Playing the Tourist

This weekend The Boy and I headed up to Mt. Baldy to spend a much needed afternoon playing in the snow. Since I’m a horrible skier we just embraced our 5-year-old tendencies - we made snow men and went sledding. Just two weekends before, The Boy and I were in Santa Monica all of Saturday - feeling the sea breeze on our faces and digging our toes into the sand.

You have to love Southern California. You can spend one weekend sprawled on the beach in T-Shirts and 70 degree weather, and the next weekend bundled up in gloves and beanies throwing snow balls.

There are endless possibilities to do and see in Los Angeles, and somehow I missed the mark. I went to school just an hour South of here, yet I never really ventured into the city. Every so often I’d randomly find myself venturing down a street in LA with little clue where I was at, but I was so lost I’d never try to return to it.

When I moved up here permanently, I told myself I was going to take advantage of my newfound freedom. No more homework and no more papers, my “off” time would become my time, and I planned to take advantage of it. Little did I know that when I finally was “off” I’d be too exhausted to think about going out and exploring the city. Weekends were strictly for laundry and grocery shopping.

When January rolled around I realized I’d spent 6-months living in a city that I hardly knew anything about. So one of three resolutions were birthed: I was going to become a tourist.

The plan is to do one thing every week as a tourist. I live a 10-minute drive away from the Hollywood sign, but until January 9th I had never actually taken the classic tourist shot in front of it. Now I have.

Of course, I have an advantage to acting like a tourist - I’m a local. Any guide book will tell you that you can see the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Observatory. But only locals know that if you drive up Lake Hollywood you’re eventually standing right under it. (Noted: You do have to ignore the sign at Lake Hollywood & Barham - “No Access to Hollywood Sign.” - Ha! Whatever).

I think I’m grateful that I waited ‘til I felt more like a local to be a tourist - as long as I can get over being ridiculed by other locals for my cheesy facebook pics. And once the tourist stuff starts to get old (I’m already over visiting Hollywood Blvd - right now it’s just annoying that it’s the Fresh n Easy closest to me) I have another trick up my sleeve.

When I lived in London I fell in love with The City Walk cards, and for my last birthday The Boy got me City Walk: Los Angeles . There’s 50 cards that take you through walks all across the city - stopping you at sometimes unnoticeable but always interesting landmarks. It’s a nice transition from tourist to local - even for those of us that are just a little bit of both.