Things to do in Southern California with Kids

We spent about a week in Southern California as part of our California Family Road Trip. Today I wanted to share things to do in Southern California with kids.

San Diego

Growing up my father always told me that San Diego had the best weather of anywhere in the US. My dad didn’t like hot and humid so it makes sense that he would think San Diego has the best weather. We decided to start our family road trip in sunny San Diego. We arrived and it was sunny and breezy, not a bit of humidity, and 70 degrees. We dropped our bags in the room, put on our swimsuits and got ready to relax by the pool.

Where Did We Stay?

We booked a two night stay in San Diego. We decided to stay at the Kona Kai Resort and it was wonderful with children. There was a family friendly pool and spa and also a pool area for grown-ups only. What I loved most about the hotel, other than the amazing food and cocktails, were the views. The resort is located on the tip of Shelter Island so has amazing views of the water and marina from every room. The interiors were stunning and relaxing. You all know I love white walls mixed with wood tones so felt right at home the instant we arrived.

Isn’t this driftwood horse amazing?

The resort had so much to do with children, as well. We enjoyed lots of relaxation by the pool, but also went for a family bike ride on retro cruisers along the water, and played checkers in the hotel lobby. The boys loved the lawn games and ping pong. The hotel also offers s’mores kits to enjoy by the fire pits on the beach. The kits were a little pricey and all the fires were taken both nights so Conor was out of luck.

If you asked John, though, I think he’d tell you his absolute favorite thing about the hotel and quite possibly the whole trip was the California breakfast burrito:

It was HUGE and he ate the whole thing both mornings. California has way better Mexican food than we do in New England so it was our goal to eat as much as possible while we were away. I tried Chilaquiles for the first time and loved them. With this big breakfasts we were set for a day at the zoo (we skipped lunch most days)!

Things to See in San Diego

The San Diego Zoo

Our kids are real nature lovers, and if your kids are as well, then this is a must-do. John said out of everything we saw in California (and we saw A LOT) the San Diego Zoo and the Monterey Bay Aquarium were his favorites. I feel like we needed more time here at the zoo. We decided to do the zoo and Balboa Park on the same day and I think it’s worth doing a day at each (we just didn’t have time).

The zoo is gorgeous. I wasn’t prepared for the sheer size. The views of the zoo and San Diego from the Skyfari Animal Tram are amazing. I also loved the plantings and vegetation. Some of the plants and walkways had imprints of leaves. Our favorites were the red pandas, monkeys, flamingoes and the aviary – this historic structure was filled with beautiful birds.

Balboa Park

I’m not sure why I thought we would see Balboa Park and the zoo in one day. It really can’t be done. Balboa Park is the largest urban cultural park in the United States. Founded in 1868, this 1200 acre park has 17 museums, the zoo, walking trails, many gardens, artist, and musical events.

We all loved the Botanical Gardens. It was free to enter, as well.

The kids loved seeing the flesh eating plants.

Balboa Park was just a fun place to wander and get lost.

We actually stumbled upon a man who made kits for bubble-blowing and the kids absolutely loved this. We probably spent 35 minutes immersed in bubble land.

A few hours at Balboa Park wasn’t enough. We also heard that The Gas Lamp Quarter is fun but didn’t have a chance to go. If we go back to San Diego I’d like to check that out.

Newport Beach

You know we love the beach and couldn’t resist stopping on our way to LA. We strolled the beach for three hours and collected shells and enjoyed gelato from Newport Coffee Company.

Newport Beach is so different from our beaches here in Scituate.

For one thing, palm trees….

Gorgeous long sandy beach.

Conor ended up getting soaked, he had normal clothes on.

One thing I was surprised about was the water temperature. I don’t know why but I thought the water would be warm, like Florida, and it’s actually colder than New England. Brrrr.

The other difference is the piers. We don’t really have them here at our Massachusetts beaches.

After gelato, I pleaded with the boys to stop at Serena & Lily (affiliate link) while we were leaving. Wow! I could have spent the whole afternoon on the patio. I wish all of this could have fit in our suitcases. I was so happy to find out that they’ll be opening one in Boston in 2019! Yay!!!!!

It was time to get back in the car and drive some more. We arrived in LA just in time for rush hour 😉 Conor and I both gasped when we saw the Hollywood sign high up in the hills.

Los Angeles

I’ve always dreamed of visiting Hollywood. I’m not sure if I’ve ever shared this here on the site but when I was very little I wanted to be an actress. I’d tell everyone that one day I’d make it in Hollywood. I started doing acting workshops when I was in 3rd grade, school plays in middle and high school and I majored in Theatre Arts & English at Mount Holyoke College. It was only in my senior year that I got interested in documentaries and decided to go on to get a degree in Film & Television Production. I LOVE movies. We love going on date nights to see a film and we also love going to the movies as a family. It was so exciting to finally see where all the movie magic happens. This being our first trip to California we did ALL the touristy stuff. I knew from friends and family that parts of Hollywood and LA aren’t a glamorous as they look on film.

