Our Honeymoon: Los Angeles & French Polynesia

Here I will post about our couple of days in Los Angeles - leading up to our Honeymoon.

We arrived at LAX. Our flights were surprisingly on time for a change. We saw that as a sign that this trip was going to go more smoothly than our past adventures. We make the long drive in our rental car from LAX to our AirB&B. Our Laura Canyon loft was amazing! We were quite a ways up in the hills of Hollywood but it felt very private and special. Our loft had glass surrounding much of the rooms which lent to great views of the forest around us. We were a bit bummed we didn’t have the opportunity to spend more time relaxing here because it also had a fire pit and a really neat area we could have walked around in. (Explain how the Laura Canyon area is rich in history, namely rooted in music - and explain our location on relative to the famed Laurel Canyon Country Store).

We were starving so we took an Uber to L.A.’s “Pink Taco”. The entire restaurant had a major party theme. As we were there during the Latin dia de los muertos. *Yeah, look more into that so I am actually saying it right. Pink Taco was fun! The drinks were pricey, as was the food, but we were happy with what we paid for. The fish tacos were amazing. Justine had the fish tacos. Joe had the shrimp tacos. The shrimp tacos were possibly the better of the two and I’d definitely eat there again and order those. We sat there for a while and took in the fun scene. Justine quickly realized that movie/tv/comedy star Adam Devine was at the table next to us. We didn’t want to stare or be creepy tourists so we continue on with our meal and drinks. On the way out, he flagged us down. Justine was still wearing her Nebraska hoodie. Adam Devine is a Nebraska native and known Husker fan. We ended up introducing ourselves and had a lengthy conversation with him about Nebraska athletics. But mostly, he was extremely nice and wanted to know more about what we were up to. We explained our honeymoon and talked a little about his upcoming comedy tours. Sadly, we felt rude asking for a photo when he was clearly having dinner with his (Newlywed) wife. It was a great experience and we were lucky to get our celebrity encounter out of the way only 2 hours into our trip. If you eat there, we highly recommend the grilled shrimp tacos. If you get a bucket of beer, you pay for 5 beers and the 6th beer is included for free. For beer drinkers, this will save you money as opposed to buying several drinks individually.

Walked to Employees Only (1920s cocktails- old fashioned ginger snap(cranberry muddled gin) then walked to Surly Goat - craft beers (Goober crew lol).

After food and drink at Pink Taco, we walked few blocks to a bar called “Employees Only”. We had a feeling it would be pricey but it was advertised as a “1920’s cocktail bar” so we really couldn’t resist. That seemed too much like our kind of scene. Once there, we immediately loved the vibe of the place. While they clearly offered a fancy menu of food, they also had a HUGE drink menu, most of which were carefully crafted cocktails. Joe opted for his tried and true, an Old Fashioned. It was delicious and they definitely do not skimp on the bourbon. Justine opted for the Ginger Snap which consisted of muddled cranberry. It was on the sweeter side but but still extremely delicious. We decided we’d only do one drink here and used our phones to search for a nearby, more traditional bar scene. As we are both craft beer aficionados, we figured we better sample some more local beers that we hadn’t already tried. We decided on the “Surley Goat”.

We made the short walk to “The Surley Goat”. This place started out dead as can be but quickly grew into what was apparently a hot spot for a very mixed crowd. We sampled a couple local beers and even found one with the same name as one of our pets “The Goober Crew”. It was a bit much on the hoppy side but still fun to try something new. Our favorite beer from this visit was definitely “Flying South With Lime”, by Green Cheek Beer Company. American Light, 4.4% ABV, Lager. It was extremely drinkable and it would be great to get a full 6-pack of it in the future, if possible. After the Surley Goat, we decided we better call it a night so we wouldn’t feel horrible the next morning. We called an Uber and caught a ride back to our AirB&B. After our warm showers, the full day of travel caught up to us and sleep came very easily. Our first day of our honeymoon adventure was in the books. We still had a full day left in LA before leaving the country.

