Los Angeles is a GREAT vacation destination! You can't get bored with the variety of sightseeing choices there are. We've included Disneyland and their new California Adventure park, Six Flags Magic Mountain, movie studio tours, and lots of other stuff!! As a matter of fact, circumstances made a second trip to L.A. possible, so this page includes stuff we did on both trips.
Hollywood Sign Don't even try to drive to it. You have to drive way up into the Hollywood hills to get to it, but there's a point where you can't get any further, because the gated community doesn't allow it, and there isn't a good view of it anywhere. Best just to view it from afar.
Hollywood Walk of Fame Hollywood Boulevard. This is where you can see the famous people's stars that are imprinted in the sidewalk. Our suggestion is to go during the day. It's not the nicest of areas, believe it or not.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory In Pasadena. Here's a chance to see where they built the Mars Pathfinder, as well as dozens of other famous unmanned space craft. The tour is very informative, and a real treat for people who enjoy learning about space exploration.
La Brea Tar PitsMann's Chinese Theater Hollywood Boulevard. Formerly known as Graumann's Chinese Theater. Famous for it's vast sidewalk display of movie star hand and footprints. Try to see a movie here, as well-it's supposed to be a pretty neat theater inside.
Queen Mary Permanently docked in Long Beach. This is your chance to tour one of the grand luxury liners of the old days. This is also your chance to see up close the ship where they filmed parts of our favorite disaster movie, The Poseidon Adventure. To properly see the whole ship, allow a full day. The best deal is the "First Class" admission ticket. This allows you to do the self guided tour, as well as a guided behind the scenes tour, which gets you access to some of the ballrooms, and a peek at a first class suite. You can also try the "Ghosts and Legends" attraction-they've converted part of the ship into a haunted house of sorts, recounting some of the stories of hauntings and ghosts aboard the ship. We didn't care for "ghosts and legends"-they don't let you take pictures, and they've kind of camped up things a bit. The "Ghosts and Legends of the Queen Mary" show they have on Discovery once in a while is better. This tour doesn't even let you get a good look at the ship's pool, which we'd have preferred they left as part of the rest of the ship, especially considering it's a real working hotel, which you can book a cabin and stay in, if you wish.
Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library In Yorba Linda-about 1/2 hour drive from L.A. This is a great place to learn the life story of President Richard Nixon. There's lots of memorabilia, and a very thorough tour through the President's life, including a section about the Watergate debacle. You can even tour the house in which he was born-it's right on the library's grounds, as are the graves of Richard and Pat Nixon. This is a fun educational experience.
Universal StudiosWarner Brothers Studio Tour
The Price Is Right!
An absolute must if you're spending time in L.A. is a taping of The Price is Right. Once you do it, you'll probably not want to do it again, (it's quite a grueling day) but it's a great experience, and you'll have a souvenir a couple of months later when you get to see yourself on national TV!
Dining
Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant Located in the shopping complex outside of Knott's Berry Farm. The best chicken dinners around. The fried chicken is great, and the boysenberry pie is superb. Be prepared for a wait to get in-this place is popular, and rightly so.
Wolfgang Puck's Spago We went to the one located in The Block at Orange. Great food-try his version of meatloaf-they wrap it in bacon, making it very tasty.
Trader Vic's In the Beverly Hilton, Wilshire Boulevard. An upscale polynesian restaurant, right in the heart of L.A. Their claim to fame is that they make the best Mai Tai's in the world. Don't take our word for it-try one. It'll knock your socks off. The food is superb-polynesian and asian influences to be sure.
Shopping
The Block at OrangeFarmer's Market
Where NOT to go
We'd heard about Venice Beach, so on our second trip to L.A., we decided to try a couple of days there. As we were driving in, we were unimpressed. It looked as if the 'hoods of Washington, DC were transplanted to a beach. Feeling unsafe, we left and went back to our friends at the Beverly Hilton, instead.
A Day Trip to San Diego
It's only about 2 hours south of L.A. There's some sightseeing, as well as proximity to Tijuana, Mexico, if you're into bargain shopping. Sea World World Famous San Diego Zoo
Bored of L.A.? Try driving to Las Vegas!
When planning our second trip to L.A., we found that there really wasn't that much more we wanted to see, so we decided to take a few days in Las Vegas. It's really easy. It's only a 3-4 hour drive (depending on traffic) straight out I-15. Try driving in so you'll arrive after dark-it's cool to see Las Vegas lit up at night from afar.
Email / knighton@cablespeed.com
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