Day 1: San Pedro

Wow what a first day. The morning was incredibly early because we had an 8:15 flight out of Dulles. Once we all had made it to our gate, we found out that Carlos’ flight was full and that he got a $650 travel voucher for taking a new flight!! Crazy!!! Our flight wound up getting delayed due to computer problems but we took off around 9:30am eastern time and getting into LA around 11. Once we got to baggage claim we immediately found Shana, Haley’s wonderful aunt, and went to get our bags. In some weird reverse karma, Carlos’ bag wound up being sent to the wrong baggage claim so we hung out in the airport while he sorted it out.

Around maybe 12:30 Shana drove us through LA to get back to her home in San Pedro. We went straight to this INCREDIBLE taco place called choriman tacos (menu here)- you HAVE to go if you’re ever in San Pedro. The food is so so so delicious and the owner is so kind. It’s a tiny little place that is mainly takeout. I got the The Chori-Man Quesadilla con Zacatecano Red Chorizo with soyrizo (that’s right, SOYRIZO) and boy was it delicious.

After a nap we got our things out of the car and changed to go for a walk in the glorious San Pedro weather with their dog Sketch. First of all, the weather is almost always around 79 and sunny here and is perfect. We walked around the cute, hilly neighborhood then went down to the Palos Verdes park on the cliffs above the water. Gosh, when I say the view was breathtaking I’m not kidding. It was so beautiful with all of the palm trees looking down at the rocky beach, where we walked down to to see the ocean.

Our next stop was the neighborhood corner store. This place has been around for god knows how long and has something for every age. They’ve got everything from baby toys to 6-packs of beer, turkey sandwiches to plant based ice cream. They host live music and do welcoming parties for new people in the neighborhood. It’s like something out of a movie!

After heading back to the house we decided to rest and have a snack before heading out to Brouerweij West, a super cool brewery set up in an old abandoned warehouse. The ambience was so cool, with string lights hanging across the bannisters, art hanging everywhere, and a dj playing vynals in the back. The beer was amazing- my favorite was a super hazy, light yellow IPA called picnic lightning. It was super fruity and juicy but packed a bit of a punch at 6.8% ABV. We ordered a really yummy pizza from Big Nick’s Pizza and hung out with some family friends.

We were all totally beat and wound up going home at 9pm western time (midnight eastern time) and building a giant bed out of mattresses in the house.

All in all the first day was crazy but such a blast. It was incredible way to start off the trip!

Stay curious and happy travels!