Streetwiseguy said:So, you guy warning Wally about sketchy neighborhoods and weirdos know he works in New York, right?
A reminder never hurts, I love a good sketchy neighborhood and have no concerns about self preservation but some people should.
Streetwiseguy said:So, you guy warning Wally about sketchy neighborhoods and weirdos know he works in New York, right?
A reminder never hurts, I love a good sketchy neighborhood and have no concerns about self preservation but some people should.
I will second Burbank and Long Beach. LAX is a zoo.
Look into shared-ride vans to get to your accommodations. It's a little tedious, but it's like a cheaper taxi with 10 other people.
Do not rely on public transport in L.A. It is awful. There are bus stops listed on the website that haven't existed for years. Buses are late, no-show, or no longer running that route but there is no warning. The website will tell you to pick up (for instance) the #57 bus at Vermont and Wilshire... but there is no bus stop sign, the #57 route hasn't been in operation for 3 years, and you have to walk 6 blocks to find another route that may or may not be running that day.
Metro is fair, but costly and very limited on where you can go. Each municipality also has its own, so you're constantly transferring and missing trains because their schedule is, well, like everything else in L.A.... "I'll get there eventually."
Taxis are an option, but L.A. is so vast that it's not like you just flag one down. Call and schedule one. Uber and Lyft are pretty great in L.A. but expensive.
I lived there for 7 years and still visit every once in a while. I strongly suggest you just rent a car. You'll probably save a lot in transport costs.
stafford1500 said:Wally, FATBURGER and Wahoos Fish Tacos. That is all you need to know besides the Clash Race.
Don't forget In n Out.
Did they start the shared vans again ?
They were kicked out of LAX a few years ago because they could not get insurance ,
how many people are traveling with you Wally ?
Yeah, last I heard the ride share vans are no longer a thing (maybe 3 years ago?) Used to be the way to go though.
In reply to californiamilleghia :
Just me and maybe my girlfriend. She's somehow not entirely sold on flying cross country for a weekend.
Assuming you are flying into LAX , I would stay near the Airport , one of the many Airport hotels or just a mile or 2 south of the Airport is El Segundo and Manhattan beach ,
There are no big hotels on the beach. Unless you go north to Santa Monica ,
or a few miles south in Redondo beach is the Portofino inn where the Cannonball race finishes.
Check and see if the Hotel has a Free shuttle bus from the airport.
It's probably not that much to Uber. To the race when you figure the price of parking , but I bet the price coming back is jacked up because there will be so many people leaving when the race is over.
Anyway let us know if there are any other places you want to visit and hopefully we can help.
In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
I don't visit Southern California like I used to but when I did, I usually added sail boating and water activities to my trips. So, my knowledge is more costal than it is the central city or the valley.
But, in trying to find you a hotel near LAX and public transportation to Coliseum, I also think that on a quick trip, you should see the Pacific Ocean too.
So, my hotel recommendation is the Marina del Rey area which is just 6 miles due north of LAX...easy cab/uber ride. Point yourself to The Hilton Garden Inn of Marina del Rey or Marriott of Marina del Rey, or Ritz Carlton of Marina del Rey. Going from The Hilton Garden Inn to Coliseum via public transportation means there is a bus stop right out the back door of the hotel.
Google maps says it is a 2 minute walk or .01 of a mile to the bus
The Culver City Bus stays on W Washington Blvd for about 23 minutes (29 stops) and terminates in Culver City near W. Exposition Blvd.
From there, you walk around the corner for 4 minutes so likely .02 of a mile and get on a east bound bus operated by LA Metro.
This bus will follow W. Washington Blvd 16 minutes (6 stops) and drop you right at The Coliseum.
Expect your start to stop time for this entire travel and any waiting to be 1 hour.
The reverse is the same route and takes the same time.
This link should take you to the google map of this trip.
