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On Saturday morning (8th of August), I'm getting on a plane for LA, California with a friend. This'll be my first time to the states and I'm totally clueless about.. well.. everything.
At first it was gonna be 4 guys, 1 car, 3 weeks and just doing whatever we felt like. One guy ran out of cash, one guy burst his eardrum and can't fly for 6+ weeks, so now we're 2 guys..
Anyway, we've rented a car for 3 weeks, which we'll pick up at LAX (Los Angeles international airport) upon arrival.
From there we booked 2 beds at Venice Beach Hostel, Pacific Avenue (1515 Pacific Avenue, Venice, 1515 PACIFIC AV, Los Angeles) just to have someplace to sleep once we get there.
They're charging 40$ a night per person for shared rooms and my entire traveling budget (excluding plane tickets and car rental) is something like 1500 dollars (I'm a student, like most of you  ) so naturally we'll look to go someplace else than LA once we've figured out what we wanna do.
And that's the problem. Since everything's gotten so messed up (with 2 guys missing and all) we don't really have any solid plans. None of us want to stay in LA for more than a few days; spend some time at the beach, walk Santa Monica Pier, visit Six Flags, Universal Studios (although I heard it's overrated) etc.
From there we're planning on driving north, via Santa Cruz (where the other guy's cousins live) to San Francisco and perhaps watch the 49ers play a pre-season football game on the 14th of August. After SA we're thinking of going to Yosemite and Lake Taho. And that's it. No more ideas atm.
My question to you; I was wondering if anyone from CA could give me some pointers/suggestions/ideas on what to do and what not to do over there? Perhaps someone's even close enough to meet up - I absolutely wouldn't mind. Every and any tip would be greatly appreciated.
Good places to stay? Funny (yet not overly expensive) things to do? Go south from LA (San diego?) or north (SF?) etc. Brainstorm all you like - I'm happy to listen!
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Calgary26004 Posts
Are you going to Blizzcon?
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hehe, no I'm not going to Blizzcon
And about the Blizzard job - haha why not. I'm taking a break from my studies this fall anyway (physiotherapist).
No, but really, not planning Blizzcon
Is it even possible to get tickets there this late?
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Belgium9950 Posts
should atleast go to the TL Meet
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On August 06 2009 00:43 RaGe wrote:
should atleast go to the TL Meet
I'll try. Really depends on where we are at that time. If we're at Lake Taho, it could prove difficult if you know what I mean.
*heading over to the Blizzcon Meetup thread*
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go to malibu and see meatpost!! its only 45 minutes north of LA!
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Meatpost? Never heard of it *runs off to google*
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On August 06 2009 00:15 GinNtoniC wrote:hehe, no I'm not going to Blizzcon And about the Blizzard job - haha why not. I'm taking a break from my studies this fall anyway (physiotherapist). No, but really, not planning Blizzcon Is it even possible to get tickets there this late?
lol why not planning Blizzcon?
I know I definately would if I was around at that time
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if you're driving be prepared to rage.
use sigalert.com to check traffic before you go anywhere or else a 20 min drive can become 1-2 hours. avoid rush hour. godspeed and welcome to the WESSIDE.
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CA10835 Posts
if you're traveling within the greater LA area, expect an average drive from one location to another to be about 1 hour.
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My only suggestion to you is to eat at In-N-Out (at least once).
Other than that, hope you have fun over here!
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+ Show Spoiler +(801): You dropped me off at the wrong girl's house.
(1-801): There's no such thing as a "wrong girl" make it happen.
(801): alright see you in the morning.
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Check out Santa Barbara and go wine tasting.
San Diego: Gaslamp district, zoo, Sea World, Padres games, Balboa Park
LA: Getty museum is quite impressive, K-town (all-you-can-eat bbq, karaoke), Sunset if you want to club/party/bar, Standard rooftop bar is nice to chill, UCLA campus and Westwood very pretty, USC if you wanna get shot, Dodgers games. C&O is a nice family-style Italian restaurant by the beach that most visitors enjoy.
The Orange County Fair might be going on during that time also. Rides, games, food, petting farms, etc. A bit overpriced but definitely something you should do once. A true look at unhealthy American food in all its disgusting glory, e.g. deep-fried Twinkies, barbecue, cotton candy, churros, etc.
If you're there for 3 weeks, you might consider dropping by Vegas for a few days. I'd say it's worth it if you've never gone. Stay somewhere cheap but with good location in relation to the Strip.
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On August 06 2009 05:29 ZukFFB wrote:
My only suggestion to you is to eat at In-N-Out (at least once).
Other than that, hope you have fun over here!
seconded.
taking a bike ride down the beach is one of the things you can do here that you prolly wont do anywhere else except florida or something
6 flags is pretty fun
universals is very overrated, but it has better food and shops than other parks.
you gotta try the food from marked5. it's a street vendor that sells japanese hamburgers that are amazing. bit pricy though. Follow them on twitter or find them on the web.
Try out some of food here. it's really diversified and really good, especially the mexican and azn food. Hollywood is a pretty popular site to visit....but it sucks imo.
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You need to go to some of the amusement parks imo
Disneyland in Anaheim
Sea World in San Diego
Universal Studios in Hollywood, LA (it's decent)
Yosemite is a good idea, but you may want to go up Redwood National Park or King's Canyon/Sequoia National Park.
Redwood has the tallest trees and that's pretty much it, but there's a lot more to do at King's Canyon/Sequoia with better views when hiking.
good thing about national parks is that they're pretty cheap :p
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another vote against universal or anything hollywood.
stick to venice/santa monica/getty if you are only doing a few days in la
recommend on the waterfront cafe for maximum weather enjoyment + drinking + people watching
yosemite and redwood are both must see imo, you got the time
you should think about taking highway 1 all the way to sf, at least in one direction. fantastic drive.
santa barbara and vegas are good things to consider, though can get expensive
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Wow, was away for a couple of hours watching Pulp Fiction and Bridge on the river Kwai (two friggin long movies) and came back to find this. Thanks so much for all the good tips so far, I'll definately be sure to check out as many as possible!
Vegas is unfortunately not gonna happen, soleley due to my economy. Could set up Twitter too - never felt the need for it before.
About blizzcon - is there any way to get ahold of tickets this late anyway? I was under the impression that those were sold out ages ago.
If you know something I don't (please do tell ), then yeah sure, ofc I'll go if we're in the vicinity.
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why all the hate on universal? Is it just because it doesn't have that many coasters? :/
The place is a must see imo. The first time you go it's a great place, but yeah the second time it is bland. The movie tour, shows, and the 3 (sigh) rides are all decent.
but if you go to any theme park, it MUST be a weekday (monday - thursday). Get there early because the best time is in the morning from opening to like 11:00 or 12:00. Make sure you get to ride all the best stuff in those first hours because lines will be very short.
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On your drive north, drive up Highway 1. On your drive down, go down the 5 through the central valley if you want to see California's agricultural side; go down the 395 if you want to see the mountain/desert scenic side of California. Note that anything that isn't the 5 is relatively slow, so plan for a 1.5 day drive. If you take the scenic route, I'd say just sleep in the car at a rest stop if you want to save money. I usually camp along the way, but I'm assuming you don't have any camping gear.
Oh and try the beer in the Bay Area (look on Yelp for microbreweries). Another good resource is wikitravel.
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