One Day in LA, What Should We Do?
 

Our "corporate office" is in Irvine, and I'm finally going to get visit for a couple of days. Since Julie has never been to SoCal (and I've only been briefly on business), I'm taking her with and we're staying the weekend as a mini-vacation. We're flying into LAX on Wednesday, Dec 5th and I'm working from the Irvine office on the 6th. I design trade show booths (among other things...think "three dimensional branding"), so we're going to the LA Auto Show on Friday the 7th. Saturday morning I'm hoping to go to Cars & Coffee back in Irvine (we're staying in Irvine these three nights). But after that...???

We're thinking back to LA where we'll stay the night and fly out Sunday mid-morning. So if we only have a Saturday afternoon / evening to "see LA", what should we do?

Should we skip C&C Saturday morning and just stay in LA Friday night as well?

Frankly, as busy as we'll be, if we just go relax on / by a beach, that might be enough. But I thought I'd chime in here to see if anybody has any suggestions. Let us know your thoughts!

SmileWavy

Sounds like you'll spend a lot of time sitting in your car ;)

Depending on when you get into LAX, the commute south to Irvine will take awhile. If you're going to the LA Auto Show on Fri and want to get back to Irvine, you should either leave the auto show at 2pm and head south or plan on staying around LA and driving back to Irvine later Friday night.

If the weather is nice you could head to the beach Fri late afternoon/evening (perhaps Santa Monica for dinner, walk on the pier, etc). LA is a massive place so you can't see it in a day - or even a week. Just depends on what you like to do and want to see. I think that driving up PCH from Santa Monica to Malibu is something worth doing. So maybe think of staying in Santa Monica Fri/Sat night. Easy to get to LAX Sun morning, and a decent spot to work from on Saturday. One reason to be in LA is the food, so you can plan around that. Amazing ethnic places are all over the city and you could tour based only on that. Chinese in Monterey Park, Thai in Thaitown, Korean in K-town, Japanese most anywhere, CA cuisine most anywhere, etc.

C&C starts clearing out by 8:30am. I was there the Sat. before last. You can go very early and still get to LA with the whole ahead of you. Depends what you want to see. I'm a metalhead and guitar nut, so hanging out at the Rainbow and checking out the stores on Sunset is something I always do there. It's a big place with horrendous traffic. So don't try to fit everything into one day.

If you are already in Irvine, Laguna beach is good for kicking back, Fashion Island is good for people watching and shopping, rich folk walk their fancy dogs there, they may be putting up the gigantic Christmas tree already...

Shop Fashion Island

Being a native I personaly discourage people from doing much driving.. all due respect to Sir Todd I wouldn't send my worst enemy on a drive from Irvine to Santa Monica.

As I said nothing wrong with Laguna beach... then there is Balboa island... go to Alamitos bay and rent a electric boat... go south to Encinitas (cool little surfer town from the 50's-60's) great food and shopping, nice beach to kick back on for that matter.

I'm with Todd on this one. Skip C&C, drive to Santa Monica Friday after the Auto Show and get a room. Enjoy a nice breakfast at a beach cafe, go to 3rd St Promenade, heck you can even take Wilshire to the Museum District (Petersen Auto, LACMA, etc). Enjoy the LA local flavor, not the gridlock.

I go from LAX to Irvine a few days a week. During non peak hours it isn't a bad drive. It's about an hour trip. During peak hours - forget it. It'll be 1 1/2 to 2 hours just between Irvine and LAX. Want to go farther north? Bring food...

Weekends are less bad. You really need to figure on some destination though to make the plan appropriately because LA touristy things are spread out all over the area, good restaurants are everywhere. If you just want to spend some time on the Westside and Santa Monica that will be cool. You can hit Griffith Park from the auto show and it is good and has a great view of the area and the Hollywood sign and then you can head west from there and have dinner in Santa Monica. Finally, finish up with a nice walk on the beach before sundown either before or after dinner (unless you don't like homeless folks then maybe hit a different beach city).

+1 on this too - the Petersen museum is cool but if you are really interested in cars you might consider heading north to the Nethercutt. The Nethercutt Collection

There is also the Rodeo drive thing which is cool for the ladies...

Scott, I wasn't advocating driving to/from Irvine - hence my suggestion of staying in Santa Monica :D

Depending on your budget, plenty of places to stay on/near the beach in Santa Monica. You can walk down to the Fig Tree Cafe in Venice. Get the puffed pancakes. You're welcome. Plus you get to see Venice in all (or at least some) of its glory.

Figtree's Cafe | Home

Seems like the biggest question is whether to stay in LA or Irivine Friday night. I'd like to experience C&C, but I'm thinking maybe that's for another day...

Good suggestions all...keep 'em coming!

Last time I went to C&C I left by 8:30am and took PCH1 up through the beach towns to Fashion Island for shopping to Santa Monica for a very late lunch. It was great, and the traffic wasn't bad. Just a leisurely pace enjoying the coast.

Cars & Coffee can be worth it alone

Wander the LA farmers market for breakfast

..anybody want to loan us their Porsche for the weekend? :D :p

Sure! Just forward me the money to get it registered and repaired... I'll fill the tank before you get here!

I am with the crowd about not going back to Irvine because its a good hour. Plenty to do up here (you are already up here) in the beach cities. Have breakfast (You can still wear shorts and t-shirts, it should not be that cold) by the ocean and hang out. Go see the Getty, or rent a car and see our local mountains if you are not into beaches. From Santa Monica northward is really pretty on PCH, but go early it can become a traffic nightmare by lunch time on weekends.

Doug, what are you thinking or would like to see beside cars stuff?

I don't have a dog in this fight, love Santa Monica, Venice, Malibu, etc.

Just don't know why this BBS is so pro north west L.A.

IMHO Huntington Beach, Balboa, Newport Beach, Laguna is just as nice/entertaining as Santa Monica and it's environs...

YMMV

Disneyland!

Problem solved :p

Orange County is not LA.

No, it is better

Sorry, channeling Sammy ;)

LA is vast and everything can be found here... Art, music, history, world cuisine, sports, automotive, beach, mountains, twisty roads, shopping, culture, counter-culture... the sky is the limit.

For my money, an early drive up Mulholland to The Rock Store for breakfast, easy drive through the hills of Malibu down to PCH, south to the Santa Monica Pier, and on to the quirky Venice Boardwalk in the afternoon when it is in full bloom would give you a nice taste of LA without suffering too much traffic snarl. If you do get stuck in a jam on PCH, it is certain to be more interesting and colorful than the 405 Fwy.

The Rock Store
Santa Monica Pier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Venice Beach, California - VeniceBeach.com

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.