California dreaming

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• Location: Los Angeles
• Holiday Type: City break

• by: jxsherlock
• on: Wed 23 May 2012

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Last year I decided to take a bit of a road trip to the West Coast. Despite suffering from vertigo, I went to the Grand Canyon, stood at the top of the Stratosphere Tower and drove Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Having put myself through all of that I had booked an idiosyncratic B 'n' B in Long Beach which was at sea level! The Turret House hotel was really quirky and was a real antitode to the massive hotels of Las Vegas and the motel chains that I had stayed in elsewhere. I couldn't have picked a better venue. My hosts were wonderful and couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful. At the end of a trip like this, it was an oasis.

The morning breakfast at a large table with all the other guests made it really feel like a home from home, especially as the fruit was just picked from the trees in the garden. By the end of the stay I felt like I had an extended family.

Long Beach itself has everything you would expect, including some fabulous restaurants, without the congestion and hyper activity of the rest of the city. I abandoned the car in favour of public transport and walking. (I never will make a true LA resident because of this I know). This gave me a taste of the West Coast that i was not expecting. It made for a truly civilised end to my holiday and one I hope to repeat again and again.

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