A month or so ago (for the first time in a while) I decided to leave Vegas and bring in the New Year somewhere else. The first place I thought of was my second home, San Diego, CA. Before I made my way to SD, I decided that I wanted to make a stop in none other than Los Angeles. I had wanted to hike the Hollywood Sign all year and I hadn’t been to LA as an adult for non-sorority related things…ever. I messaged two of my line sisters and told them I was coming and I already had an itinerary in mind. I flew into LAX Friday night, my LS Adriana picked me up (bless her heart), and we went back to her house in Ventura County where we rested until the next day. Our Saturday was going to be full of activities. Here is what I recommend to make the most of a day trip to LA: a hike (or other physical acitivity), brunch, a nap, and a night out in downtown LA.

The first thing on my list of things to do was to take a picture in front of AND hike The Hollywood Sign. Stretch before you start your hike so you don’t pull your groin like I did. Finding the picture I wanted actually took much longer than any of us anticipated, only because I had forgotten the instructions of a Youtube video I watched telling me how to get the perfect picture. Luckily we weren’t too far off and we were able to make it to the actual location. The pictures came out super cute!

After we took these pictures, we kept going on the hike. However, we made wrong turn and came to a dead end. It worked out those because this is where I got my favorite set of pictures from the hike. After convincing my LSs not to abandon the hike for brunch, we finally made it in the right direction of the hike. Make sure you stretch afterwards to prevent injury.

After the hike, we checked into our hotel and made our way to brunch. After I did my research for Bottomless Mimosas for 40 mins the night before, I decided to have the girls and I check out Eat This Cafe. Our wait was very short and we were in the restaurant within 10 mins of getting there. (Pro Tip: go on Yelp and utilize their “wait in line” feature.)

The cafe was much smaller than I imagined but I liked it that way. Sometimes it’s better to have a more intimate setting when you know you’re going to be boozin’ it up with bottomless mimosas and catching up on our lives for the last few months. After we were seated, we looked over the menu and I couldn’t decide what to eat. At brunch, I usually order eggs benedict (my favorite) but I also had a sweet tooth so I compromised. I ordered crab cake eggs benedict and a mini cinnamon roll (really much of a compromise haha) and BOTH were delicious. I also appreciated that our waitress kept refilling our glasses with mimosas. I would definitely come back to Eat This Cafe and try some of their other items! Brunch came to an end and we went to the liquor store to grab some stuff to pregame before we were to go out later that night.

After a much needed nap back at our room, we woke up, showered, and got ready. My best friend Alex drove from Vegas and met us there. She brought us food so that we wouldn’t drink on an empty stomach before going out. Once we were dressed to the nines, fed, and tipsy, we ordered our lyft and headed out. Our next destination was The Continental Club.

I loved The Continental Club! I’m not sure if there was a theme night or what but the DJ was playing late 90s, early 2000s (my favorite type of music at a bar or club). There was an event of some sort so it was really crowded but once I went to the bathroom and collected myself, I got used to it. The drinks were made really well and like I said, the music was great. I’d love to go back another day and see if I feel the same way. I may have drunk a little bit too much because the next morning I had one of the worst hangovers of my mid-20s. Thankfully Alex drove to LA and she just had me in the backseat of her car as we made our way sunny San Diego.

Overall, I enjoyed my day trip to LA. While I do prefer longer trips for the most part, I believe my day trip to LA was perfect. The only thing I wish I could have added was another brunch for the road but being sick the next morning made that impossible. I do want to go back for a longer period of time but I have other cities I’d like to see before I do that.

What’s your favorite city to take a day trip to and what do you like to do there? Leave a comment and let me know!