California Vacation
 

The first time there, I did the star tours around Hollyweird and the rest. One of the 'good' things I suppose is you stay in every place such a short time that it maintains the 'fantasy' of Hollyweird and California.

The second trip out there, we did not do any of the tours. We went back to some of the same places to spend more time, and explore a bit more. Once you do this, the 'magic' will wear off.

Venice Beach: Bums, pot heads, and black dudes chasing you to sell you CD's.
Malibu: Nice area. Long drive for nothing.
Grumman Chinese Theatre: Bum's dressed as Darth Vader charging you for a picture.
Walk of Fame: Star Tours guide stalkers trying to sell you tour bus trips for $15.00+
Studio Tours: Nice for the Behind the Scenes stuff. But on the whole, over rated.
Downtown: A bunch of Mexican/Indian souvenir shops
Santa Monica Pier: Nice to visit and say you've been there, but more for kids.
Huntington Beach: Nice area. You should check out if time allows.
Laguna Beach: Another nice area. Especially if you like art shops.
Griffith Observatory: Long drive up hill for nothing. Think back to your 6th grade field trip.
Disneyland: Nothing close to the awe of DisneyWorld in Florida.
Farmers Market: Amazing place. Make sure to visit, and eat there. Bring cash.
Beverly Hills: Overrated. We did see a few celebrities here and there though.

Summation: Tourist Money Trap.

The first time out there, we made the mistake of using the highways for almost everything. Most of which were backed up half the time. This second time we stuck the the main drags, and it was faster we thought by comparison to last time. The bad areas are not as bad as made out. The good not as awesome as made out. All in all, a nice trip.

I'm heading to San Diego to check out a data center in two weeks. So we'll see how that area is by comparison. I have heard the weather is perfect year around. Although only Sea World comes to mind for entertainment.

that's just down south

Good summation from a visitors perspective - Ive lived here all my life and hate showing people the "sites" as they are mostly pretty boring. The good stuff in LA is not nesscesarily the touristy stuff.

I used to enjoy taking a stroll through Comptom...

We drove through there, among some other so called 'bad areas'.

No darkies chasing our car, brandishing guns on the street corner, or crackheads going through withdrawl walking down the street like New Jack City. Basically just a bunch of people waiting for buses, or going to work.

:2 cents:

yeah like I'm gonna come to where you live and not see piss bums and overpriced tourist crap and traffic :2 cents:

Go to tsunami beach and take pictures.

That almost sounds like you are missing Detroit :winkwink:

I've never understood the hype around southern california personally.

I live about a quarter mile from Venice Beach, and avoid the place as much as possible. The bums there are incredibly annoying--I get hassled by them when I'm just walking for exercise in the morning. Sunday afternoons there are entertaining though as all the freaks are out.

in santamonica hit the 3rd street promenade. the pier is only good in the summer on thursday night when they have free concerts.

Sea World is crap. I live in San Diego and I think Sea World is overpriced for what you get.

I made my first trip to LA back in Jan for ANME after Vegas and AEE. We had Taylor Vixen showing us around and telling us the things to do. We stayed in Marina del Ray and it looked just like it did in some TV shows and kinda quiet, She took us to Venice Beach and ate on the Boardwalk and saw the pier, but Muscle Beach wasn't what I expected they just had all rusty equipment and didn't look like on TV LOL. She took us to Hollywood and we ate some good mexican food at El Coyote on Beverly Blvd. It was pretty good food for not being Tex-Mex like were used to. We did the Chinese Theater in the evening and saw3 all the stars and took pics of all the things down there and had an awesome cupcake from Crumbs. Saw a couple celebs being chased by Paps while there.

One thing you have to do is go on one of the evening talk shows like we did Jimmy Kimmel. We got front row seats, sat by Sandra Oh's parents. And when it came time for the mini concert I got escorted to the front of the stage before everyone was released. Made it alot easier so I didnt have to run over peoples feet or get knocked over. Next time im definitely taking my phone in to the taping like 99% of the other people so I dont have any pictures of us going other than seeing us on TV. Got to see lots of BTS stuff while going. I think it would be cool to see Jay Leno next time we come out to a conference. It was fun we got to go to a warehouse for ECN and meet all their staff which was cool. Next time we will hit more of our distributors and go see West Coast Customs and other places.

There is no place like home...

There is no place like home...

There is no place like home...

P.S. Always make sure to time an HB visit to one of the surf comps if you are from out of state... Worth the experience.

if you had posted where you were going I coulda saved you time by telling you what to avoid :-)

You will like San Diego ALOT more than la.

san francisco, its a close second to chicago, but without the winter.

So, you're ridiculing the entire state of CA for being a "tourist money trap" yet you were only in LA, and you did all the touristy bullshit? Lols.

:2 cents:

Looking forward to it.

I've talked to a number of people who've been there and all have loved it. They said it's pricey to live there, but you couldn't ask for better weather. So we'll see...

I know. For almost 3 years, I did actually work on E16th St just off Alameda. Thats just below Compton. I used to wander around in Compton quite a lot...

What did he say that was trollesque? Sounds like he hit the nail on the head.