Last week I went to Los Angeles with my partner. He was attending E3. While he was away during the day at the convention, I went out and found donuts, took a dance class, and was part of a studio audience for LMAD.  I spent a total of ~$613. My SO paid for the plane tickets and the AirBnB where we stayed. I rented the car and bought all the donuts! Here is the breakdown of my costs and what we did each day…

Los Angeles, California trip 6/10 – 6/14

Monday:
Picked up rental car – $193
In n Out at 11AM Double Double burgers with fries animal style
Picked up E3 badge
Parking Garage $2 N. LA
Donatsu –  Royal Dragon yeast donut $5 cash including the tip.
Lyft to City Hall to go to the observation deck which was free! $5.80 for the Lyft
AirBnB check in after 4PM less than 3 miles from E3
Drove to Santa Barbara and Cold Spring Tavern, split the bill – $65
Stopped for gas – $40 to fill the tank
Stopped at Ralph’s for snacks and waters

First day thoughts. LA traffic is crazy! Pedestrians, bikers, and drivers alike make crazy poor decisions regarding the usage of the road. People will stop in the middle of the road and put on flashers whenever they feel like it. If you want to make a left turn (most of them are unprotected left turns) you have to wait for the light to turn yellow and then at least two cars running the red light from oncoming traffic before you can make your left turn. This was the hottest day! The rental car process was the simplest I’ve ever been through and I would actually recommend Midway Car Rental (just make sure you get directions for getting to the offsite rental car site).

Tuesday:
Dropped SO off at E3
California Donuts – got a glazed, cream filled, and lemon filled. Donuts were $1 each and I gave $1 tip! Donuts were average – $4
Bath and Body Works and Staples to print my studio audience ticket – $1 printing, $8 bath bomb
4:15 – 5:25 BeSpun Int Upside Down Pole Tricks $35
Big Al’s Pizzeria – got Supreme and BBQ Chicken Large pizzas for takeaway – $48
Ate at Elysian Park and then climbed to the swing and lookout at the top of a hill
Stopped at CVS

I took a pole class at BeSpun. Unfortunately the air conditioning was broken! The class started out slow and then ramped up quickly. I loved the combo we did and we were allowed to take video at the end of class and I was able to dance the combo at this time. Neat little studio NW of Downtown.

Wednesday:
Dropped of SO at E3
Picked up half dozen special donuts from Crafted Donuts – $15 – these were meh
Picked up toilet paper, water, and peaches from Ralph’s nearby – $4.63
Worked at home
8:30 Benihana reservation $80.74
Parked across the street $3.50

Our AirBnB provided 2/3 a roll of toilet paper for our 4.5 day stay… So we had to get some more SMH. I was surprised that with our reservation at Benihana, we weren’t sat until 9:15PM. I’ve never had to wait that long with a reservation. I was ecstatic to find cheap parking across the street, especially since we were parked there for nearly 3 hours.

Thursday:
Dropped off SO at E3
Kettle Glazed Doughnuts $11.75 – decent donuts
Let’s Make a Deal showing 11AM (check in at 10:30AM), rented a cop costume – $25, you can look up the show at a later date with the date 6/13/19 and the code 11030
Picked up SO from E3
Leo’s Tacos $30 cash
Dunkin’ $16.47

LMAD was such a cool experience! I went there prepared to not be in costume and just watch but go so hyped up by the enthusiastic staff and other participants that I wanted to participate. I rented a costume (a cop because I’m a donut enthusiast) and worked really hard to be extroverted so that I would be chosen as a contestant but sadly I was not. It was super fun, regardless, and a little exhausting to smile for over two hours and be energetic for that long. I would definitely do this again if I go back to LA. I arrived around 10AM and drove off the lot around 3:45 so it was an all day event! My favorite part: if I didn’t rent a costume it would have been completely free to participate!

Friday:
AirBNB checkout 12PM
Parked at 2100 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, CA 90291 $9 for parking (the most we paid)
Muscle Beach being renovated so it wasn’t open 😦 We walked along the boardwalk
Drove to Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee (gluten-friendly, huckleberry, vanilla glazed) $10.75
Drove to CVS for last minute supplies
Drove to the airport
Picked up In n Out for SO $8.81
Midway Car Rental drop off 4:00PM

I was sad that muscle beach was being renovated but there was a slick little outdoor acrobatic gym? It had two ropes to climb, a balance beam, two rings, and some pull-up bars.

Places I still want to go:

• the Upside Down House
• The Last Bookstore
• Donut Friend
• Eaton Canyon Falls
• Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook
• SKS Donut & Croissant
• The Manufactory
• Angels Flight Railway
• Birdies Fried Chicken and Donuts