Los Angeles Advice

[highlander]

I will have one free day in Los Angeles on Jan. 2, that's a Sunday. Any advice on what to see and do, would be greatly appreciated. I'll have a car, so no problem there. I know I want to see Mann's Chinese Theater and would like to go to the Griffith Park Observatory. Other than that I don't know much about LA other than the place's Lucy, Ethel and Fred visited. One last thought anyone been to Pink's Hot Dogs? Are they really that good?

 

[David Panian]

You could go to Pasadena and check out the Rose Parade floats:

http://www.tournamentofroses.com/the-rose-parade/events/detail/post-parade-a-showcase-of-floats2

Taking a drive up the PCH (CA-1) through Malibu is definitely a good idea. You could go to Venice Beach and get your feet wet in the Pacific Ocean.

 

[highlander]

You could go to Pasadena and check out the Rose Parade floats:

http://www.tournamentofroses.com/the-rose-parade/events/detail/post-parade-a-showcase-of-floats2

Taking a drive up the PCH (CA-1) through Malibu is definitely a good idea. You could go to Venice Beach and get your feet wet in the Pacific Ocean.

I'm going to to the Parade on Jan. 1. But that was a good idea. Going to Malibu sounds good. I bet I could find some place to eat there. I might try Pink's on New Years Eve. That could be interesting.

 

[SoCalDude]

When you're done with the Hollywood sightseeing, you might consider taking Sunset Blvd. from there all the way to the beach. You'll be driving through Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Westwood and Pacific Palisades (Riviera Country Club is on your left). When Sunset reaches Pacific Coast Highway, you're at Gladstone's. Not the greatest restaurant, but certainly the most famous. Turn right onto PCH and a few miles up the coast is Moonshadows, great restaurant. But if Mel Gibson is there, beware.
If you want to hit Santa Monica on the way back, 3rd St. Promenade is the bomb. If you like Fish & Chips, go to Ye Olde Kings Head. It's on Santa Monica Blvd between Ocean and 2nd St., an easy walk from the Promenade.

 

[highlander]

When you're done with the Hollywood sightseeing, you might consider taking Sunset Blvd. from there all the way to the beach. You'll be driving through Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Westwood and Pacific Palisades (Riviera Country Club is on your left). When Sunset reaches Pacific Coast Highway, you're at Gladstone's. Not the greatest restaurant, but certainly the most famous. Turn right onto PCH and a few miles up the coast is Moonshadows, great restaurant. But if Mel Gibson is there, beware.
If you want to hit Santa Monica on the way back, 3rd St. Promenade is the bomb. If you like Fish & Chips, go to Ye Olde Kings Head. It's on Santa Monica Blvd between Ocean and 2nd St., an easy walk from the Promenade.

Thanks man. I am going to print all this stuff up and take it with me. So is Pink's worth a late night trip? I heard it is worth to trip just to go there and people watch.

 

[Birdscribe]

When you're done with the Hollywood sightseeing, you might consider taking Sunset Blvd. from there all the way to the beach. You'll be driving through Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Westwood and Pacific Palisades (Riviera Country Club is on your left). When Sunset reaches Pacific Coast Highway, you're at Gladstone's. Not the greatest restaurant, but certainly the most famous. Turn right onto PCH and a few miles up the coast is Moonshadows, great restaurant. But if Mel Gibson is there, beware.
If you want to hit Santa Monica on the way back, 3rd St. Promenade is the bomb. If you like Fish & Chips, go to Ye Olde Kings Head. It's on Santa Monica Blvd between Ocean and 2nd St., an easy walk from the Promenade.

Thanks man. I am going to print all this stuff up and take it with me. So is Pink's worth a late night trip? I heard it is worth to trip just to go there and people watch.

SoCalDude's Sunset Blvd. idea is a good one. Start in Hollywood and go west; it will take you past a lot of the famous clubs like the Rainbow Room, the Comedy Store and others.

As for Pink's and people watching... OK. But if you want better late-night food and the chance to see some other LA nocturnal denizens, hit Cantor's Deli on Fairfax. You'll get some interesting folks with a Bohemian flair who were probably just prowling Melrose (another destination, but that's another story).

 

[Screwball]

Pink's is not all that. Good people watching, not-so-good hot dogs. Lines can be very long. If you don't want to risk eating up (no pun intended) an hour or more of your day waiting in line, you might want to pass.

If you want another LA landmark that serves you better food, more quickly, here are two:

http://www.originaltommys.com/tommys_location_losangeles.php
(LA's legendary burger shack)

http://www.philippes.com/
(Home of the French dip sandwich)

If you're driving up Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu -- a great idea -- here's a good and cheap place to eat:

http://www.reelinnmalibu.com/

 

[Shaggy]

Rosco's Chicken and Waffles is great late-night eating.

Otherwise, I'd head to the coast; Santa Monica Pier, Muscle Beach in Venice, perhaps.

