Walking in LA

Lauren, my cross country internet spirit animal, does an annual trek down the length of Manhattan and I've been wanting to imitate her forever. You discover different parts of a city while walking, even if you're taking the same streets you use everyday. LA might not be the most walkable city, but I'm constantly arguing that it's not nearly as bad as most people seem to think.

There was a Ciclavia event scheduled for Sunday and we decided to take advantage of it and walk the entire length of Wilshire Blvd. We started at Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica, where I was so excited to get going that I neglected to get out the real camera. We treked solo to Fairfax (9.5 miles) where the street shut down began and then continued with the mass of cyclists, pedestrians and skateboarders on the 6.5 mile stretch to where Wilshire dead ends directly into the One Wilshire building (also not pictured. I should be fired from this blog.).

{ciclavia}

{wilshire closed!}

{oasis theater}

{palm shadows}

{westlake theater}

{stand and deliver}

{the 110}

I thought we'd stop for lunch at Fairfax but the food trucks were mobbed and we opted for ice cream instead (side note - they were out of birthday cake flavor, which is obviously the best choice, but I made the best of it and tested out the new circus animal cookie flavor). Powering through ended up being a good decision. It would have been tough to get started again after a break.

It was great to get a chance to check out all the interesting buildings and murals that we normally speed right past. Our legs and feet were pretty dead by the end, but it wasn't anything that happy hour at the Border Grill couldn't cure.

I'm not sure we'll manage to make it an annual event but I definitely feel victorious.