First of all, let me start with an apology, Mrs. Millennial fans: I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted, and I’m sorry. This fall was chaotically busy with lots of extra time-consuming side projects for my “real job” that kept me away from blogging. The good news is that means I have numerous blog post ideas stored up in my brain, and just need to put my thoughts to the keyboard!
So, this re-committment to the blog starts right now detailing a trip we took last October to watch some dear friends get married in Pasadena, California.
As both the hubby and I previously lived in Los Angeles, we’ve spent a fair bit of time in Pasadena, and generally speaking it’s one of our favorite neighborhoods in the LA area. But coming back as a tourist to a place you once called home is always an interesting experience, and this time was no different.
We flew up on on a Friday, using Southwest points and our Southwest Companion Pass to get our flights for free (saving roughly $500), and then hopped on the LAX FlyAway bus to Union Station, instead of renting a car.
We almost always recommend skipping the rental car in Los Angeles if possible, as you encounter not only pricey rental fares and city taxes, but high parking costs at most hotels, and pricey valet-only options at most restaurants or attractions. All in all, we made use of the FlyAway bus to the Metro Gold line to get ourselves to & from Pasadena, then walked or used a Lyft the rest of our weekend, resulting in well over $200 of savings.
Once we made it to this Northern suburb, we headed to the Sheraton Pasadena, conveniently located near the city’s “Old Town” district, and checked in. This Sheraton was built in 1975, and while it’s been renovated, we could definitely see some of that “seventies sparkle” in the strange split-level layout of our standard room.
Other than the six stairs separating our bedroom area from the closet, bathroom, and room entrance, we found the room to be clean, spacious, and comfortable. Only downside was that, being on the ground level, we didn’t have a great view; instead we looked at the back of the Pasadena Convention Center. Luckily there wasn’t a convention going on while we were there, or it could have been a bit awkward having conference-goers right outside our bedroom window.
We booked this property using points, and because this stay happened just after the consolidation of the Starwood and Marriott loyalty programs, we were able to get two free nights at a new reduced rate on the property of 25,000 Marriott points per night. (Previously, the property had cost 10,000 SPG points per night, equivalent to 30,000 Marriott points night — waiting to book until the programs merged saved us 10,000 Marriott points total!)
And, if you’re keeping track, that means our flights & hotel were both free, and we skipped the rental car in favor of public transit, meaning that our only real expenses for this trip were food and entertainment! Not too shabby for an opportunity to support two old friends on their wedding day.
We decided to put those savings into a visit to one of our favorite Pasadena area attractions: the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botatnical Gardens. If you’ve never been to the Huntington Gardens, it’s definitely worth a trip; part nature center, part museum, part library, and all beautiful, it would be easy to spend half a day just admiring the many natural displays the park has to offer.
The Huntington is also well known for their afternoon tea service. If you feel like splurging on the tea, it will cost you $60 per person, and includes your choice of tea, all the traditional tea snacks of sandwiches, scones, and sweets, plus caviar canapés and a glass of sparkling rosé — plus the separate $29 cost of admission to the gardens themselves. The tea room is set near the rose garden, and many of the teas are made from roses grown nearby.
While we enjoyed the tea service, we also felt like it had lost some of its lustre over the years: the hubby, a true tea connoisseur, noted they were no longer using lace doilies, and had squeezed in numerous extra tables into the space, making the tea house feel a bit crowded.
Besides our tea & garden excursion the rest of this trip was mainly spent celebrating with old friends. And hey! We even manage to clean up pretty good sometimes:
