My first time in L.A. was an accident
"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has freedom"
- Malcolm X
Although I was born and raised in California, for 25 years I had never visited Los Angeles. Living in the Bay Area I felt like I had everything I needed and never had any desire to travel to Southern California. During my recent trip to The Big Island, Hawaii my girlfriend and I had an hour layover in Los Angeles. It had been 3 years since I last visited California and my cravings for In-N-Out were through the roof! Originally I thought there was one inside LAX, but man was I wrong. I refused to not use this small window to get some In-N-Out. So throughout our flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, we kept going back and forth if we could actually make it back to the airport, clear security and board the plane within the hour. The passengers around us overheard us plotting and became excited for our challenge. I told my girlfriend AS SOON as the seatbelt light goes off we have to run down the aisle to the front before passengers ahead of us stand up to retrieve their luggage up above. We were in row 20 and made it to row 5 or so before people stood up so that saved us 10-15 minutes.
Once off the plane we ran all the way from the gate to catch a taxi outside the airport. In-N-Out was only a mile driving distance away from LAX, maybe even less. Unfortunately, the taxi driver said the minimum fare was $20 something but we didn't have time to debate it. I gave him the money and we were on our way to eat! As soon as we ordered, I requested an Uber back to LAX so they would already be waiting on us once we got the food. I ate one of my three double doubles an drank my milkshake on the ride back to the airport. It was time to run again. Luckily Delta has their own security checkpoint at LAX. Once through that, we had about 15 minutes until departure. It took 5 minutes for us to reach the gate running. We made it to the gate with 10 minutes remaining and didn't see anyone at the service desk. A lady came over and told us we could not board the plane because the gate was already closed. After we talked to a customer service rep for a while, he decided the only option was to get us on the next flight to Kona in 24 hours free of charge. Meanwhile our plane continues to sit at the ramp for some time. I sat down in disbelief, took a shot of Jack Daniel's and swallowed up two more burgers. Later realizing that 24 hours to explore Los Angeles for the first time is not a bad deal. Off to find a rental!
I got a rental from Sixt (great & cheap company) then drove to the Santa Monica Pier. My driver's license was lost and my girlfriend accused the rental company of not returning it to me. It was overlooked somewhere inside the car. The next problem was finding a decent inexpensive hotel for the night. I didn't want to spend $200-$300 for a hotel before we even made it to Hawaii. I decided to go cheap and purchase a $60 room. We just needed to rest for 5-7hrs. We tossed and turned all night long. At one point, my girlfriend wanted to leave in the middle of night because she kept thinking someone was going to break in and rob us OR WORSE! I was able to calm her down and convince her that everything would be OK. In the morning we took bird baths and I had to put the same clothes back on because I forgot our luggage got shipped to Hawaii already. She was smart to purchase an outfit from Ross the previous night. I went to Walmart and bought an outfit to get me through the day. Our flight departed at 5:00pm so we had plenty of time to kill. We drove around for a while sightseeing and taking photos. We ate breakfast at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles and toured Venice Beach. After Venice it was time to return the rental car to Sixt and head to the airport. Of course again, I wanted to stop and get some food, but this time from Round Table Pizza and take it aboard the plane with me. The gps told me where to go, but I accidentally missed the exit. Losing track of time, missing the exit was the best thing. I realized we were already by LAX and wouldn't have time to get the pizza. Returning the car took longer than anticipated. We arrived again at the airport with only 45 minutes till departure this time. In the middle of Friday rush hour traffic, we ditched the shuttle and ran to the check in desk. My girlfriend was mad because she had to abruptly change into running shoes on the shuttle. Security ended up letting us skip everyone so we wouldn't miss our flight. This time, we made it to the plane in time to board and we were off to the Big Island! Another close call!! I do not regret leaving the airport for In-N-Out. It made for some AMAZING memories and experiences!
