I’m in LA with family for the week and must do’s?
 

My daughter is attending the UCLA gymnastics camp and we are here for a week hitting Legoland and Disneyland.

I’m looking for any restaurant (family oriented like pizza) ideas please.

Went to the Santa Monica pier last night and had a fun on the rides with the kids!

Thinking about visiting TRE motorsports would that be inappropriate ? Do they sell t shirts!?

I’m sitting at Upper Crust waiting on some pizza as I type this. Open to suggestions! Thanks

things about the death hole i miss.


Angeles crest highway.
movies at the hollywood forever cemetery.
roscoe's chicken and waffles
and....that's about it.

Between the sheer size and distances involved in "LA", it's tpugh to answer your question. Traffic is not like any you have ever experienced before. Well, you've experienced it before, just not for such long and continuous distances. Not to feed your FOMO, but you missed Morning Shift at PECLA today. Where are you staying?

Peterson museum would be a place to visit.

Grew up in Santa Monica but haven't been up there in a life time.

Long Beach aquarium if you're into fish and stuff like that.
Will Roger's State Park up in the palisades.

Spending time on the freeway will be a lot of fun you won't miss depending on when/where you travel here in the southland.

There's a great pizza place in downtown area of Carlsbad, for after Legoland. Great pizza, lots of different beers, communal long picnic tables, kid-friendly. Edit: Pizza Port.

Petersen has a Porsche exhibit on right now, which tales up most of the 2nd floor. And for extra $ you can also get tickets to go down to the Vault, where there is a small Ferrari exhibit.

If you go to LB Aquarium, and only spend about half the day there because it's not that big (get there early for easy parking in the adjacent parking structure, and pay the $4 to get a cup of nectar to feed the lorikeets early, before they get full), you can either walk the neighboring pier for touristy stuff, or you can drive over to nearby San Pedro to Cabrillo Beach. There's parking there for about $1/hour (cheap) in the lot, a free mini-aquarium there (suggested donations, no real admission fee), and there are rocky tide pools there to explore with the kids.

Yeah, the Peterson has the Porsche display on now. So many places to eat; just ask a local. Well, maybe more than one. If you're jaunting all the way to Legoland, get an early start. Very early. Lots of coastal things to see. Some real swanky and some pretty down to earth south of Oceanside.

TRE is far from a showplace, but they do walk the walk. I'm sure they sell merch. But it won't be like walking into Canepa. Pelican OTOH, is a showplace but access may be severely restricted. You'd have to call.

Yes, we have the Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary. You can do better with limited time.

I wouldn't miss the CA coast if I were going down to the Dan Diego area. Laguna Beach is pretty special but tight and busy and expensive. There is good pizza there, though. Southern CA coast and some mountain communities are about the best we have to offer.

NorCal is much nicer.

Laguna Beach is a nice place to spend a day, as Milt suggested. There's a sandy beach just across the street from a nice little downtown area filled with shops, restaurants, art galleries, etc. May be a little more than an hour to get there from UCLA.

Or can go north from Santa Monica up to Malibu. See the beautiful people at Malibu Country Mart/the ice cream shop (Cafe du la Plage?) at Point Dume/ Trancas Canyon Mart, or the bikers & surfers at Neptune's Net.

Battleship Iowa. Watching the massive container ships coming in to the Port of Long Beach from the Iowa was something... I couldn't believe how large they were in person.

Dave

thanks guys good ideas! we are staying at the Kimpton Palomar on Willshire. Currently walking Rodeo Dr watching the supercar parade…wow

If the Wife says she’s going to just step into a shop and buy a handbag, be warned.

A block off Rodeo is Camden. There's a chocolatier there (And Sons). Try the Poprocks Praline and Passionfruit. Nate and Al's (a block off Rodeo in the other direction) is a great diner.

Look at Santa Barbara it's an hour or four north depending on traffic

If you're going to be at UCLA, drive a few miles up Sepulveda Blvd to the Getty Center.
It is the large, white marble complex on top of the hill.
Great art and photo exhibits all the time as well as fantastic views of LA. From the ocean to downtown.
You only pay for parking, admission is free.

This is a great idea, The Getty is spectacular.

Wow , you are right in the middle of traffic hell on Wilshire. Are you looking for car stuff or family type of things to do? Like other say, Peterson is the place for you only a few miles from you.

Not much to see at TRE but a mechanic shop but he does have lots of cars waiting to be worked on. Dave is a very cool guy to pick his brain but I am not sure if its too cool to go into someone's business and talk cars? Get a bite at the Grove. Not too far from you but I am not sure if there are too mcny family type pizza joints there. La Brea tar pits is near by. You have to tell us what you are looking to do. LA has everything but its spread out a bit if you are willing to drive. The driving part is necessary forget public transportation. Its doesn't work too well unlike other cities.

Edit:
If do decide to go to the fish tank at long beach, take the harbor cruise and have dinner on the boat, during sunset. You can book it on where all the shops are on the pier within walking distance from the fish tank.

If you want to fill your evenings, drive up to Universal City Walk, in Studio City, maybe catch a movie or just hang out and people watch, have an ice cream. You hit it at the right time so far. We are experiencing a bit of a heat wave. Its been cool at 73-75 degree for months right up to about a day or two ago.

Used to fly out on a weekend to have lunch and dinner with grandparents.

Lunch at Jerrys Famous Deli.

Breakfast by wandering the farmers market.

Dinner at Lowrey's Prime Rib or The Stinking Rose.

Petersons Museum.
LaBrea Tar Pits.

Owned by actress Cathy Moriarty, Mulberry St. Pizza has a couple of locations in Beverly Hills...one just a few blocks over from Rodeo Drive, on Cannon. The other is south of there on Beverly Dr. I know that pizza is pretty subjective, but this is some of the best I've ever had west of the Mississippi.

I'll add a vote for the LaBrea Tar Pits, The Getty, and the Farmer's Market too, where you'll find Du-Par's, which has been serving great pancakes since 1938. And nearby on West 3rd is Toast, which is another good place to get breakfast or lunch.