Being from Texas, I don’t get to see my family and friends from back home as much as I would like, and Spring Break is typically a time when I would take advantage of having no class and go home for a week. This year I decided to switch it up and had a few of my friends spend a week adventuring in the California sun!

With balancing work, school, and having a social life, it’s sometimes hard to fit exploring L.A. into the mix, so I figured why not explore for a week with my best friends? We started our exploration across the street by visiting the Natural History Museum, California African American Museum, and the L.A. Science Center.

In continuation of our science exploration, we decided to make out next destination the Griffith Observatory. We visited around sunset and got to see the the sky fade from day to night and see the entire city from the mountain top. Not only does the observatory have a beautiful view, but it also has some pretty cool exhibits. We got to lay back and relax in the planetarium as we watched the live show “Centered in the Universe”.

After a few days, we decided to switch it up by living the “Cali life” and hiked up to the Hollywood sign. None of us had ever hiked up the side of a mountain before, but we figured if people did this all the time, it couldn’t be that bad right? WRONG. We ended up taking the Hollyridge Trail, which started off easy enough, but as the day went on and the temperature got hotter, our bodies could feel it. But once we got to the top and saw the view, it was definitely worth the 3.5 mile round trip and 750ft. elevation gain it took to get there! Waking up the next morning, our bodies deserved a day of relaxation so we hopped on the metro and spent the day at Santa Monica.

 

These were just a few of the places we got to visit during my spring break staycation, but there are plenty more places just down the street that I plan on visiting during my time here at USC!

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