Gouldy and Wife heading to SoCal

[gouldy]

Hello CoasterCrazy peeps!

Me and the fiance are getting married on the 1st of August 2014 and are looking to hooneymoon in California, but mostly L.A. and the surrounding area. Reason being because it's somewhere t'missus would love to go and it's also got parks - so we're both happy!

Essentially, we're beginning to plan it now, so I'm here to basically ask for local advice, places we need to visit (other than SFMM and Knotts, obviously - we're definitely going to those places) and other tips in general.

We'll be staying for 2 weeks, some days of which we think will be spent in Las Vegas and visiting the Grand Canyon, etc. (For me, 2 weeks is not long enough - I actually wish to take 6 months off work and road trip across the entire states, visiting parks, grills and geological points of interest, but we're not made of money!) So after SFMM, KBF and Vegas, we'll most likely only have a week left, which is where you guys come in! We'd love to meet up with anyone who's up for getting some food together, or wants to show us around one of the parks or your favourite part/s of L.A. etc.

We've decided to treat ourselves to 5* hotels (budget permitting haha) while we're there, so we're certainly not looking to impose, accommodation-wise; we'd just like to hear from some people who know the place well and could share some gems with us, perhaps, otherwise I'm sure we'd end up just visiting the touristy stuff, and not much else!


Comments, ideas, tips and offers of meetups are all very welcome!
Thanks,
Dan and Linny.

First and foremost, congratulations! Sounds like a fun time. I don't know any places that are good however ;_;

Congrats.

Santa Barbara (about 90 miles north) is really nice, especially if you're into going to the beach or doing outdoor stuff like hiking or mountain biking. A little further north there's a bunch of vineyards to go wine tasting at as well as some excellent restaurants.

[jayman]

you are welcome at my house, give me a weeks notice and all will be ready .

Congrats.

Are you the same peeps that I heard one of the people in the chatbox talk about not getting married in 2013 because of some bad luck that doesn't exist, or if it does, is completely unrelated to the fact that the last two digits of the year happen to be 13?
Other than that, congrats.

Damn, Gouldy, an early congratulations from me! L.A. is my criiib (and Oscar's). I can offer some of my recommendations, and if Oscar passes by this, he can make some comments also.

SFMM and Knott's are solid choices for parks, but if the budget permits, I actually recommend going to the Disneyland Resort, it's a great place to go at least once, and it's more for the experience. The World of Color show is absolutely fantastic. It's definitely worth checking out. There are also some nice things to do in Downtown Disney and nice places to dine if you are up for staying a couple nights in the resort area.







Parks aside, I live just outside of the Santa Monica area, closer to UCLA, so I definitely recommend taking a trip around Santa Monica - the beaches are great, and there are great places to shop and dine in the area.





You could even check out this swankier shopping center, called The Grove. It has a really nice farmers market, so you can get some really good food for relatively low prices. I'd also check out some farmers markets in Brentwood, they're on Sundays!







Beverly Hills, as glamorous as it may sound, is horribly glorified and overrated, and personally, there isn't much to do there other than emptying your wallets out.

Hollywood can be a fun place to take a stroll through (especially at night), but keep in mind that most things to do are at a minimum $17 (for, like, wax museums and such). Even better, try to trek up to the City Walk, it has some great nightlife and, in some ways, is safer than the Hollywood Strip. Universal Studios is definitely overpriced relative to how many thrilling attractions it has (The Revenge of the Mummy, Jurassic Park, and the Simpson's Ride), but if you and your wife are interested enough in going, or at least into films, it's definitely worth checking out. ALSO, if you are a fan of talk shows, you can definitely look into seeing a recording of Conan, or Jimmy Kimmel Live (tickets are free, you just have to obtain them in advance (online, I believe)).











