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an afternoon and evening in LA - advice please!

W

WesG

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Hi guys,

Myself and a friend are heading to NAB. We're flying Melbourne, Australia arriving in LA Saturday morning 9th April. We then plan to drive to LasVEgas for NAB the next morning (Sunday).

So for you LA locals and LA regulars, any tips on how best to enjoy a day and evening in LA.
What's a must? What's fun? What's an adventure?
Also where should we stay for the Saturday night?
Probably hire a car (maybe a mustang) from the airport so will have wheels.

Would be awesome to hear your thoughts and advice. :beer:

thanks in advance
wes
 
Well.... there's everything from a quiet night on the beach to crazy clubbing in the LGBT bars in WeHo. Sort of depends on what you're in the mood for. :)

Definitely stay on the Westside close to the beach. A couple of not very well-known, but inexpensive hotels within seconds of the beach:

www.seashoremotel.com
www.baysidehotel.com

For my day, I'd recommend:

DAY: Beach. Go down to Venice Beach and hang with the freaks, then either go up the coast a bit to Malibu or down the coast to the Redondo Pier and eat at Captain Kidd's (captainkidds.com). Most of the stuff there is fresh off a boat, and they steam crabs while you wait. Few things in life better than fresh crab with drawn butter and lemon. Then, afternoon on either Robertson or the Sunset Strip wandering around and checking out the beautiful people.

Also - I know a couple of "secret" overlooks that have the best views of the city bar none. If you want scenery, contact me off-list and I'll hook you up. ;)

NIGHT: I'm a family guy. A night out for me is a good dinner, kids in bed by 8:30, and me in bed watching a movie with my wife by 10PM. So I'm probably the wrong guy to ask. : ) My opinion of restaurants is that if you're from a major metropolitan area anywhere in the world, fine dining is kind of boring. I'd go for the local food, which in LA's case would be either taco trucks, or some of the Mexican restaurants that can do a good Molcajete...

Lucas


Lucas Wilson
--------------
VP of Carne Asada
3ality Digital
 
Nice one Lucas,

YEah Venice BEach is a great idea. Gotta check it out.

Night time we'll prob be won't be up for anything too massive, save that for Vegas! Having said that this is a break for me from my normal home family routine - which is kids in bed at 7pm, movie, bed by 10! ha ha

Thanks for the tips.
 
GTFO of LA and go spend a night at Joshua Tree on your way. ;)
 
Go to Venice Beach and get yourself a Korean BBQ taco. Go to Santa Monica and visit the pier and people watch at the 3rd Street Promenade. Take a stroll down cheesy but fun Hollywood Blvd and visit the Museum of Death. Go to the Valley and visit Film Tools in Burbank and get an amazing spicy tuna bowl for just $5 at Ramen Jinya in Studio City. Have fun!

Oh, and if you're up for it, hiking in Griffith Park is a great way to see the city. Griffith Observatory is there too and it's free.
 
I stayed at the Seashore Motel when I went to the Red Day about a year ago, on Lucas's recommendation. I loved it--it's a perfectly preserved 1950s beach motel in a very cool area.
 
Tom Lowe said:
GTFO of LA and go spend a night at Joshua Tree on your way. ;)
Click to expand...

^ This. Maybe out of LAX dash down to the beach--but you have beaches in Australia. A beach is a beach, nothing really of note IMO to see in LA. Get out of town and see something worth the trip.
 
Lucas Wilson said:
Well.... there's everything from a quiet night on the beach to crazy clubbing in the LGBT bars in WeHo. Sort of depends on what you're in the mood for. :)

Definitely stay on the Westside close to the beach. A couple of not very well-known, but inexpensive hotels within seconds of the beach:

www.seashoremotel.com
www.baysidehotel.com
Click to expand...

I can TOTALLY recommend the Seashore Motel - stayed there when I was over for AFM, great motel, great location.

Also - Main Street Santa Monica where it is situated was definitely the highlight of LA for me, near the beach, nice scenery, cool shops, cool bars and restaurants - and World Cafe a pretty pricey restaurant but some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten!

It's worth being aware that everything in LA is ages away from everything else, so if you are there for a short time you aren't going to be able to get around to see much, but Santa Monica is both pleasant and has Santa Monica pier if you are looking for a bit of a tourist type experience as well, so it's a good place to stay and not too far from the airport.
 
The Encounter

The Encounter

A lot of people miss the Encounter restaurant right there at LAX. Eat a nice light lunch, have a drink and do a toast to the week unfolding in front of you.

