However, we really enjoyed the Inventing Worlds and Characters: Animation exhibit (hello, Wall-E) and Significant Movies and Moviemakers: Casablanca (a film I’ve loved for as long as I can remember).
But the room that kept our attention for nearly an hour was titled Encounters – filled with memorabilia from science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies. One of the first things to catch our eyes was H.R. Giger’s Xenomoroph from Alien (below). We went to the HR Giger Museum in Gruyères, Switzerland in 2018. At the time, I hadn’t seen any of the Alien films. Now I’ve seen them all (plus the Predator films and their crossovers!).
We also saw Halle Berry’s Storm costume from X-Men (a franchise I’m obsessed with), the Barbasol shaving cream “cryo-can” from Jurassic Park (below), the TARS robot from Interstellar, and the costume worn by Anthony Daniels as C-3PO in Star Wars VII, VIII, & IX (below).
Some of the final things we did in LA consisted of drive by tours. First up was the Toretto house (blue) & shop (long live Fast & Furious!). The person who owns the Toretto house hates tourists and built a fence around the house, but I say it’s their own fault. They bought it long after the films had made it famous – so what did they expect? And the shop? Iconic. “Bullshit asshole, no one likes the tuna here” – remains one of my favorite film lines.
Not far away was the house (red) from the TV show Charmed, which is a show I’ve absolutely seen two or three times all the way through.
Last up (and not pictured below) was Marty Mcfly’s house from Back to the Future – we hadn’t known about that one before arriving in LA, but the guide at the studio tour mentioned that it was easy enough to visit – and Chandler was stoked to see it.
If that had been all that had happened in LA, I would have said we’d had an incredible time. But there’s one thing this post is missing: The food. Hands down the best we had all summer, LA is an (obvious) foodie heaven – especially for vegans. Our standouts:
–Little Barn Coffee House: A vegan, Latina, queer-owned restaurant? Hell yeah. And the egg biscuit and tofu croissant were incredible (Note: No indoor seating or bathroom)
–Sugar Taco: A gorgeously decorated restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating – we love when everything on the menu is vegan so we can order as much as we want! We never know when to stop with the tacos
–Monty’s Good Burger: We visited the one in Culver City, but I’m sure they’re all amazing. The food was ready in less than 10 minutes and it was one of the best vegan chicken sandwiches I’ve ever had – I’d love to return one day to try the burger as well
–Variable Cafe: Yet another vegan kitchen (are you sensing a theme?), everything was fresh and delightful, including the pho and the Seoul bowl
–Salaya: This was our first meal in LA and it got us started with a bang! Plant-based Thai-fushion is definitely not something you can get everywhere. Empanadas, pad kra prao, and vegan orange chicken? I’m already drooling and I would love to go back for some of their noodle dishes
–The Grain Cafe: I don’t even remember what we ordered here (one of the salads and a breakfast option, perhaps?) but the food was filling and wholesome and perfect after a month on the road
LA was good to us and we liked the city so much more than we had a decade ago. The traffic is truly heinous and I could never live there (never say never, but for real!). But it was a wonderful vacation spot. After a few days in the city, we were ready for our next national park (with no regrets about missing Death Valley).
Abroad With Ashley 