In terms of less "glamorous" and "touristy" stuff, I can now jump to some gems in Los Angeles. I'm not sure how much you and your wife are into art museums, or science centers, but I definitely recommend checking out LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and the Griffith Observatory. Griffith is free to go to, and LACMA is fairly inexpensive; can be really neat to check out. There's also a pretty sweet car museum across the street from LACMA, and also there are the La Brea Tarpits (though, I'm not really sure if that's something you would be interested in checking out). I personally like Griffith more, it's perched high up in Griffith Park, and offers a grand view of the city..





But, if we're going to talk about views, then the last place I am going to recommend to you is a real gem; one I still have yet to go to, but is really sweet.



If you and your wife would like to have a bit of a workout, but with an incredible reward at the end, check out the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook in Culver City (it's in Los Angeles, don't worry, ). It's a bunch of steps, and a ton of walking, but offers an INCREDIBLE panoramic view of the city. I definitely recommend going at sunset, it could truly be romantic.



That's about all I can really think of at the moment for Los Angeles territories you should consider visiting/experiencing. You certainly don't have to do everything I mentioned, you can do some research for yourself and then see if it is in you and your wife's best interest to visit!

Agreed with BottomFeeder Santa Barbara is a really pretty place to visit, and I even recommend, if you are up for it, to actually make the 5-6 hour drive up north to San Francisco and the Bay Area. A lot of places up north in the state are really great to check out, even the National Parks and the Sequoia/Redwood forests.









I know I kind of overdid it with the writing, but I hope I was of some help! I hope the wedding goes well for you two, and that you have a fantastic honeymoon, whereever you end up going!

1) Not much to do in downtown LA, as it is a royal dump

2) Las Vegas is about a 6 hour drive, without stops. Took me 8 hours with stops and traffic.

3) Grand Canyon took me 14 hours drive when I went. That was with stops every 4 hours for toilet and stretching. (USA is not as small as Britain, remember that)

4) Visit the Channel Islands, off the coast. Santa Cruz is my favorite. Catalina is not that exciting, and civilized. The other islands (aka not Catalina Island) Don't have towns, have much better hiking, a better eco system, are more pretty, more remote, and more... remote and nature-y. The Channel Islands actually have a unique eco-system, and have over a hundred plants and animals that can only be found on them. Catalina doesn't have a lot of this as there are towns there. It's a 2-3 hour boat ride depending on what island you go to.

5) Stop off at Calico Mine on the way to Las Vegas. It is an awesome abandoned mining town. You can take tours and stuff. Pretty cool. Worth a couple hours of your time.

6) The border is a cool tourist site. I like watching all the drug busts.

7) As stated before, Santa Barbara is nice. like 2 hours north of LA. I live near Santa Barbara, in rich Whitey ville. Santa Barbara is a little more... diverse than where I live though. The beach is really pretty though. Beach is romantic.

8) Drive along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) up through Malibu and to Santa Barbara. Really pretty drive, right near the ocean.

9) Visit Compton. They love foreigners. (please don't)

10) Mojave desert is nice. On the way out to the Grand canyon.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by Jcoasters
9) Visit Compton. They love foreigners. (please don't)

Yes, I hear they're particularly fond of white folk from out of town

Originally posted by SkyArrow
Are you the same peeps that I heard one of the people in the chatbox talk about not getting married in 2013 because of some bad luck that doesn't exist, or if it does, is completely unrelated to the fact that the last two digits of the year happen to be 13?
Other than that, congrats.

I don't know about that, I'm not superstitious in the slightest. I would happily get married on Friday the 13th in 2013, stood underneath a ladder, surrounded by black cats while cursing the names of all the gods Humans ever invented [;)]. But 2013 is a bit too close for us; we're looking to save up about $10,000 to $12,000 for this, which will take us about 18 months - hence, August 2014.


In all seriousness, though, thanks for the responses. I will take the time out tonight after work, with Linny to read through them properly.

[coolbeans326]

Damn dude, if I hadn't moved up to Portland, Oregon and left Disney like 2 weeks ago, I would have gotten you in for free! Sorry man, bad timing.[|)]

Originally posted by Jcoasters


5) Stop off at Calico Mine on the way to Las Vegas. It is an awesome abandoned mining town. You can take tours and stuff. Pretty cool. Worth a couple hours of your time.

