melissa
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by melissa on Jul 29, 2014 23:59:58 GMT
So, what would you do?
I pick up dd in Irvine on Friday and we fly home from LAX on Sunday. We already have a hotel reservation in LA, not far from the airport and I do have a car.
Last year, we flew home on Saturday and she complained that she felt like she didn't see much of SoCal. She was there for 3 weeks on a college campus and had 2 trips- one to a beach (I think Balboa) and one to Disneyland. We suspect those will repeat again (and no, they are not allowed to go to California Adventure).
I nixed the idea of California Adventure for a day as we won't have time to see anything else. I know she would like to see the Hollywood sign and ideally get a photo with it in the background (obviously at a distance!). I thought we would also hit Graumann's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I have not been there in many years, but I don't think that will take all that long. Was thinking we should plan something else as well... maybe Venice Beach? The observatory? Getty Museum?
What say the peas? What should we do? This is my 17 yr old world traveler who likes to see something of every place she visits to get the flavor of the place. LA is sooo spread out. And remember we really just have that Saturday and nothing else, so it all must be condensed.
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Post by ntsf on Jul 30, 2014 0:14:55 GMT
I would go to getty museum...mind blowing.
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Post by colleen on Jul 30, 2014 0:15:37 GMT
I love the Getty. Westwood (the area around UCLA) is fun, and Manhattan Beach is very close to LAX and a cool little community. My relatives from Minnesota also seem to enjoy the Beverly Center, but I have no real idea why, it's a big mall.
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Post by snappinsami on Jul 30, 2014 0:20:31 GMT
A third vote for the Getty, although LACMA is pretty awesome too.  |
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Post by papersilly on Jul 30, 2014 0:21:27 GMT
Near LAX: Manhattan Beach/Hermosa Beach areas
West Los Angeles: Getty Museum, Sony Studios
Fairfax District: The Grove L.A./Farmers Market
Downtown: LA Live/Staples Center
Long Beach: Aquarium of the Pacific/Pine Street
Valley (too hot): Universal Studios/City Walk, Warner Bros Studios, Disney Studios
Google or Trip Advisor them to see what might interest you. Keep in mind the traffic. Have fun!
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Post by underwatermama on Jul 30, 2014 0:27:36 GMT
Well...if you want to do a tour, we did this one earlier this month. We saw a lot of stuff, considering it was only 5.5 hours (and an hour of that was for lunch at the Farmers Market/The Grove. Starline tourYou could also add on a movie star's homes tour after. Plus they'll pick you up from many of the local hotels (we were staying further out so we drove ourselves to Graumann's (sp?). I didn't book the home tour because to me, it didn't sound like much fun but both my teenage boys seemed disappointed that we weren't doing it (we didn't have time anyway as we needed to be somewhere for dinner that night). If you have any questions about it, I'd be happy to try & answer them. Be warned though, their website is not the best. |
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Post by stefdesign on Jul 30, 2014 0:28:23 GMT
The Getty isn't far from Santa Monica... you could go to the 3rd St. Promenade, the pier, maybe Venice. See the canals, not the boardwalk. Much more interesting!
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quiltz
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Jun 29, 2014 16:13:28 GMT
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Post by quiltz on Jul 30, 2014 0:32:47 GMT
Starting at Irvine, you could go to Laguna Beach, Cie la Vie Restaurant is wonderful and very close to the main city park/beach.
Head up the PCH to Huntington Beach and walk on the pier.
Take the PCH all the way to Long Beach and enjoy the wonderful view.
Saturday, you could do Santa Monica and/or Venice Beach. Hollywood & Highland and the Grove.
Have fun. I miss LA
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melissa
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,912
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Post by melissa on Jul 30, 2014 1:03:10 GMT
I was planning to drive up PCH to Long Beach on Friday, just to show her where we used to live and because it's an area I know... or knew! LOL. When I looking up places to see in LA, there were places that did not exist in the early 1990s like that cool Disney building (theater?) and obviously some things like the Spruce Goose that are long gone!
We are definitely going to skip Disney even though she wants to see CA Adventure, as well as any other theme park type place. We're going to WDW in September and she gets a day in Disneyland with her ballet friends before I get there.
So many choices!
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Post by miss_lizzie on Jul 30, 2014 1:38:50 GMT
I'm a Disney nut, so I'd suggest Disneyland or Disney California Adventure. (Not much help, I know.) the other suggestions sound great!
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Post by ahiller on Jul 30, 2014 2:04:13 GMT
For a great picture of the Hollywood sign, go behind the shopping mall/center near the Kodak Theater, across from the Capitan Theatre and soda shop. There is an area on the 3rd floor (?) in the back where you'll be able to get a great picture of it.
We did LA in 2 days and Disney in 1 - you can actually see a lot if you are hustling! For our first day, we landed, drove to the hotel and spent the day at Santa Monica beach and the pier (we were staying on Ocean Blvd). Our kids were pretty jet lagged so it was an early night but we did hit the 3rd Street Promenade, which I would skip if I were you.
