Our 2nd Honeymoon in Paradise – A Bad Start & a Few Hours in Los Angeles

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A Few Hours In LA

“Our 2nd Honeymoon in Paradise” Trip Report Index:

• Introduction
• Planning
• A Bad Start & a Few Hours in Los Angeles
• Air France Lounge – Los Angeles
• Air France Business Class – Los Angeles to Papeete
• Getting to Moorea
• Hilton Moorea, Panoramic Overwater Bungalow #87
• An ATV Tour in Moorea
• Whale & Dolphin Watching in Moorea
• Eating in Moorea
• Moorea to Bora Bora
• Bora Bora Airport To InterContinental Thalasso
• Emerald Overwater Bungalow #204 at the InterContinental Thalasso Bora Bora
• Jet-Skiing in Bora Bora
• A 9 Hour Bike Ride Around Bora Bora
• Eating in the InterContinental Thalasso
• InterContinental Thalasso Coral Garden Suite
• Around the InterContinental Thalasso
• Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort
• Royal Overwater Villa, Hilton Bora Bora Nui
• Dinner at Villa Mahana
• Eating in the Hilton Bora Bora
• Is Food Expensive in Bora Bora?
• A Day in Papeete
• Air Tahiti Nui and Southwest Flights Home
• Conclusion & Blog Giveaway!

Emily:  Daraius and I planned to leave for our second honeymoon to Bora Bora & Moorea in French Polynesia on Friday evening.  We planned to reach Los Angeles later that evening and go exploring the next day until our late night flight to French Polynesia on Saturday.

I left work at 4:30 (right on time), and called Daraius on my way to the airport (he drove separately) only to learn that he was in standstill traffic due to an accident.  We still had over an hour to make our flight, so I was not too worried.

Daraius:  I always have a 30 minute buffer in the drive to the airport.  So instead of budgeting 1 hours for drive, I allocate 1 hour & 30 minutes.  Except that this time I ate into that buffer by doing trivial things.  I really didn’t need to send some “last minute” emails!

It was raining and I was soon stuck in traffic.  One of the nicest things about living in Kansas is the absence of traffic – except when I’m running late to get to the airport for my 2nd honeymoon!

Emily:  Daraius called again 15 minutes later and still had not budged.  We decided to make a go for it, and meet at the airport.  I arrived almost an hour before the flight, and got a sandwich for dinner while I waited for Daraius.

Eventually he came, but…

Daraius:  The clock kept ticking and I knew that I wouldn’t make it to the airport in time to check-in our bags and dash to the gate.  So I fidgeting on my phone and tried to see if there was a later Southwest flight which we could take.  But they were all sold out.  Our only option was to fly out the next day.

I reached the airport 10 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave, parked in the expensive parking lot outside the terminal (instead of in the economy lot) and ran with our bags to the check-in counter, but it was too late to check-in and make our flight.

Emily:  We decided to rebook for the next afternoon, which was still enough time to make our flight to Papeete in Los Angeles.  I drove back to work after the airport to finish up some of my work that I planned on doing over the weekend in the airport & hotel.

Daraius:  I felt like a complete idiot for missing our flight.  I’ve never missed a flight before, and it didn’t feel very good.  I was angry for messing up Emily’s surprise.

If Emily had been late to the airport, I would have probably been upset at her.  But she was so patient and understanding with me that I felt even worse!  I’m so lucky to have her show me the right path.

The good news was that I could take my car out of the expensive parking lot and park it in the economy lot and save money!

Emily:  I made sure we left early, and there was no traffic so we made it to the gate with time to spare.  We shared a plate of BBQ at the Pork & Pickle restaurant in the airport.  Of course you can’t compare airport BBQ to Arthur Bryant’s, Jack Stack, or Oklahoma Joe‘s in Kansas City, but it was better than many other airport BBQ restaurants.

Pork & Pickle in Kansas City Airport

We then took a 3 ½ hour Southwest flight to Los Angeles where we had a 9 hour layover.

Daraius:  I rented a car with Avis to get bonus American Airline miles for $27.  For the 1st time, we got an upgrade to a minivan.  But I prefer driving smaller cars which use less gas, so I swapped the car for a Mitsubishi Galant.

Thanks for The Upgrade, But…

Emily:  First we got some last minute things we needed for our trip like water or coral shoes and toothpaste.

Shopping for Water Shoes

The city has some wonderful examples of Art Deco architecture.  I would have loved to go on an architecture tour and see the city’s gems.

We went to Sunset Boulevard and walked around and then we went to eat at a Cuban restaurant, El Floridita, after reading about it on Chowhound.

Dinner Time

We ordered empanadas and croquettes for an appetizer, and Daraius had mango juice and I had a mojito.  For our main course, we split a fried steak with rice and beans.

Empanadas & Croquettes

We really liked the croquettas and empanadas and the very garlic-y sauce.  The mojito was also very good, but the main course was just okay.

After dinner, we went to the classic Mel’s Drive-In.  It’s a 50s diner with all American food like hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes.  I got a butterscotch milkshake that was pretty good.  I think they are known more for the fun interior (complete with authentic jukeboxes) than their food.  By then it was time to go back to the airport.

Unfortunately, we did not have time for “real” sightseeing, but we will definitely be back in Los Angeles at some point!

We finally arrived at the airport 3 hours before our flight so that we could catch up on work and not have to worry about it as much on vacation.  We checked-in and then went to the Air France/KLM business lounge.

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