I love Malibu, too. Drive to the top of Pepperdine's campus if it's a clear day. It's quite a sight.

 

[Football_Bat]

The PCH is great and so's driving over Kanan (as the song goes).

My best advice: Stay off the 405.

 

[highlander]

Rosco's Chicken and Waffles is great late-night eating.

I was at a Winter Solistice party, I know that wasn't today but we had to hold it on a weekend, and the topis of Chicken and Waffles came up. I think we are going to try and hit that place for sure.

We really have nothing to do on New Year's Eve, so we will see what we can do that night.

 

[maberger]

second the reel inn; for the love of all that's holy avoid gladstone's.

consider venice beach instead of SM, especially 3rd street; see the freak show on the strand -- or what's left of it since they all have to buy permits now -- and walk up and down the strand and adjacent walk streets to see an example of Cali beach living. you might also want to give nearby abbot kinney a stroll -- neat little street with shops, restos, and hipper vibe.

you don;t say where you're staying or leaving from. maybe we can give you some suggestions based on that.

 

[SoCalScribe]

Don't waste your time on Pink's. If you want to wait in line, and watch other occasionally interesting people wait in line with you, find a Best Buy anywhere in America on Thanksgiving night.

The further you get from downtown the better the beaches are, if that's your thing, but you probably don't want to blow your only day off just to go to a "better" beach. Santa Monica beach is really not bad and there's a ton of solid dining/bars/etc. easily within walking distance. Freeway access is also proximate, but do avoid the 405 if at all possible.

The Rose Parade floats are wonderful both before and after the parade. If you do choose to go to see the actual parade, it's easier to get parking/access if you go closer toward the end of the parade route, e.g. over toward Sierra Madre. You can get in and out of there in a hurry. Although last time it rained on the Rose Parade, I was over that way and it was kind of depressing to see hundreds of shivering, shivering, shivering drum majors, baton twirlers, etc., with torn-up feet striding past chilled to the bone and just fairly miserable.

Again, knowing your location will make a HUGE difference in the recommendations everyone gives you.

 

[highlander]

I'm staying at the Crowne Plaza Casino in Commerce. But with the rental car almost anything is in reach. As far as the wierd people stuff like Venice Beach, I'm not that interested in that stuff. Just not my thing. I'd much rather see the tourist places that everyone goes like Mann's Chinese Theater and junk like that.

 

[MileHigh]

Agree with the sentiments about PCH up to Malibu and Sunset Boulevard.

Love Cantors. Pinks, eh.

 

[Football_Bat]

I'm staying at the Crowne Plaza Casino in Commerce. But with the rental car almost anything is in reach. As far as the wierd people stuff like Venice Beach, I'm not that interested in that stuff. Just not my thing. I'd much rather see the tourist places that everyone goes like Mann's Chinese Theater and junk like that.

Be forewarned, if you go to get your picture made with SpongeBob or Pocahontas or whateverthehell character is parading out front of the theater, be prepared to shell out. They expect to be paid.

 

[highlander]

I'm staying at the Crowne Plaza Casino in Commerce. But with the rental car almost anything is in reach. As far as the wierd people stuff like Venice Beach, I'm not that interested in that stuff. Just not my thing. I'd much rather see the tourist places that everyone goes like Mann's Chinese Theater and junk like that.

Be forewarned, if you go to get your picture made with SpongeBob or Pocahontas or whateverthehell character is parading out front of the theater, be prepared to shell out. They expect to be paid.

I already have a photo of with SpongeBob from a trip to Vegas.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Yeah, PCH is very cool. I'd also drive Mulholland. Lots of cool views of the Hollywood Bowl, the LA Skyline, Studio City and the Hollywood sign.

Pink's is just OK, though if you get there before 11 a.m., the line is not that long.

 

[Buck]

If you've got one free day, you should pick an area to explore.
Rental car or not, if you try to do Griffith, Hollywood and Malibu in a day, you'll spend more time traveling from place to place than you will enjoy any given place.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Dear Highlander: The beaches in LA are not like the beaches in, say, Delaware or North Carolina. On my first visit to the city in 1970, a drive along PCH in Malibu allowed me to gawk at Wilt Chamberlain playing volleyball with a bunch of beautiful women, followed shortly by a team of skywriting planes spelling out "See Mick Jagger in "Performance." (Yeah, they did the quotation marks).
If you haven't been to the beach, you haven't been to LA. That's one outsiders' opinion, anyway.

 

[SoCalScribe]

One thing that might help you, highlander, is to go to your local library and check out a Fodor's guide (or whatever guide) to Los Angeles. I recently checked one out for a trip I took to a city I wasn't familiar with, and they had everything broken down by different parts of town and it really saved me a couple times where I ended up somewhere I didn't expect to end up and therefore didn't know where to eat, etc. Also, you can flip through and see what else might interest you that is proximate.