Second day was Disney and 3rd day was a condensed sightseeing tour of our own making - we did a walk down to Venice Beach, drove through Mulholland Drive down into Beverly Hills and did Rodeo Drive. From there we did the Walk of Fame, stopped for ice cream at the soda shop and then did the pictures with the Hollywood sign. Then on to the airport to see family in Vegas. Mind you, we did this all with a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old.
Is your daughter into the trendy/celebrity thing at all? If so, you might want to go into West Hollywood and head to Robertson Blvd./Melrose Blvd., have lunch at The Ivy or someplace else trendy. You could easily get to Rodeo Drive from there if you want to see that.
Last, I had found a tour company called Glitterati Tours that gets rave reviews on TripAdvisor. We didn't use them but thought it sounded fun!
I guess everything really depends on what sorts of things your daughter is interested in. Whenever I am planning a trip, I make a list and then head to Google maps. I print out a map and then use to site to plug in the addresses of everywhere I want to go. It helps me to see which items are near each other so I can roughly plan out our days accordingly.
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Post by hennybutton on Jul 30, 2014 3:19:17 GMT
Starting at Irvine, you could go to Laguna Beach, Cie la Vie Restaurant is wonderful and very close to the main city park/beach. Head up the PCH to Huntington Beach and walk on the pier. Take the PCH all the way to Long Beach and enjoy the wonderful view. Saturday, you could do Santa Monica and/or Venice Beach. Hollywood & Highland and the Grove. Have fun. I miss LA If it's this weekend, skip the Huntington Beach pier. The US Open surfing contest is going on now. It will be very crowded, plus parking will be impossible. |
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melissa
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Post by melissa on Jul 30, 2014 3:56:41 GMT
She's there in a 3 week ballet program, so it's not til mid-August that I'll be out there and we will have our whirlwind day! If only she remembered our last family visit. We stayed in Laguna Niguel, hit both Disney parks, went to Long Beach to check on our properties (now all sold), and went down to San Diego to the zoo... but that was 15 yrs ago when she was 2. It's not like I don't have photos to prove it, but I guess that's not enough. She's a serious ballet student who doesn't watch a ton of TV, so I don't know about the celebrity stuff aside from Hollywood itself. I'll keep checking back in case there are more ideas. <3 the (refu)peas |
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bandjmom
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Jun 25, 2014 23:28:19 GMT
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Post by bandjmom on Jul 31, 2014 1:51:45 GMT
I'm also working on a plan for a one-day, whirlwind L.A. experience for mid-Aug., Melissa. Oldest ds will be wrapping up his internship and youngest ds and I are flying out to drive home with him.
He may be able to work until noon the last two days, so I'd need a two, half-day plan for three, or a one-day plan for two. Trying to minimize time spent driving, since we'll be spending 32 hours driving over the next two and a half days!
Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
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oaksong
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Jun 27, 2014 6:24:29 GMT
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Post by oaksong on Jul 31, 2014 3:18:58 GMT
Personally, my favorite museum in LA is the original Getty, now the Getty Villa in Malibu. They've done a beautiful renovation. It's a replica of a villa in Herculenem, and only houses antiquities. All of the paintings, manuscripts and decorative arts were moved to the new Getty on Sunset, which is certainly worth a visit if you prefer those collections instead. The grounds are spectacular.
A nice day trip would be breakfast in Venice Beach, midday at the Getty or Getty Villa, then a quick "tourist" visit to Hollywood Blvd. and Graumans Chinese Theater. There is a wonderful Japanese restaurant, Yamashiro's, above Hollywood Blvd. where you can dine and enjoy the city lights. Hopefully the traffic won't be too terrible since you'll be there on a Saturday. Enjoy your visit!
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Post by jenn on Jul 31, 2014 4:37:33 GMT
She's there in a 3 week ballet program, so it's not til mid-August that I'll be out there and we will have our whirlwind day! If only she remembered our last family visit. We stayed in Laguna Niguel, hit both Disney parks, went to Long Beach to check on our properties (now all sold), and went down to San Diego to the zoo... but that was 15 yrs ago when she was 2. It's not like I don't have photos to prove it, but I guess that's not enough. She's a serious ballet student who doesn't watch a ton of TV, so I don't know about the celebrity stuff aside from Hollywood itself. I'll keep checking back in case there are more ideas. <3 the (refu)peas My cousin did that ballet program a number of years ago...it is amazing. She is going to be very tired and very sore when it's over, so be mindful of too much walking around. I might head down to Crystal Cove and have dinner at the Beach Comber on Friday or walk around the Spectrum in Irvine, it's south of UCI and the airport, but it's fun shopping, eating, and people watching. Getty would be amazing! Hollywood is kind of dirty but the center where the Kodak Theater is is really nice. Have fun! |
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melissa
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Posts: 3,912
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Post by melissa on Jul 31, 2014 20:00:53 GMT
Cool! This is her second year doing the program. It is the culmination for her of 8 weeks of full time dancing. She did 5 weeks at Ballet Austin followed by these 3 weeks at ABT's program at UCI. She's pretty used to this pace.
Thanks for the suggestion of the Spectrum in Irvine. I may go there myself on Thursday night and meet up with friends.
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