A Walk Through Downtown Los Angeles

Layovers during the pandemic haven’t been what they used to be. The life of a flight attendant can already be pretty lonely but in 2020 it’s become even lonelier. While I’ve been trying to stay in my hotel room as much as possible, it’s been nice to just walk through the cities that I layover at. Luckily it’s summer time and all that vitamin D has helped me try to stay positive through all the changes this year.

Downtown Los Angeles, or rather DTLA, is full of people watching, lots of coffee shops, and plenty of murals to gawk at. Since we usually get in late at night, we have the whole day to explore before we work the red eye back to Boston. I definitely got my steps in on this layover before my pre red eye nap!

Make sure to check out my blog post about Pandemic Travel Tips! Now without further ado, here’s my walk through downtown Los Angeles!

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First Stop – Lunch & Coffee

I always head straight for the Grand Central Market when I’m in DTLA because it’s got a little bit of everything to satisfy whatever your craving might be. I highly recommend Eggslut if you’re in the mood for a breakfast sandwich, PBJ LA if you want to feel like a kid again, or my new favorite Sticky Rice. They’ve also got a pizza, a few Mexican places, a new donut shop, and of course a coffeehouse. Check out their website to see a list of all their vendors. If you really can’t find anything here, which is doubtful, there is another smaller food hall

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While I love supporting local coffee shops, my guilty pleasure is to head right across the street to Blue Bottle and get my favorite New Orleans Iced Coffee with oat milk.

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Now for the Murals

Keep in mind that most of these murals change pretty often, so no guarantees they’re still there. Also a lot of DTLA is boarded up because of the riots.

I used THIS MAP to guide me through, however some of them were replaced with new ones & I saw some along the way that weren’t on the map yet.

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Last Stop – My Favorite Spot in LA

Before I head back to my hotel, almost every time I’m in LA, I stop at The Last Bookstore. It is one of my favorite bookstores I’ve ever been to and I never leave empty handed.

• Make sure you stop at the entrance before heading all the way inside so they can check your bag! I always have another book with me and they have to hold onto it, so they know I didn’t steal it from the shop.
• Don’t miss out on the second floor! In the back right corner there is a place you can go to sell your used books and a staircase to the next floor. Here you can overlook all the books, people watch, and there are locally owned shops to browse through. It’s like an Etsy pop-up up there!
• Just when you think you’ve seen it all – look again. This place is a maze and there are tons of cool photo opportunities too, most of which have been featured in movies & music videos.

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Hopefully you found this walk through downtown Los Angeles helpful and are able to find your own hidden gems along the way!

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