{"id":11529,"date":"2026-09-25T07:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T07:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/?p=11529"},"modified":"2026-09-25T07:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T07:25:29","slug":"los-angeles-2026-wrap-up-and-stray-observations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/misc\/los-angeles-2026-wrap-up-and-stray-observations\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles 2026 wrap-up and stray observations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mrericsir\/55538117160\/in\/dateposted\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/55538117160_caf7d04601_4k-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11530\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/55538117160_caf7d04601_4k-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/55538117160_caf7d04601_4k-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/55538117160_caf7d04601_4k-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/55538117160_caf7d04601_4k-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/55538117160_caf7d04601_4k-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Taco trucks lining the streets of DTLA at night<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I never planned to become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mrericsir.com\/blog\/misc\/los-angeles-2025-wrap-up-and-stray-observations\/\" title=\"\">a regular in Los Angeles,<\/a> but here we are. This visit started out as a work trip to Long Beach, followed by a few carefully planned days off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My goal with this vacation was to have new experiences, and I think that worked out: if you told me six months ago that I&#8217;d be flying an airplane over SoCal, I would have thought you were crazy &#8212; yet it was the highlight of the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even the best laid plans can fall apart. I&#8217;d planned on trying a tasting menu at the chef&#8217;s table in an upscale new restaurant as part of an Airbnb Experience. The chef was ill and it was called off.  No big deal though &#8212; I always maintain a list of backup plans as a contingency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some other thoughts and observations in no particular order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Long Beach reminds me a lot of Oakland: lots of working class blue-collar types, a big shipping industry, and a lot of places that aren&#8217;t really walkable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On that note, despite several Metro Rail extensions, Angeleno as a whole still have a huge problem with their car addiction. If the city is going to pull off the Olympics sustainably, the only viable option at this late stage is to go all-in on bus rapid transit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staying in DTLA is pretty easy for me these days since I know how to find my way around, and some good food spots. Guisados is my go-to place for tacos with fresh, handmade tortillas. That&#8217;s the secret that elevates a typical taco into a great one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I hired a professional photographer to get some shots of myself in LA at night &#8212; the photographer turned out to be from the Bay Area too. Small world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I went on a tour of Union Station with the LA Conservancy that was sort of a mixed bag. Part of the building was closed for maintenance, and the guide could have been a lot more mindful about directing us around all the noise and skin-searing sunlight. Still, it was cool to see parts of the station I&#8217;d never seen before, and learn about parts I&#8217;d walked right past before &#8212; like the prop ticket counters from <em>Blade Runner.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I was sworn to secrecy on some aspects of this one: I booked a ticket to a &#8220;tea speakeasy.&#8221; It&#8217;s a relaxing spot where the proprietor serves as much tea as you&#8217;d like for a flat fee, there&#8217;s live music, and plenty of opportunities to socialize with strangers over board games and art projects. Doesn&#8217;t get much more LA than that.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>LAX&#8217;s new &#8220;people mover&#8221; tram still isn&#8217;t open just yet. A vision of LAX that&#8217;s not clogged with traffic is almost impossible to imagine, but hope may be here soon, as they were testing it out while I was there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a pro-tip for getting around LA, try relying on Uber and Lyft only for the last mile if you can; the LA Metro (buses, light rail, and subway) is dirt cheap at $1.75 so the savings are real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oh, and I still haven&#8217;t made it to that alien church. Maybe next time &#8212; Los Angeles has the strangest ways of drawing you back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I never planned to become a regular in Los Angeles, but here we are. This visit started out as a work trip to Long Beach, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","slim_seo":{"title":"Los Angeles 2026 wrap-up and stray observations - MrEricSir.com","description":"I never planned to visit Los Angeles so often, it just kind of worked out this way. 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