Personally I love to go there when I fly in or pick people up, it's a great way to start the week and get in the mindset.

Casual cool. Right in the center in a building all it's own, and huge flying saucer ship windows all the way around.


Can't believe people miss it, but I've known people that have lived in a LA for years, flown into LAX, and never known it was there (I'm always like, "How can you miss it, it looks like a big flying saucer landing in the middle of LAX").


http://www.encounterlax.com/
 
thanks for the tips guys

Seashore Motel looks like a classic.

Joshua Tree would be great but I'd want more time and I'm keen for a big dose of LA it all it's glory and horror.
Might have to include a cruise through Beverly Hills and Hollywood just because. We see so much of these places from a distance.

thanks
wes
 
If you like burgers IN N OUT if you dont like it ill pay for it.

If your in Hollywood find UMAMI Burger.

I like to eat.
BIGLU.
Enjoy
 
Tom Lowe said:
GTFO of LA and go spend a night at Joshua Tree on your way. ;)
Click to expand...

Except then you have to figure out the JTree to Vegas drive

Not for the faint of heart, unless you double back to Barstow

But I also recommend making a beeline out of LA, without local knowledge of LA traffic patterns, you're doomed

Even with it you're doomed hahaha
 
Vladimir Cassel said:
Avoid driving down Santa Monica Blvd. in the Beverly Hills area and Highland Ave in the Hollywood area or you'll waste your whole day in traffic. And that's the horror part of L.A.
Click to expand...

No... that is the zen part!

You can stress out... or you can buy a convertible, ride with the top down while blasting your favorite tunes and enjoy the beautiful people while soaking up them increasingly less-filtered UVs. Gotta learn to go with it.

And to avoid that awful stretch of Santa Monica Blvd if you're in a hurry. : )

Ride with me one day when you're in a hurry to get from the Westside to the Valley. Cabbies got NOTHING on me in my city, man. : )

Lucas


Lucas Wilson
--------------
VP of Shortcuts and SIG Alerts.
3ality Digital
 
just quickly jam a couple seasons of Entourage down ur throat and ul be set :)
 
Lucas Wilson said:
No... that is the zen part!

You can stress out... or you can buy a convertible, ride with the top down while blasting your favorite tunes and enjoy the beautiful people while soaking up them increasingly less-filtered UVs. Gotta learn to go with it.

And to avoid that awful stretch of Santa Monica Blvd if you're in a hurry. : )

Ride with me one day when you're in a hurry to get from the Westside to the Valley. Cabbies got NOTHING on me in my city, man. : )

Lucas


Lucas Wilson
--------------
VP of Shortcuts and SIG Alerts.
3ality Digital
Click to expand...

Ha, let's do it! I spent last Friday--my birthday--going to all the major camera stores in the L.A. area just to check out their inventory. The drive back from Bel Air Camera to the 101 ate up an unfortunate chunk of that day. Bel Air Camera was OK, but probably not worth the hassle. I was blown away by Samy's, though.
 
Brunch at the Fig tree in Venice, check in at the Thompson BH, dinner at sushi Roku in Hollywood, breakfast at Urth in Beverly blvd.
The scene in a reasonable budget.
Then hit the 15.
 
Besides the previous recommendations (Venice is a unique walking spot in car-centric LA) -- but another walking area is downtown (yes, Los Angeles does actually have a kind of miniature city "center" (kinda, sorta) that is very compact and is in an interesting state of transition -- a melange of high and low, hard-scrabble and elegant and overblown and crass (like the city itself).

A few highlights that can be walked or 25 cent Dash bused to are Disney Hall, Central Library (with Getty gallery & Rotunda & a work in its own right) Grand Central Market (via Angel's flight funicular & the Water Court ), Bradbury Building (2nd & Broadway & of movie frame) -- and a walk down Broadway past the heyday 20s movie palaces to Clifton's Cafeteria (8th & Broadway) -- all can be done in a pleasant hour or two on foot.

And on Bunker Hill, overlooking downtown, the LA Studios -- where several Red gatherings have been held.
 
rod bradley said:
Besides the previous recommendations (Venice is a unique walking spot in car-centric LA) -- but another walking area is downtown (yes, Los Angeles does actually have a kind of miniature city "center" (kinda, sorta) that is very compact and is in an interesting state of transition -- a melange of high and low, hard-scrabble and elegant and overblown and crass (like the city itself).
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah...forgot that we have a downtown. Gallery Row on Spring Street can be fun, particularly The Hive Gallery.
 
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