Help! Things to Do/See in LA

Juanted · #1 09-30-2006, 09:32 AM

Hi guys,

OK, so, I've never been to CA. WFIV will be my first visit. Looking at flight reservations (USAir -- we're using some miles to fly first class

), it's become clear to us that there are NO direct flights from Charlotte to Palm Springs. There ARE direct flights from Clt. to LA, though. No biggie. So, we will be flying into LA early Friday morning. Now, here are my questions: (And yes, I know some have been asked before -- sorry; and yes, I know some of these are dumb -- sorry again.)

- Aside from the obvious Rodeo Drive (which my wife wants to see, not me), what else should I visit in LA? Laguna Beach in there, too, right?

- How bad of a drive is it from LA to Palm Springs? I hear horror stories about CA traffic, so I'm just wondering. I want to be in PS for the "festivities" on Friday night.

- Any other recommendations/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Juan

njbmwx3 · #2 09-30-2006, 10:31 AM

Santa Monica, Venice beach to name a few. Venice beach is a blast if you enjoy people watching.

SuperGreg · #3 09-30-2006, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaefer

Hi guys,

OK, so, I've never been to CA. WFIV will be my first visit. Looking at flight reservations (USAir -- we're using some miles to fly first class

), it's become clear to us that there are NO direct flights from Charlotte to Palm Springs. There ARE direct flights from Clt. to LA, though. No biggie. So, we will be flying into LA early Friday morning. Now, here are my questions: (And yes, I know some have been asked before -- sorry; and yes, I know some of these are dumb -- sorry again.)

- Aside from the obvious Rodeo Drive (which my wife wants to see, not me), what else should I visit in LA? Laguna Beach in there, too, right?

- How bad of a drive is it from LA to Palm Springs? I hear horror stories about CA traffic, so I'm just wondering. I want to be in PS for the "festivities" on Friday night.

- Any other recommendations/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Juan

- Laguna Beach is not in LA, it's in Southern Orange County, about 50 miles away or so.

- The traffic will depend on when you plan on making the trek from LA to PS. If your plan is anytime around 2:00pm or after on Friday afternoon, then you are screwed. You see, tons of people live in Riverside County where property is cheaper and they commute to Orange County and LA County. All of the people go back to Riverside County during rush hour. It sucks bad, really bad. If you are leaving LA to head to PS, you need to leave by noon at the latest. My recommendation would be that you skip LA and fly to Ontario (ONT) and drive straight to PS.

Call me on my cell if you need to discuss further.

Greg

rickp · #4 09-30-2006, 10:57 AM

Visit the Getty Museum

Juanted · #5 09-30-2006, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperGreg

- Laguna Beach is not in LA, it's in Southern Orange County, about 50 miles away or so.

- The traffic will depend on when you plan on making the trek from LA to PS. If your plan is anytime around 2:00pm or after on Friday afternoon, then you are screwed. You see, tons of people live in Riverside County where property is cheaper and they commute to Orange County and LA County. All of the people go back to Riverside County during rush hour. It sucks bad, really bad. If you are leaving LA to head to PS, you need to leave by noon at the latest. My recommendation would be that you skip LA and fly to Ontario (ONT) and drive straight to PS.

Call me on my cell if you need to discuss further.

Greg

Greg,

I will call you later to get details; however, the main reason we want to fly into LA is because two close friends of ours from Italy will be in LA that weekend, so we thought it'd be great to spend the day with them before heading to PS.

Now, would you please define "screwed"? Does that mean 4 hours on the road? 5 hours? I know it all depends on traffic, obviously, but... could you give me an educated guess?

thanks!

Juan

SANguru · #6 09-30-2006, 11:28 AM

the last time I was in Pasadena, went to Irvine took 2 hours alone. LA traffic is HORRENDOUS. Irvine to LAX 40 miles, all times of the day, 1.5 hrs. so LA depends on what part will probably be easily a 3-4 hr drive to PS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaefer

Greg,

I will call you later to get details; however, the main reason we want to fly into LA is because two close friends of ours from Italy will be in LA that weekend, so we thought it'd be great to spend the day with them before heading to PS.

Now, would you please define "screwed"? Does that mean 4 hours on the road? 5 hours? I know it all depends on traffic, obviously, but... could you give me an educated guess?

thanks!

Juan

SuperGreg · #7 09-30-2006, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SANguru

the last time I was in Pasadena, went to Irvine took 2 hours alone. LA traffic is HORRENDOUS. Irvine to LAX 40 miles, all times of the day, 1.5 hrs. so LA depends on what part will probably be easily a 3-4 hr drive to PS.

or worse if you try it during rush hour.

x5GuyInLA · #8 09-30-2006, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaefer

Greg,

I will call you later to get details; however, the main reason we want to fly into LA is because two close friends of ours from Italy will be in LA that weekend, so we thought it'd be great to spend the day with them before heading to PS.

Now, would you please define "screwed"? Does that mean 4 hours on the road? 5 hours? I know it all depends on traffic, obviously, but... could you give me an educated guess?

thanks!

Juan

the drive normally from LA to PS is about 2 hours...in traffic, it could take you 2 hours just to get to Ontario, which is usually a 45 minute drive. It usually gets better once you get past I-15. If you don't want to miss the festivities on Friday night, then, I would recommend you leave LA no later than noon, or after 8pm, although it's a Friday night, so there will probably be some traffic in the evening. As for things to do in LA, someone mentioned Venice Beach, which is great, but is probably more interesting on Saturday and Sunday because everyone is out. You can also check out the Peterson Automotive Museum. The Getty museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) are both good. There's also Universal City Walk. If you're into celebrities, you can check out Mann's Chinese Theater on Hollywood and see all the hand imprints. On your way to PS, if you want to get a little gambling in, you can stop by the Morongo Resort and Casino. It looks very similar to the Palms in Vegas. There's also Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, but it's not as nice. Let me know if there is anything you want to do/see in particular and I'll let you know what we have here.

SuperGreg · #9 09-30-2006, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by x5GuyInLA

I would recommend you leave LA no later than noon, or after 8pm, although it's a Friday night, so there will probably be some traffic in the evening. .

Exactly!!

Juanted · #10 09-30-2006, 12:46 PM

wow...!

Thanks, guys. I guess this means, we will have to leave LA early!

Thanks so much for the advice.

Juan