Being An LA Tourist (or A Fun Saturday Night Out)

One of the reasons I missed the Festival Of Books was because I had plans on Saturday night.

I had dinner plans with some friends to celebrate a birthday. We had dinner reservations at Loteria Grill. I had never been there before, but I checked out them menu online and it looked quite yummy! And the location that we were going to was in Santa Monica, so it wasn’t too far for me to go (and there are parking structures all around that area so parking isn’t too horrible). It was actually located super close to my old day job, so I’m surprised that I had never been there before.

I ended up being the first one getting there (I knew that was going to happen), so I pursued the menu while waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. After everyone else arrived (and doing some table moving), it was time to order and have fun.

I didn’t take any pictures of the food, but I had a burrito and it was delicious! It wasn’t a crazy sized burrito (like so many places serve) so I ate it all and it was perfect! We had also ordered chips and guacamole for the table. The guacamole was really good, but the serving size was a little small so that was disappointing.

After dinner, we decided to walk around Santa Monica for a bit. I love how they have the twinkle lights on the trees at 3rd Street Promenade up all year round! It makes it look festive all the time.

3rd Street

We then decided to walk down to the pier. It’s not too long of a walk and I was happy to add more steps to my steps for the day. The pier was pretty crowded and there were a lot of street performers there. But it’s still fun to get to be out by the ocean.

Santa Monica Pier

We thought about going on to the ferris wheel (I’ve never done it and have always wanted to), but the line for tickets was crazy long and the ride would have cost $8. So we settled on watching it light up over the water instead.

Santa Monica Ferris Wheel

We headed back before it got too late. The crowds were a bit overwhelming and it was starting to get a bit cold. I actually had forgotten my jacket at home so while we were at dinner I went across the way to Old Navy to buy a new hoodie (which will now live in my car as an emergency hoodie).

I don’t do a ton of touristy things in LA. It’s usually very crowded, there are people trying to sell you things or get you to pay them for something, and many touristy things aren’t that interesting to me. But the pier is something that I still love and am willing to play tourist for.

Comments are closed.