In my last blog I wrote about my dining experience at SUR in West Hollywood, California, but now I want to talk about my whole trip because it was a great weekend away!

I arrived in Los Angeles before my cousin Shaina, so when I landed I headed to my friend’s house to visit with her for a little bit. Afterwards, I headed to our hotel, Hotel Ziggy, in West Hollywood. When we were researching hotels for our stay, Hotel Ziggy stood out to us because of the location on Sunset Boulevard, the décor and the lively atmosphere featured on the website. When I got there I was not disappointed. Check-in went smoothly, and I headed up to my room to take a shower and a little nap. Shaina didn’t get in until late Friday night, so I just relaxed around the hotel for the night.

The next morning we ended up sleeping in later than expected, so we did research on a lunch place and took our time getting ready. We picked a lunch place a couple blocks away from the hotel, so we decided to walk and enjoy the fresh air. The restaurant we picked was one of the oldest hot dog stands in California. For a hot dog stand, lunch was very good.

After lunch we headed to a coffee shop to grab a drink before heading out on our Los Angeles Bus tour. We decided to be total tourists and hop on one of those yellow tour buses that take you to all the LA hot spots. The tour took us up and around Mullholland Drive, offering views of the Hollywood sign and glimpses of some famous celebrity homes and filming locations. Next we went through Beverly Hills and by Rodeo Drive, then ended in Hollywood passing the Chinese Theater, Walk of Fame and other popular attractions in that area. I enjoyed the tour; it took us to places we wouldn’t have explored since we didn’t rent a car.

We were dropped back off a couple blocks from the Walk of Fame and Chinese Theater, so we walked over that way to see some of the famous stars and the feet and handprints outside the theater. The whole time we were walking on the Walk of Fame, I was looking down trying to spot stars of celebrities we liked; I am so lucky I didn’t walk straight into someone!

After we walked a couple blocks of stars, we had to head back to the hotel to start getting ready for our dinner reservations at SUR.

Stay tuned for my next blog to hear about our Sunday in Santa Monica.

— Mary Melnick, social media and editorial coordinator