My Version of Disneyland

When planning a trip, I usually start by looking online at user-ratings for the top things to do and see. On our recent trip to Los Angeles, we went to the Original Farmers Market which I had discovered in some articles but didn’t see in top rankings for activities.

I’m not a huge shopper, so I don’t search for the best places to shop when researching a trip for my family. Even though The Original Farmers Market is a “favorite destination for tourists and locals” and “a beloved landmark”, it falls under shopping and restaurants in TripAdvisor.

I’m not a big shopper, but I love food. Like, really love food! I especially love unique foods and anything sweet. This place was like Disneyland for me. It’s not your typical farmers market where farmers set up booths on the weekends. These are permanent shops that are there every day of the week and some have been since the 30’s.

In a blog post that I had read, it listed five places not to miss at the Farmers Market. This wasn’t one of the most exciting things on our itinerary for my daughters (except for the fact that it’s next to The Grove, the only shopping place that we intentionally planned to go), so my plan was to quickly walk through the market, but only stop at the five places. What we all three learned really quickly was that the list didn’t even scratch the surface of what we wanted to see…or taste there.

There was Kip’s Toyland, a fantastic little toy store, Sticker Planet, a sticker shop that made me feel like a kid again and made my kids want to start collecting stickers, several pizza places, tons of fresh pastry options, shops on top of shops of fresh fruit and vegetables, butcher shops, over 30 restaurants, specialty snack places with flavored popcorn, nuts and fudge, fine jewelry, a pet store with homemade pet treats and a few stores with tacky souvenirs.

Bob’s Coffee and Donuts was the #1 place I wanted to stop and they were as delicious as I imagined. Besides donuts, we also tried kumquats for the first time (not sure why I’ve never tried them before, but they were SURPRISINGLY sour...photo proof below), had espresso/hot chocolate and ice cream waffle shots at Zia Valentina and salad and pizza at Patsy D'Amore's. Between the food, shopping and European open-air atmosphere, I told my kids that If I lived in LA, I’d be at the Farmers Market at least once a week. They think I’d get tired of it, but I have a hard time imagining that.

If you go to LA, do me a favor and visit the Original Farmers Market and tag me in your photos so I can relive it again!