Sorry to go wildly off-forum but i need the INSIDE INFO !

Here's the original thread

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...&threadid=3477

Hearty thanks!heh

Take Highway 1 up the coast. Beautiful drive. Put the top down. Smoke something.

There is a biker (weekend warrior, really) place about 45 north of Santa Monica that has great sea food.

What the hell, rent a Harley and have a road trip.

Enjoy.

Like Michael said in the thread, go to Sushi Nozawa, this really is probably the best place to have Sushi. They supposedly get the first pick off the boat in the morning. You can order nearly what you want sitting at the tables, but when you sit at the bar, he gives you what he gives you. And there is a minimum order of I believe (4) per person. But it is so worth it!!!

If you're into history or ever pretend you are into it, you have to go to the Ghetti museum off of the 405. I'm not a history buff, but for America's lack of history, you get to see some pretty astounding things.

One of my favorite places to eat is at the hotel Mondrian off of sunset. Cool place, kinda all white. The food is Asian Fusion, served family style. You can stay there as well.

If you're up in Malibu...off of the PCH, go North (about 3-4 miles past Pepperdine) and go to Paradise Cove. This is a great place for brunch on the beach. You can walk around the private beach...it's where tons and tons of movies and shows have been shot.

Santa Monica Pier, uh not too exciting, but you can see it.

If you're an outdoor guy, you can go hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains. You can get to them by the 101 (exit Las Virgines) which goes into Malibu Canyon road, or from Malibu, head North on malibu Canyon (right by Pepperdine and Ralphs).
I live right by them and I go running on the trails all the time. It's beautiful right now...very, very green, although it's about time for the snakes to come out.
You can drive on Muholland Drive, the countrie's longest "Drive". Tons of bikers...great winding road.

In the other thread you mention being in LA a couple nights then going to Vegas for your birthday and returning to La the 16/17. I hope you aren't planning on spending that whole time in Vegas, because after a few days that town gets *real boring*.

However, while in Vegas make sure you have breakfast at the Paris casino, they have a breakfast buffet that is fantastic. I kid you not, it's great. It's of course a French style buffet, but you travel between the various chef stations and order what you want and they make it for you right there. None of that "Vegas bacon" (get bacon at any buffet in Vegas and you'll know what I mean). Breakfast at the Paris casino would be a nice birthday kind of thing.

If you are into kitchy kinds of stuff, nothing beats the Liberace museum. It's off the strip, but worth the trip in a very wierd kind of way. They've got his pianos, costumes, cars, etc. It's a laugh.

Your birthday night in Vegas should probably be taking in the Cirque Du Soliel show. I think it is called "O".

hoover dam is about a 45 minute drive out of Vegas, and there is a national park west of town that is really quite beautiful. I think it is called red rock park or something like that.

Now on to LA. My taste will probably be considered quite boring, as I'm not much for hanging out in clubs and getting drunk. LA has a great museum of fine arts with a unique Japanese wing. That would go well with the sushi mentioned in the other thread. Also worth a look for a first time visitor is the LA tar pits right next to the LA Museum of Fine Arts. There's a small museum about the tar pits on the same site, kind of interesting and a good look at what was going on in LA during the last ice age.

I'd also suggest going to the Santa Monica pier. There's an amusement park, plus great walks on the beach and vistas of the coast looking north and south. Lots of nice restaurants and shopping on the 3rd street promenade (must think of the girfriend as well).

Of course, a visit to Sunset Boulevard is required for the first time in LA. Take a look at the Whisky and the Rainbow while you are there, or maybe even stop in for a drink. For your classic original 50's diner experience make sure you stop at Mel's on Sunset Boulevard.

Another thing that is fun to do is to drive around Beverly Hills and look at the homes. Kind of mind-boggling actually. The most expensive homes are north of Sunset Boulevard west of the strip. The "flats" where many old time movie stars lived are located between Sunset Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, west of Doheny. While in Beverly Hills make sure to stop off at Rodeo Drive. A restuarant I like near there is called "Il Forniao".

As has already been suggested, a drive up the coast on PCH is very nice. Stop off your first night in San Luis Obispo, a quaint old fashioned California town. Then, a little ways up the road is the Hearst Castle, a *must* see if you take that drive north. There's a hotel/motel a few miles up the road called the "Ragged Point Inn" or something like that. They have a web site. Anyway, the hotel is on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Romantic and quiet with incredible views, the girlfriend will love it.

Okay, there's a few suggestions. Have fun!

Oh, and one thing that has been wildly popular with all my visiting family and relatives has been visiting the wine country north of Santa Barbara. You take the 101 north and follow it around until you get to the Solvang exit. That's the exit with the sign that says "home of the split pea soup". Not kidding. Take a right off the ramp and follow the road around into Solvang, a Danish town stuck in California. Again, not kidding.

Anyway, a few miles further down the road on the right is the Gainey Vineyard. they have tastings and tours of the vineyard/winery. The wine is excellent and like I said, this wine tasting excursion has been a huge hit with the relatives. There's lots of other vineyards up there as well. It's a beautiful part of the country.

Fatburger.

Stop at Rebecca's, at Broadway and Ocean in Santa Monica, for a margheuritta. From there you can walk to the 3rd St. Promenade for shopping, movies and people-watching, or head across the street down to the S.M Pier, for the usual pier stuff. You can rent bikes there and ride the beachside bike path down to Venice, where you can take in the sights and sea air, and perhaps grab a sausage sandwich at Jody Maroni's. While in Venice you can get fantastic sushi at Hama Sushi on Windward Circle. Meanwhile, my favorite dinner place is nearby on Abbot Kinney Blvd, call Primativo. It's gourmet tapas with a killer wine cellar. Very congenial and tasty (but not cheap).

I could go on and on . . Have fun.

(Vegas?)

-R

And if you are up for fast food burgers....definately IN AND OUT
they are all over the place

OR, Head for the Rainbow on Sunset and go home with a porn star. Thats what REALLY makes America great!

J





Just kidding guys. Its really a rich melting pot of cultural beauty.

I'll get me coat.

FWIW... my favorite part of going to helLAy is leaving... there are a myriad of methods to do this... my favorite is definitely via air transit as it's fastest

Well theres certainly something to be said for that, but it seems to me that you must be immune to the desperation factor. That feeling you get after about 2 weeks of being in Hollywierd, that the moment you leave, or even look the other way, you'll miss some fantastic life changing opportunity. It takes a couple of days back on 'terra firma' for the uneasiness to subside.

Jack

To pretend to be a film star, go eat at The Ivy

To pretend to be normal I agree with In & Out burger

Definitely walk up the hills - it's nicer than you think, these guys are right

To learn about the american grid system in stages, start at the coast end of sunset and keep driving till it all goes 'wierd' - you may want to speed out of control 'cos it feels like a game at the beginning

Shopping with girlfriend - Urban Outfitters on Melrose (and that whole stretch), Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills(for posh stuff cheaper than you can get in Europe). If you go there you can see the hill they had to create to give the area some 'shape'

Swingers for breakfast

And as a European, ALL Sushi is good over there, and some is spectacular! (i must check out that place the other guys have been on about)