Pamela

The Pleasure of Little Field Trips

We love little field trips – the kind that allow us to step away for a short 3-hour adventure and then return to our work refreshed and invigorated.

Here is a fun one we went on a few mornings ago:  Venice Canal walk and Mendocino Farms sandwich market.

We walked through the walkways and over the bridges at the Venice Canals (immediately south of Venice Blvd. and a block east of Pacific Avenue).  It’s an entirely different world, as you can see from the photos.

Afterward, we drove close by to stop for amazing sandwiches at Mendocino Farms in the Waterside Shopping Center (4724 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey).  The Kurobuta Pork Belly Banh Mi with housemade pickled daikon and carrots, cilantro, cucumbers, jalapenos, chili ailoli on grilled ciabatta is out of this world yummy.  We returned home ready to dive back into our projects.

I’ve listed a few more of our regular little field trips below.  If you have a favorite little field trip you like to go on close to your home, let us know!

A walk on the Manhattan Beach Boardwalk with a stop at Pages, our favorite bookstore.  If we have time, we might stop in at the small aquarium at the end of the pier.

A trip to Mitsuwa Japanese market, where we pick up a few staples and then stop in at the small food court, where we order our favorite: cold soba noodles with dipping sauce, which we eat while translating short bits of whatever Japanese television program is being broadcast from the televisions on the wall.

A visit to the Getty Center to visit a gallery or two after having lunch in the main Cafeteria, where there is a wide selection including an array of farm fresh vegetables, which I love.  Also delicious oatmeal cookies and scones.

A visit to the Getty Villa, where we take our time wandering through beautiful courtyards and scented gardens.   We like to sit on the outdoor terrace with a bowl of soup or cup of tea and pretend we have travelled to Italy.

A walk through Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, with a visit to the hidden Japanese garden behind the community center and a stop at the mochi shop, for freshly made sticky rice and bean confections we’ll take home.

2 Comments

  • Sarvi

    Sounds like you might like a visit to ‘Little Osaka’ — a strip of Sawtelle Boulevard roughly between Olympic and Santa Monica. You can pick up pleasantly unsweet bottles of iced tea at Nijiya Market, the best cream puffs at Beard Papa, and browse the craft books and magazines upstairs at Asahiya bookshop. For lunch there’s Curry House’s famous chicken cutlet with rice and curry, or FuRaiBo’s equally famous grilled wings with spices, or their crispy fish. Farther up the road you’ll find the Giant Robot shop and gallery, a wonderful nursery with lots of cute succulents, and at the top of the road (not really part of the Japanese theme) is my favorite used book shop in LA, alias books. The owners, Patrick and Brian, have a great, carefully curated selection and fantastic prices.

    • TwointheMiddle

      This is a wonderful “Little Field Trip” idea, all accessible by foot. We love Hide Sushi, one block from Nijiya Market. And we love used bookstores!

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