CONTINUE HERE

Drove in the hills looking at houses. Hollywood forever cemetery (Anton yelchin, Ramone...). Lunch at Saikai ramen (spicy shoyu chicken ramen and pan fried gyosa). Glendale forest lawn cemetery (Disney, nat king cole, MJ). Griffith Observatory - sunset, Flight of the Valkyrie show, night lights over LA. Airport - duty free liquor (2 liters each allowed), ink Spot sandwiches for dinner (expensive! And small, But delicious)

This post will end with a link to our ACTUAL honeymoon post that will be much larger, from French Polynesia.

I will put our honeymoon write-up here.

It will be long and have a lot of photos. Maybe even a photo gallery.

Arrive Papeete (water bucket), fresh flower leis after customs. Ferry to Moorea (yellow lizard). Heavy rain upon arrival, cleared when we got docked at Moorea. Couple hour wait to check in to Manava, they greeted us with lemonade and refreshing towels. walked into town to the grocery store (5 min walk maybe). Got sandwich supplies with fresh French baguettes and juice mixers (about $30 total). Stopped at swim supply store to get Joe cheap sunglasses on way back (about $15). It started pouring again as we got close to the resort, so we had to stop under a bus stop until it cleared. Room was ready when we got back, it has its own private backyard pool. Walked around the grounds a bit then took nap.

Breakfast (eggs, meats, fresh fruit, breads, potatoes, lunch meat, coffee, juices). Infinity pool. ATV tour (pineapple plantation - 2 varieties, only 10 pineapples each plant for life, one produces every year the other every 2; Belvédère lookout, Magic mountain...) no snakes on the island. Came back and had a sandwich then snorkeled off our resort - possibly saw a stonefish?. Water is so clear. Went to happy hour at the bar (select drinks half off or $8).

Breakfast. Got picked up for Lagoon tour/ motu picnic - catamaran through the lagoon (pointed out shapes of the mountains, saw pod of dolphins, Siki dove for conch shell), stopped to snorkel (stingrays/sharks), continued to Motu for traditional Tahitian lunch (grilled fish, chicken, rice, fresh fruit, ceviche, beer, rum punch), stayed on the island for a couple hours -swam and Siki taught dance lessons, boat dropped us off at hotel. Swam in our pool. Had happy hour drinks and dinner at the hotel restaurant (fish burger and farmers club), joe had a lizard crawl up his leg, hotel gave a show of local music and dancing.

No activities planned - had a long breakfast then went across the street to Albert to get a ride to the black pearl shop, then were dropped off at the market for sunscreen (expensive $17) and ramen (about $1 each) to take to bora bora. Then went snorkeling off the end of the dock. Very good visibility and lots of tropical fish - one kept biting me on the leg (trigger fish). Then we went to the infinity pool then laid out next to the pool and read. Mid afternoon went back to the room for sandwiches while it rained. Then read for a bit on our deck. Birds and a mama dog showed up to eat the bread scraps. Towards sunset we made some drinks and went to sit on the dock to watch the sunset. Stayed out there until well after dark watching the fish (another couple was feeding bread), a couple reef sharks swam by for the fish.

Packed then breakfast. Then headed to the market to get sunglasses again for Joe - second pair to break. Checked out upon return, took shuttle to the airport. Flight to Bora Bora. Bags had to be less than 11lbs or else had to be checked - difficult to fit everything in. Boat took us to the Pearl Beach Resort - fruit juice and vanilla scented towel given to us. In an end of pontoon bungalow (wall facing out is all windows, windows open all around and even face down to look into the water - view of mountain out east, the lagoon, and partial ocean. Champagne in our room, and had instant noodles for late lunch. Swam a little and explored the beach area. Sat on deck then got ready for dinner. Tevairoa restaurant - 3 course (me: red tuna variation, shrimp/scallops over risotto, creme brûlée. Joe: beef tataki, steak with polenta, and chocolate temptation). Local fire show going on after dinner, watched for a few minutes then went back to the room. The sound of the waves is relaxing.

