LA Trip Report, May 4-7

Los Angeles Trip Report, May 4-7

I had a business trip in the LA-area and decided to add a few days on for vacationing. My boyfriend flew out the evening of the 3rd to join me. We stayed at the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel – my review is posted there. Thanks to the forum folks for recommending it. Everything worked out well.

I have to say upfront that LA isn’t for me. It’s too big, too many people, too many cars, too much concrete. That’s not to say we didn’t have a nice time, we just aren’t in a hurry to go back.

On Thursday, we toured the Warner Bros. studios and saw a taping of the Tonight Show. We drove through Griffith Park, which I foolishly pictured as being like Balboa Park in San Diego without all the museums. It’s more like an afterthought of green space – if we make it big enough, they will come. On our way to dinner Thursday, Hollywood Blvd. was blocked off – turned out to be for the premier of MI 3. We hung out for a while, never saw Tom Cruise, but my boyfriend insisted I take a picture of a guy at the will-call table. Turned out to be Miguel Ferrer (imdb.com/name/…photogallery-granitz-0) who I still don’t recognize.

We had dinner at Musso and Frank, which was recommended by Frommer%26#39;s. The atmosphere and food were great – old Hollywood style. I laughed at myself through the entire meal, though – who would have thought in LA, with all the great restaurants and cuisines, that I would be eating liver and onions! It just seemed like the right thing to get there. And I was right! Restaurant was more expensive than I expected.

On Friday, we stopped at the Farmer’s Market, then drove to the La Brea Tar Pits. Headed to Venice Beach and Santa Monica, where we had lunch at Border Grill. In the evening we went to the Getty Museum, which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We barely scratched the surface of the museum, but I loved the gardens and could have spent hours there.

For Saturday, we drove through all the “major” LA neighborhoods – Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, Malibu. Stopped on Rodeo Drive just to say we’ve been there and ate in Malibu at Gladstone’s. Frommer’s was dead on about that place: fried, touristy food and tons of it. Oh, well, the views were great. My boyfriend wanted to drive on Mulholland Drive, so we did that. A little death-defying at times, but the views make it worth it.

We had checked out Grauman’s earlier in the day, which was another highlight for me. It was so different from what I pictured. We decided to see the movie in the original theater, which was An American Haunting. Lame movie, but it was worth it to see the inside of the theater. It’s incredible.

Spent our last night at the Westin LAX. We did this because the Hollywood Celebrity Hotel was sold out Saturday, but it ended up being a good thing. I would definitely recommend staying at LAX the night before flying out – it just makes things easier.

We didn’t have a hard time getting around LA. In fact, the only time we got lost was when we asked the security guard at WB how to walk to NBC and he gave us bad directions. Like I said, we had a nice little vacation, but personally, we’ll take San Diego over LA any day!

LA Trip Report, May 4-7

Hi Graciecc. NIce trip report. I used to live up in the LA area, originally from Midwest, and am much happier in San Diego. It%26#39;s like a Midwestern city on the coast - home town feel about it - big but doesn%26#39;t feel big. I did enjoy a lot of the sightseeing in LA, but felt like I lived my life in my car.

Just curious, how did you like Santa Monica and Venice? I always enjoy Santa Monica - love the rides on the pier and how wide the beach is. Venice was always entertaining, but I haven%26#39;t been there in years. I like Manahattan, Redondo, and walking around Long Beach and the aquarium there too. Pasadena/San Marino are nice as well. The mountains/skiing are better up there too. I think you would like taking a drive up to Santa Barbara and suurounding wine country if you find yourself there again. If not, we welcome you back to SD your next visit!

LA Trip Report, May 4-7

Gladstones ; ( you should have went 10 mins north into malibu proper %26amp; went to moonshadows .... why is it always %26#39;gladstones malibu%26#39; when it%26#39;s in palisades? did they ever have a malibu location years ago?

Thanks for giving us this trip report. I agree with you that LA is not for everyone. And I also think most tourists only explore the West side and never see some of the hidden gems that LA has to offer since it is so big. I%26#39;ve been all over the world, lived for a while in the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest for my internships, and for me I%26#39;ll take LA anyday and probably will never move out! The diversity of people, the mountains, the desert and the ocean and there%26#39;s always so many things to do and new things to explore.

zam1,

Yeah, I always thought Gladstones was more in the Palisades area than Malibu. Dukes, Moonshadows and Geoffrey%26#39;s is more in the Malibu area. Further down PCH 1 is one of my favorite stretch where you get more and more coastal views, after passing by that biker diner joint.

I guess %26#39;Gladstones Palisades%26#39; doesn%26#39;t have the same ring to it ... it%26#39;s situated at sunset so last time i checked that wasn%26#39;t malibu! ... you%26#39;re right about the coastal views .... I%26#39;m in L.A most days %26amp; love driving along PCH when it%26#39;s sunny with the roof down - it never gets boring, though you can%26#39;t really take in the views ... not the safest road around %26amp; b/c everyone drives at freeway speeds it%26#39;s a bit crazy ...

Tiki - we aren%26#39;t ';beach'; people, so Venice and Santa Monica didn%26#39;t excite us too much. I did keep commenting about how large the beach area is at both locations, though - I%26#39;ve never seen beaches that wide before! If we had more time, we probably would have explored some of the smaller beach areas.

As for Gladstones, it was mostly an issue of convenience, plus I had read about it in Frommer%26#39;s and here on the forum. I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;d go back, though.

LA has too many people because of the amount of people moving here for jobs. It was ranked #1 in the country of where it%26#39;s easiest to find a job due to the large amount of companies located here.

But if you ever do decide to come back, you might want to go beyond Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Santa Monica. Try Pasadena and San Marino. There%26#39;s the Huntington Library and Gardens-which will have the largest Chinese garden outside of China in a few years, the Gamble House, Old Town Pasadena, and a variety of museums here. A lot of the homes in Pasadena are the craftsman home styles. Pasadena,Sierra Madre,La Canada are all beautiful with their tree ilned streets and beautiful homes up the hills. Pasadena is also home to the showcase house which this organization is the oldest and largest in the country.

For a less touristy feel, you might want to go to one of the South Bay Beaches. Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach are smaller but has more of a local feel. The Palos Verdes community and Peninsula is beautiful! Catalina Island is relaxing as well, no cars are allowed here. If you just want all natue, then go to the Channel Islands. The list can go on and on, but just ideas that there%26#39;s other activities to do here other than information from some of the guide books.

If not, then just as Tiki already posted, enjoy San Diego!

Cali - If we return to LA, we will go off the beaten path. For a first visit though, we wanted to see the typical big tourist stuff. I%26#39;m sure there are tons of hidden gems and local favorites. With all those people, it can%26#39;t be a bad place to live! (Just expensive!)