The Marina del Rey area is nice and generally safe. There will be good food in the immediate area, some you can even likely walk to. I have no knowledge of what the bus route will be like from a safety standpoint. If google is to be believed, just driving that some route in a car would take 40 minutes. So 1 hour with no parking needed seems really good.
Marina del ray is nice ,
just check the times the buses run and how late they run , and if they take cash or CC ,
In reply to John Welsh :
Thank you, that sounds ideal. I'm waiting to see what I can take off from work and making reservations
Last week the local news had a segment about the conversion of the Coliseum. There were already starting to lay the dirt base. It's clearly a pretty extensive process since the race is not until February! It looks like they lay and pack a soil base then asphalt over that for the track, which of course will be torn up after the race.
Pretty crazy amount of work for one race and clearly the Coliseum will not be used until the race (USC home games are clearly done).
USC and the Coliseum are in the hood, be advised.
Wally (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to John Welsh :
Thank you, that sounds ideal. I'm waiting to see what I can take off from work and making reservations
I re-looked at what I recommended. For Marina de Rey it is actually bus and then change to rail for the last leg that takes you right to the Coliseum. So, then via maps, I followed just that rail. It runs into Santa Monica.
Here is Santa Monica Hampton in green and Santa Monica Courtyard in orange. Both are right out front of the rail station as shown in this Google Maps street view. Santa Monica is a 25 minute cab ride from the airport, so that is less convenient and more expensive, but the rail ride to the race is more convenient as in no transfer from bus to rail. The rail ride from Santa Monica to the Coliseum is 37 minutes
From these two hotels you are 2 blocks to the Pacific Ocean! That would be the iconic (and touristy) Santa Monica pier.
In reply to John Welsh :
Some plans changed so I'm taking a bit more time off. We're going to stay with friends in San Diego the beginning of the week, the Santa Monica Friday and Saturday nights. Thanks for the suggestion it looks like a fun place.
Streetwiseguy said:So, you guy warning Wally about sketchy neighborhoods and weirdos know he works in New York, right?
Shouldn't he know the sketchy areas there already?
He is talking about going somewhere unfamiliar. BTW, it is legal to carry a folding knife, any length, in California, so long as you carry it closed. You can also get a rechargeable flashlight that is also a tazer. El Diablo, or something like that, $40 at Big 5 Surprised me you could just buy a tazer in California.
In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
San Diego?
I've previously written a one day tour in San Diego, by car...
Wally picked a good week to be in SoCal with daytime temps in the 70s ,
did you figure out where you are staying in Los Angeles ?
Sunny, snd nothing in the area is sliding into the ocean this week.
Dang Wally, I saw your pictures on FB but not this thread.
If you're still out there and going back through LA, def go to the Peterson museum and all of the other museums in that district of LA.
Aliso Beach is beautiful in the Laguna Beach area and thought to be where skimboarding was invented. Great ride through that area too on the coast.
The Kettle in Manhattan Beach was my favorite spot to eat while I lived there.
Hermosa Beach was once the punk rock epicenter of California. Black Flag and Pennywise are two notable punk rock bands that call it home. Poulet Du Jour - the best Mediterranean rotisserie chicken I've ever had. Their homemad hummus is bomb as well.
The Getty and Griffith Observatory are must dos as well.
Also the SeaSprite motel in Hermosa Beach is amazing. Right on the beach, easy walk to a bunch of food spots, and I believe they filmed a whole season of Veronica Mars there.
It was an insanely busy week and an incredibly fun. Last sunday we flew into San Diego. Rented a 2017 Sentra with 98,000 miles. For an older rental it was pretty ok. We made a left out of the airport and stopped at El Indio for breakfast burritos. From there we checked into our hotel, and took a nap. We went back out and got some supplies and the requisite In n Out burger, and took a ride around the area. My girlfriend worked as a lifeguard out there a couple summers in college so she had an idea of what she wanted to see.