Language barrier bad. Room service comes at weird times (morning and evening)

Breakfast - similar to manava just more variety

Shark/stingray safari - shallow feeding, deep water (royal blue water, clear all the way to the bottom) full of black tip reef sharks, little black and white fish, and 2-3 lemon sharks (6/7ft long); then snorkeled at reef with lots of fish and clams.

Joe got burned - bad. The oil

Went to happy hour at the pool bar (bogo). Then dinner at Miki Miki - (Joe: seafood variety: swordfish, shrimp, tuna; the combo (grill your own beef, salmon, tuna, and shrimp skewer with 3 sauces - pepper, bernaise, cheese); coffee ice cream) Justine: octopus salad, combo side of veggies, creme brûlée); waitress laughed when we both ordered the combo saying it would be too much food but we showed her. Watched Living with Yourself when we got back

Breakfast. Raining so we postponed the jet skis. Rented paddle boards. Then sat on the deck. Swam off our dock and went out to the drop off area where it gets really deep, long swim and not much to see. Ate instant ramen. Sat on the dock until it started raining again. Unreal rainbow over the mountain and water. Went to happy hour, both got Coronas. and Miki Miki again (joe: beef carpaccio, pizza carpaccio, ice cream coffee, vanilla, creme brûlée) (Justine: tuna tartar, mahi mahi burger and fries, creme brûlée). Way too much food today! Next time probably not do a meal plan for dinners? Went to bed and couple hours later the light started flashing and another wouldn’t turn off; neighbors had similar issue and staff came and took the bulbs

Joe awoke to a fiery hell that is “Hell’s Itch”. It was really bad. Movement was limited. Went to the boutique and purchased extremely overpriced aloe Vera that was essentially just lotion. It was $35 for a fairly small bottle, but better than having nothing at all. Justine applied it to my back and we went up to have breakfast. We both ate much lighter today and were again just a bit burnt out on the repetitive selection. We once again had raw fish. Today we skipped the coffee and doubled down on water. We went back the room. Joe showered. More lotion. Justine went out and read in the sun, on the patio. It was super nice today. Joe relaxes on the bed, propped up enough to enjoy the view. A light rain came which was very relaxing. Joe took a short nap. Justine showered and we found that our water wasn’t working correctly, as if it had simply run our or had many air bubbles in the line. We then both had a couple mixed drinks and read our books until it was time to head to our much anticipated dinner at Bloody Mary’s (to be continued)

Took boat shuttle across to the main island and then a bus to Bloody Mary’s. There is a big display of the fresh main dishes to choose from - multiple types of fish and giant steaks. Joe meal: famous Bloody Mary and then corona, shrimp/steak skewer, marlin steak - sides of rice, steamed veggies, and cole slaw, and ice cream (coffee and vanilla) for dessert. Justine: corona, expensive lobster appetizer, swordfish steak with rice and steamed veggies, tiramisu. There are stray cats around the restaurant; sand floors and live music. Names outside of all the famous people that have eaten there. A lagoon and dock are across the street, we went to look at the water and moon after while we waited for the bus back (aka the large group that created their own time). Shuttle back had two people sleeping in the trunk area. Boat shuttle back to the resort.

My birthday. The end.

Had a late breakfast, then packed and checked out. Had to wait until 6pm to catch the boat to the airport, so we hung out in the pool/bar area all day. Great weather all day, possibly the only day with out rain. Had some drinks and kept moving tables because of the sun and the burn, so the waitress got mad at us. Shared the Miki Miki pizza (chicken, chorizo, lettuce, olives) and fries. Fed the birds some of the fries. Read a little, then attempted mini golf. The mosquitoes where ginormous so we stopped. There was a wedding going on on the beach. Boat shuttle to the airport, slight delay on the flight. Bad turbulence on the way to Papeete. Checked into the flight to LA, changed and waited to board.

Got to LA and through customs by 9:30a. Took Lyft down to the Venice area. Had coffee and WiFi at Collage. Then walked down the boardwalk (attempted hustle by the cd guys) to Baja Cantina for lunch, then walked along the canal then up to the beach. Lyft back to the airport to wait.