The L.A. Thing...

[gabriel]

I've got my sisters coming out to visit, they've never been to California before in their lives. They've never been out of the east coast, so yeah. Anyway, they want to visit L.A. and do the tourist thing, they want to do the Walk of fame and whatever other lame things there are to see in L.A. I'm not the type of person to be a tourist, I'm more a traveler. So, do you gents/gals have any tips on what to do, what not to do, where to go where not to go?


We're planning on going Friday morning and I've got nothing as far as where to go and show them.

Thanks!

[cal911gal]

Depends on your budget!

If you are not looking to spend a ton of money - the walk of fame is good, go by Grommans Chinese Theater for the hand/foot prints, cruise by Capitol Records, take em somewhere to get a good pic of the Hollywood sign, cruise by some studios, go get in line for Price is Right tix, go cruise Hollywood Blvd, visit Fredericks, get a Tommys Burger, check out the freaks, etc. Santa Monica pier....go up Hwy 1 to Malibu! Zuma beach, eat at Neptunes Net. LA Natural Musuem, La Brea Tarpits, Watts Towers - there's just a ton of stuff to see. IF they want to rub elbows with money, go cruise Beverly Hills and walk Rodeo. LA Zoo, the observatory, Dodger Stadium.

If you have time, go to Universal Studios or even drive down to Disneyland. Because, come on, Disneyland IS California :)

Gah, I'm getting homesick. Eek.

Whatever you do - HAVE FUN!

[SB 405]

A walk along Venice Beach is always an adventure.(Just be out of Dodge by nightfall) You could do the walk of fame thing in the morning then drive Sunset Blvd. along "the strip" through Beverly Hills to PCH. Head south on PCH into Venice Beach. Then maybe lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey?

[CHPwannaBE]

City walk is cool. I like to go to seal beach(better than venice). Make sure you take them to In-N-Out burger!

[gabriel]

WOW! I had no idea there was so much to do and see in L.A. I'm thinking we have to leave earlier than I thought! Thanks for the suggestions, I'm making a list we can choose from, we're going to have a tough time picking what to see. Keep 'em coming!

Thanks again!

[SB 405]

You could also get tickets to see a taping of Leno or the Ellen show. Tickets are always free and out of town visitors get a kick out of it.

[DBEB03]

If you want to do something a little different- and free- check out the Getty Center (you do have to pay $10 for parking). We went a couple of weeks ago and took most of the day to see only half of the center. It has really interesting architecture, beautiful gardens and many art exhibits, plus dining.

[G-Man]

get a Tommys Burger


Don't forget In-n-Out. You can always do a walking tour of Downtown, outside of each building is artwork (or the building itself is, read: Westin Bonaventure), there's Olvera Street and Philippes, hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains, Peterson Automotive Museum, Pinks Hot Dogs:cool:, Ripley's Believe it or not, and the Hollywood Wax Museum, the Museum of Tolerance (Simon Wiesenthal center).

[CHPWife]

Depends on your budget!

, eat at Neptunes Net.

malibu fish market has better food and better view. You eat in a covered patio area up on the hill overlooking the beach. AND you can bring your own beer/wine.


City Walk at Universal is also a good place for dinner and people watching

[mjpinkie]

When I was at Costco today I saw a City Pass thing that had passes for Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Hollywood Studios and maybe one more place. The passes were maybe $225 for adults and $170ish for kids. They were good for thirteen days so it isn't like there is a time restriction on the things.

[alexfarrington]

G-man beat me by forty five minutes on the In & Out suggestion...

If they're from the East Coast and have never had REAL Mexican food, there're a lot of amazing places for great tacos -- I'm real partial to a little joint at La Brea and Regent (major crosses are Manchester and Florence) in Inglewood called Los Ponchos... It's right across from Inglewood PD headquarters, and has amazing food. It's also only a few minutes from LAX, which is convenient. (I'd also recommend it to any of you on here that are working out of the West LA office -- Fast, friendly, and you can't beat the prices, and it's right down the street from the jail)

There are some great museums down in Exposition Park, by USC and The Coliseum. Inexpensive, with some great exhibits.

In addition to the Jay Leno & Ellen suggestions, there are still a few sitcoms that film in front of a studio audience, as well as game shows like Deal Or No Deal.

Or you can always stop by Walmart and grab a couple of lawn chairs, then get a prime spot on one of the many overpasses to watch the inevitable police pursuit. :rolleyes:

[CHPwannaBE]

Have you thought about either a private helicopter tour or hanging out with Paris Hilton?

[aball]

Start at City Walk, take the subway to Hollywood/Highland see the walk of fame and what not, jump back on the subway and head to grand central in downtown, wander around olvera street/china town a bit and don't forget In-n-Out. There's one around the corner from City Walk, also you could hit up Bob's Big Boy in Burbank/Glendale, always fun.

[Mac]

I don't have many recommendations for LA (other than avoid it if at all possible! :razz:), so I'll stick to food:

Another +1 for In 'N' Out Burger AND Tommy Burger -both "California classic" burger joints.