Monday we loosely followed John's plan. We started at Cabrillo and the Point Loma Lighthouse, then as the rain started we headed north up the coast, stopping in Oceanside to walk out onto the pier where the sky opened and we got drenched. We turned inland to visit a friend of her's in Temecula then back down to the hotel late that night.
Tuesday we started at the USS Midway. We spent most of the day there, it was really interesting. I love ships, and had watched the movie Midway with my dad almost annually since I was about 10. Seeing so much history, and talking to the staff who served on the Midway when it was in service was a great experience. From there we drove to Coronado Island where we walked the beach, took in a beautiful sunset, wandered the Hotel del Coronado, and had dinner at The Henry a few blocks away. In my next life I want to do whatever it is that lets me retire there.
Wednesday we headed to the San Diego Zoo. It is massive, and we spent the entire day there. It's by far the nicest zoo I've ever been to. At the end of the day there were still parts we hadn't seen. We went in for a quick nap, then out to dinner, this time a at a burger place at Ocean Beach called Hodad's. It was another DDD find, a really cool dive type of place and the burgers were great. There was a street fair that night so we checked that out too
Thursday we went on the trolley tour from Old Town, through Seaport Village, back to Coronado, and then Balboa Park. We were a bit short on time and there's so much to see there. Being the nerd I am we spent the afternoon in the Model Railroad Museum. After the tour and a quick walk through Old town we went back to Temecula for dinner.
Friday we got up early and headed up to LA. We picked up a friend of mine that flew down from Seattle for the weekend. We stayed in a hotel in Santa Monica, and went for a walk on the pier the 3rd St. From there we went or a drive up to the building that was Nakatomi Plaza in Diehardas both of them are huge movie nerds and DieHard fans. Then we checked out Beverly Hills, had dinner at a steak house on Sunset Blvd, and a show at the comedy store. All three of us were dying to go there for a long time. The show was great, it was a number of really funny comedians including Marc Maron, and Leslie Jones. We laughed until it hurt.
Saturday we went to breakfast at a place called Waffle where I enjoyed a waffle and the girls had a flight of mimosas. From there we went up to see the Hollywood sign. My friend from Seattle loves book and bookstores, so I took her to Autobooks Aerobooks. It was a different experince than she was expecting, but she had fun and got a Haynes Manual for an X wing fighter. From there it was off to the LA Coliseum to see practice and qualifing. Neither of them had been to a NASCAR event before, and had a lot of fun. We ducked out of qualifying early as it drags on a bit and went to Hollywood. We played tourist a bit, had dinner, and saw a gathering of really cool low riders. Once we got tired it was back to the hotel, a bit of wine and some sleep.
Sunday we ran our friend back to the airport then had breakfast at a place called Patricks in Santa Monica. It was a really good breakfast and a view of the ocean. We did a little shopping and then to the races. It was the most fun I've had at a NASCAR race in years. There was close racing, the format was fun, more like a local saturday night than a typical NASCAR event which was ideal for such a small track. It moved well, but the crowd was a bit small as they didn't seem to do any promotion out there. It ended at a decent hour and we hit the road back to San Diego for the flight home. Going back I wanted to take a little detour to get a pic of the fire house from Emergency! As luck would have it they were returning from a call. They invited us in and gave us a tour. Because it's a tourist attraction it's well maintained but hasn't been updated more than needed. I really geeked out as it was my favorite show as a kid. After that we headed back to the hotel, packed, got about two hours of sleep and headed home.
I took a mess of pictures, you can see them on my facebook page:
I'm taking the Family to LA and SD in April for the kids spring break. Was just there in August. Gah I need to move back.
In reply to yupididit :
I loved most of it, i could easily live in the San Diego area. LA traffic was a bit much though to deal with every day.
love waffle - aside feom 2 hour wait in sunday its my fave la b fast place
the cottage in la jolla is even better for bfast
yupididit said:I'm taking the Family to LA and SD in April for the kids spring break. Was just there in August. Gah I need to move back.
look me up when ur here. bring your rivian so i can see how the other half lives
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