California is one of those places that so so many people dream of visiting; whether it is the bright lights of Hollywood or eying up the surfers on Malibu beach. You just have to visit it in your lifetime, especially if you live in New York like me, and flying over there isn't as big of a stretch. And for this reason, my family and I decided to take a little road trip along the west coast -- LA to San Francisco.
Despite Los Angeles being the "City of Angels" and what not, we didn't want to stay directly under all the lights and glamour. We stayed in Santa Monica, which was a lot quieter than downtown LA, which meant it had a lot of character to it, whilst also having the famous pier to take some touristy snaps. Santa Monica had a really nice relaxing feel to it, which greatly contrasted what I felt was the almost fabricated glamour of Hollywood. We then drove along the coast to Santa Barbara, which was another lovely little spot.
Lastly, we went to San Francisco. Surprisingly, this was probably my favourite part of the trip. There's just something about San Fran that feels so real and genuine, and lots of parts definitely reminded me of Europe. There's also still some hippy vibes signifying the city's past, notably Haight-Ashbury, which again I would highly recommend.
California overall was a blue lovers dream. Although these past three years I've been converted to an East Coast girl through and through, I loved visiting this hyped up place.