No? Is it SD? ;)

No green letters, I have to agree with you on this. It is different.

Frankly I don't get it either... I was born here... have literally driven PCH from Mexico to Canada.

Santa Monica and north is nice... however IMHO Huntington Beach and south is just as nice.

YMMV

Hey, you will be near the airport... just grab a cheap flight to Las Vegas!

No, and I work for the mouse. You'll spend all day waiting for a few rides.

If you're going to be in Irvine, I'd stay south in the OC. Newport, Laguna, Fashion Island. Enjoy the beach scene in December.

If I still owned my 986S and it was down there, I would totally have let you borrow it.


Since you're at LAX and you're limited on time, just head down to Manhattan Beach and walk The Strand. It's gorgeous, lots of stuff to look at, great food and bar scene, and the view doesn't cost anything. And no sitting in traffic.

There is nothing like the freak show that is Venice Beach

Don't forget In-n-Out Burger! Get a Double-Double!

I have only been there once, what my wife and I enjoyed most was the drive though LA and Hollywood and the Griffith Observatory at night.
Steve

--- animal style!

G

I would most DEFINITELY recommend you go to C&C. It will be over at 8 am and you have plenty of time for a nice drive to anywhere in L.A. I would recommend a trip up the coast, late BF in Malibu and then off to Mul HWY and the Rock store.

Here my C&C experience earlier this summer:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/692449-irvine-cars-coffee-questions-anyone-going.html

G

Stay in the OC, or spend your time sitting in traffic. You apparently only have one day. I'd stay in Irvine and points south like laguna.

He said they are going to the LA Auto Show on Friday - that means downtown. You want to drive from downtown to Irvine on a Friday afternoon?

Just the thought of that saddens me.

Doug, If you get out of the Auto show by 1 or 2pm, the beach cities are still doable. Be prepare to spend an hour on the road going to the beach, if that's where you want to go.

If you're going downtown to Santa Monica, it isn't a bad drive - it is counter-commute and straight out the 10. Half hour tops. Heading south is another story.

Also, a drive up PCH on Saturday shouldn't be bad as we're talking early Dec. It should be beautiful, but traffic shouldn't be bad at all.

Soouth of Huntington is very nice. Remember Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo were like that back in the days when we were kids. Just not as rich.

Also, the drive along Palos Verdes peninsula is rather scenic (south of Redondo).

It sound like the best and traffic idea so far.

Honestly, the crowd kills me. I don't like to wait at some of these restaurants, but that the way it goes around here. The drive up PCH to Venture is nice and there are very nice places to eat up there. Peace and quiet, enjoy the ocean and do a little shopping and eating downtown Venture. Take the long haul back down to Irvine after hours like 8 or 9pm without traffic. It will be a good hour and forty five minutes.

You want to stay in LA Friday night and drive out to Irvine / C&C in the Sat. am.

G

Driving from Ventura to Irvine is one long ass freeway haul. Like 100 miles one-way. Not my idea of fun. Driving around L.A. can be fun if you know where to go and have a plan. Trying to see disparate things hundreds of miles apart is a recipe for a bad time, IMO.

I would concentrate on one good area or two and stay put. Years ago, I used to try to take visitors on some grand tour and it was just exhausting for everyone. Hang out in Santa Monica, drive up to Zuma and into the canyons a little. That's as good as anything you're goi g to see. Go to the Getty, which is in the same general area. Tour UCLA for an hour or two and grab a bite in Westwood. There are so many competing nice areas in SoCal that the dumbest thing you can do is drive all over Timbuktu trying to see them all for 5 minutes. IMO, of course.

you are absolutely correct, but people come to LA and they want to see everything. Sometimes they must drive back to their hotels.