California Girls

  Two weekends ago  I traveled to Cali from Friday - Monday and it was glorious.  Side note: apparently calling California "Cali" is a total tourist move. Oh well, lesson learned.

   My good friend Jenna moved to Manhattan Beach, California this past summer and I had promised her I would visit in the winter when I could escape the cold in Pittsburgh.  I am glad I ended up visiting in the winter because it was so nice to be able to wear shorts and flops again. Although I was by far the whitest person ever.
 

 

     I arrived Friday morning and we immediately rented bikes as soon as we got to Manhattan Beach. We picked up our friend Laura who was also visiting from Pittsburgh.  We rode from Manhattan Beach to Redondo Beach. I loved how all the little beach towns connected to each other by a boardwalk and bike path, also known as the strand.  Jenna was a fabulous tour guide and in typical Jenna fashion took us to all the best drink spots along the way. First stop was Tony's in Redondo Beach for their Mai Tai and souvenir glass. 

 

Next up was Naja's Place, a craft beer Mecca   Nothing is better then an open window bar seat looking over the water. I had a Russian River Row 2/Hill 56. 

After Naja's was the Fun Factory where we hit up the tilt-a-whirl and played arcade games.

After a few more stops we headed back to Jenna's on our beach cruisers to catch the sunset. 

Selfies on the strand. 

 

This is the view from Jenna's apartment.  So insane. 

After taking about 1000 pictures of the sunset we went to Shellback Tavern to meet up with our friend Keegan and grab dinner.

One thing I loved most about the area was how active everyone was. The weather is gorgeous and you can't beat the scenery.  It makes you want to just be outside all day long.  I don't think I could spend a day on the couch when the ocean is in my backyard.  On Saturday Jenna and I got up and walked the pier and checked out the surfers and hit up the pier aquarium. 

 

Next up was brunch at Simmzy's.  Jenna and I both got Bloody Mary's and the kale Caesar salad. 

 

We shared the bleu cheese haystack.  Shoestring french-fries covered in bleu cheese and buffalo sauce.  Umm.  best meal ever.

 

The rest of the day was spent shopping, more eating and more drinking.  Finally we got ready for the night and headed to SUR for appetizers and drinks in West Hollywood.  This was a must for me, Vanderpump Rules is a major guilty pleasure.  Unfortunately none of the cast was working however it was so fun to be in the restaurant which was gorgeous. 

 

It was so dark in SUR that all of my pictures either came out black or a gray fog.  #fail

 

Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday.  Jenna and walked the strand to Hermosa Beach and hit up Sharkeez for a Mexican brunch and more Bloody Mary's.  They also gave you free mimosas for an hour.  I'll take it. 

 

The rest of the day was spent shopping before we headed to Jenna's friends house for a Super Bowl party.  I loved how early the Super Bowl starts/ends on the west coast.  It was nice that it was over by 7:00 pm and we still had the rest of the night.  After the party we headed back to Shellback Tavern to celebrate our friend Keegan's birthday.  No pictures were taken. #failagain.

 

On Monday we hit up Marsha's for brunch in Hermosa Beach before it was time to head to the airport and head home to the bitter cold. 

 

I had the best time visiting and fell in love with Manhattan Beach.  I could definitely be ok with sitting outside and wearing shorts all year long.