For real Mexican food, it's gotta be King Taco - their locations are listed here: http://www.kingtaco.com/locations.html

Okay, I guess Olvera Street is a cool thing to see too. Chinatown is also interesting. Speaking of which, that puts me back on food again....there's a great Chinese restaurant called "Won Kok" (yes, that's really the name!), located at the corner of Alpine St. and New High St., right at the entrance to Chinatown.....some of the best Chinese food I've ever had anywhere. Prices are very reasonable and they're open until 0300.

[gabriel]

Or you can always stop by Walmart and grab a couple of lawn chairs, then get a prime spot on one of the many overpasses to watch the inevitable police pursuit. :rolleyes:

lol the best suggestion yet!

Have you thought about either a private helicopter tour or hanging out with Paris Hilton?

Never even crossed my mind. But no, thats not happening.

Thanks all for the suggestions, I'll have to pick the best out of all of them because we'll really only have one day :sad: - I've only been to L.A. for work, it doesn't really attract me. Only reason I'm going now is because my sisters want to and they're pretty persuasive.

Anyway Thanks again I really appreciate it.

[LoveMyChippy]

If you will be around the UCLA area (Westwood), I recommend stopping by Diddy Riese. You get to make an ice cream sandwich with 2 HUGE cookies for $1.50....always worth it if you are close by!

http://www.diddyriese.com/home.php

[alexfarrington]

If you will be around the UCLA area (Westwood), I recommend stopping by Diddy Riese. You get to make an ice cream sandwich with 2 HUGE cookies for $1.50....always worth it if you are close by!

http://www.diddyriese.com/home.php

Good call on Diddy Riese -- That was always my favorite thing about taking trauma patients from Inglewood to UCLA...

[x MAIT]

Disneyland

The Chicken Dinner Restaurant at Knotts Berry Farm (you do not need to go into the park to have it) and parking is free for the first 3 hours.

Take Vermont north from the 101 freeway. It leads to the Griffith Park Observatory and a great view of LA and the Hollywood sign.

Drive to the south end of the 710 to see the Queen Mary and Long Beach

King Taco at 3rd and Ford in ELA

Hollywood

In-N-Out

[BT]

A trip to Catalina is always cool. As was suggest earlier, Getty museum kicks ass too. Also the LA arboretum?

[Tom]

The Fr&*^in' Catalina Wine mixer.........

[dw]

If you go to Catalina, do it right with Island Express (http://www.islandexpress.com/flights.php).

[Eagl5]

Take em to south central, or watts:lol:

[CTC III-05]

The Fr&*^in' Catalina Wine mixer.........


Hahaha....I was not even expecting that. Classic.:lol:

[G-Man]

If you go to Catalina, do it right with Island Express (http://www.islandexpress.com/flights.php).

I prefer Catalina Express, much more cost effective!

[G-Man]

Good call on Diddy Riese -- That was always my favorite thing about taking trauma patients from Inglewood to UCLA...

McCormicks or Emergency?

[G-Man]

If you will be around the UCLA area (Westwood), I recommend stopping by Diddy Riese. You get to make an ice cream sandwich with 2 HUGE cookies for $1.50....always worth it if you are close by!

http://www.diddyriese.com/home.php

It used to be a dollar, when did that change? Sign of the times I guess.

[alexfarrington]

McCormicks or Emergency?

Good call, sir -- Emergency. I worked Inglewood from September 12, 2001 to March 21st (or maybe the 22nd?), 2003.

[LoveMyChippy]

It used to be a dollar, when did that change? Sign of the times I guess.

Has to have been within the past few years. The last time I was there in '04 it was still a buck.

[G-Man]

Good call, sir -- Emergency. I worked Inglewood from September 12, 2001 to March 21st (or maybe the 22nd?), 2003.

:biggrin: I was with McCorkmick until Sept. 05, The guys from Emergency who were hired by McCormick (2004ish, when MC got the Inglewood portion of the County contract) brought the Diddy Reese tradition with them.

[Motor City Cop]

The Fr&*^in' Catalina Wine mixer.........
and make a "Boats and Hoes" music video. :lol:

[SB 405]

So Gabriel what did you guys end up doing?

[gabriel]

So Gabriel what did you guys end up doing?

Sorry about the delay, as soon as they left I knew I had to come on and thank you all for your input, but its been a crazy month, Oh man, there just wasn't enough time. We stopped by Tommy Burger upon arrival to the L.A. area, had a nice lunch. Then we moved onto sight seeing, took nice pictures of the hollywood sign and went down by the Kodak Theater which was kinda closed down and crowded due to the Oscars.

After a couple of hours of sight seeing we moved to Diddy Reese and got my wife hooked on their specialties (thanks to those who suggested it!!! I'm gonna have to get a second job now) We were gonna head down to the La Brea tar pits but it was closed and we wanted to hit the road before it got crazy.

I want to thank you all for all of your input, this thread will definitely be useful for when they come back to visit because seriously they were here 4 days which was not a good amount of time to see the good stuff. I did take them to Seaworld a local Nature Center, sight seeing down here in San Diego and they had a blast.

Thanks again!