Where did we stay?

On recommendations from our friends we stayed at The Garland Hotel in North Hollywood. This hotel was everything and more than I thought it would be. The hotel was originally built and owned by actress Beverly Garland and stands on 7 acres of land. You feel like you’re in an oasis in the middle of the city with it’s Spanish mission style architecture, retro mid century fixtures, and relaxing spa-like pools.

The hotel was family friendly and had movies by the pool at night. I think Conor is watching Monsters, Inc in the above photo. They also had a cart that did Mexican street food so we sat here and sipped cocktails and feasted on Mexican corn, tacos, and freshly made guac and chips. The buffet brunch at The Front Yard, the hotel restaurant, was fabulous. We also saw some HGTV stars while we were at the pool. The Brady Bunch house is just around the corner and they were working on the house for an upcoming show. We saw Steve from Restored from the Fords. Thankfully, Luke didn’t freak out. He can get weird around famous people. Ha! Ha!

One other aspect I loved about the hotel was its location. It was easy to get to things but they also offered a shuttle service to Universal Studios and the Hollywood Tour left right from the entrance of the hotel.

Things to see in Los Angeles

Gosh, I feel like this post is getting very long… There’s just so much I want to share.

ABC & Disney Studios

This isn’t really open to the public but it was an amazing experience for our boys. Our friend, Brenda, is a lawyer for ABC studios and offered to give us a private tour of the studios and we went for lunch. We saw the old animation studios and Walt’s window, visited the archive room, and the gift shop. The Disney animation area is restricted, even Brenda can’t visit.

The Getty Center

I could have spent the entire day at The Getty Center. We all loved it. The gardens, architecture, and views of Los Angeles are all breathe-taking. We paid $20 to park and got a tram up to the center. The actual center is free admission.

The boys loved the Book of Beasts exhibit while I LOVED the gardens. I’ve never seen flowers grown in this way.

Look at these beautiful dahlia blooms.

I would love to go back and spend more time here.

Hollywood Tour

We decided on Saturday to book a tour to see all the sites. We booked one through the hotel and it picked us up right at our hotel’s entrance. We saw it all: The Walk of Fame, The Chinese Theatre (they were setting up for the Hobbs and Shaw premier while we were there), the Hollywood Sign, the Griffith Observatory, Rodeo Drive, many, many celebrity homes. I must add I loved seeing all the celebrity homes, which Luke thought was a bit boring…

Beverly Hills was just a beautiful as I imagined it would be. We also went to Santa Monica and Venice Beach which were slightly different than I thought they’d be.

La Dolce Vita & Rodeo Drive

Our good friend owns La Dolce Vita in Beverly Hills. This is a very special restaurant, once owned by Frank Sinatra. I need to give it a shout out as we had such a lovely evening there. Our kids LOVE Italian food so they were in HEAVEN at La Dolce Vita. We feasted on Caesar Salad, homemade meatballs and spaghetti, chicken cutlets, and Luke enjoyed the Steak Sinatra (Franks’ favorite dish on the menu). This restaurant was classic old Hollywood. Intimate inside with lovely booths and attentive waitstaff who made us all feel very special. We sat in the President’s booth which also made us feel very special.

We were so full. We didn’t even have room for dessert. We decided to walk to Rodeo Drive. I was surprised to see the stores were shut so early but I think Luke was very happy. It’s such a beautiful street to stroll at night.

Universal Studios

Our day at Universal Studios was probably the most expensive day of the entire trip BUT our kids had never been to a big theme park and they really wanted to go, especially to the Harry Potter section. Our hotel, The Garland, had a special relationship to the park so guest can enter a half hour early. Our hotel also provided a free shuttle to and from the park.

I’ve never seen Conor so excited. His friend had been so told him everything we should do. We loved the Harry Potter section and the I thought the Jurassic World was fun, although the drop really scared Conor. His favorite was Simpson’s World and we, of course, had to have Krusty Burgers for lunch.

My favorite part of Universal was the tour, seeing where they filmed Jaws and other movies and shows. I also loved the special effects show. It was a really fun day for the kids. Oh, if you bring your kids in summer, I highly recommend paying extra for Universal Express so you don’t have to wait in long lines in heat.

Well, that’s what we saw in Southern California. I know there is so much more to see. Would love to hear if you guys have been to these places and what you thought of them. Would also love to hear what we missed. Next up I’ll be sharing more about the Central Coast. We really loved it there. Oh, and if you missed it the other week you might want to see my tips for planning a family California Road Trip (part 1 in this series) click here.