Definitely do this since it's also a cool little piece of amusement park history (the place Knotts is based on).

I live near Santa Barbara, in rich Whitey ville.

Damn you rich Montecito rich boy.[;)]

I don't now much about the area since I don't live there, but I do know of a famous house architecturally looking out over the city, the name isn't coming to my mind but I'm sure A113 knows the name,and much more about the house in general. but its basically the first house ever built to utilize a cantilever and offers a beautiful view of the city. I believe its open to the public, but like I said I've never actually been there, the house was just a person's research project in my desig class last year. And more importantly Congrats!!

edited because I suck at typing.

Ckidd, are you referring to the Pierre Koenig residence?



Anyways, I 'm not sure if you are able to visit this, but if you have seen the Big Lebowski, you may be able to visit the house from the film... it's in L.A.

[Oscar]

Congrats Gouldy and Future Wife! I can certainly meet up with you guys when you come. Be sure to send me a pm when you're heading out here and I'll share my phone # so we can meet up.

Congrats!

[gouldy]

Thank you guys for all your responses. We've had a good read through and done some research, and have found some of the stuff mentioned to be very much up our street. Great thanks especially for A113's big post!

We're not 100% sure yet about how we're going to be travelling around, at the moment, like I say - we're just beginning to plan. We like the sound of hiring a car to drive up the coast, but at the same time, the idea of driving in another country is a little scary (being honest lol). But in terms of travel around the city itself (and possible (probable) journey to San Diego), what is best? Trains? Taxis? Or is really hire car just the best option?


As for Calico Mine, which a couple of people mentioned, we're not sure whether we would be able to do that with what we were looking in to. Our Vegas/Grand Canyon is probably going to be a package thing, that includes a short flight to Vegas, hotel out there, trip to Grand Canyon/with helicopter sight seeing tour, trip to Monument Valley and a flight back. But now we're looking into a slightly larger more encompassing package with some other things in, including Calico. So, budget permitting, we'll see!

We've certainly got a good few things to begin proper research into, anyway!

Yes, Oscar! Certainly interested in meeting up, and with A113, Jayman, and anyone else who's around.

[coolbeans326]

You can take a train from Anaheim (where disneyland is) to San Diego, or from Union Station in LA. Takes about 2 hours. Round trip is $70 per person. Driving is actually a little faster, and might be cheaper since it will be you and your wife.

Yes thats exactly the house I was talking about.

As weird as it sounds, public transportation can be pretty convenient, at least from my experience; Taking the Big Blue Bus only has a fare of $1 USD and you can easily get around most of the West Side... the Metro is $1.50 USD and you can go further around the city with them.

Meeting up sounds cool, it just depends when you're in town because I leave back for college in late August.

[gouldy]

Well, I have approx. dates already. The wedding is on the 1st of August, and we're looking to leave for the US the week after that; so it will almost certainly be the first half of August that we'll be there.

[Coasterkidmwm]

You are aware that we have these National Park things.....

^

Originally posted by gouldy

and visiting the Grand Canyon

[jayman]

i'll feed you the best mexican food in the country .

[gouldy]

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

You are aware that we have these National Park things.....

Yeah, researching into what's in the region. Some awesome stuff in that South West corner of the US.

Originally posted by Jayman


i'll feed you the best mexican food in the country .

Awesome. Looking forward to stuff like that, especially!

[Coasterkidmwm]

Believe it or not west of the Rocky Mountains the increase in Mexican food quality is actually pretty dramatic

[jayman]

yuuuhp. and here.. i poop you not, people from mexico come up to eat here . . gouldy you wouldn't be imposing if you two needed a place to stay and transportation near san diego, my apartment has an extra room and a large living room.i could also take you to the part of san diego where all your stereotypes of americans come true.