Going to LA in May

Looks like i'm probably going to a Microsoft's geek conference in May and its in LA this year. I've been to LA in the past, but more of flying into LAX then going somewheres other then LA for those visits.

What is there to do in LA, and in particular around the LA Convention Center for a full week? This is of course outside of all the activities that make up the conference ;-)

Looking for shopping (the twins will be born by then so probably need a baby store or two), anything outdoors related (REI, etc), electronics, etc.

Did some looking and found a 'shopping thing' (not sure if its a mall or not) called 'the groves'. Looks to be like 30-40 blocks or so from the Convention Center. Seems like the city is a spread out from the look of it on google maps.

Any 'good' shopping there (not talking about Rodeo Drive... yes I watched Pretty Woman!)? Don't mind spending the $$$ for either cabs or renting a car. Ideas?

Thanks,
Kris

There have been a couple of threads on Geocaching. Geocaching while on vacation/a trip is a good way to find places that the locals find interesting enough to drag each other to. If you plug the convention center's address into the Google Maps feature on Geocaching.com, you can preview what is around.

That would be fine if I can have a day off, but i'm lucky if I can swing 3 hours of freedom over a series of days.

Hi Kris,You will probably want to go to Fry's Electronics,It's Disneyland for Cyber oriented folk.I Guarantee you will like the place,if you haven't been to one yet.The burbank store would be the Most adjacent to The LA Convention Center.There are plenty of Hiking trails thruout Los Angeles also,if that suits you.The Grove/Farmers Market,of which you referred to is also an Xlnt place for the family,many good stores & Restaraunts,keep your receipts & have them validated at the concierge desk, on your way out.& that will pay your parking!Venice Beach Boardwalk is Highly recommended for all the things to see,i.e. Very weird people,strange sounds,smells,tastes,etc.Parking a couple blocks before the beach,is free or $5,parking at the beach is $12 & Higher.Rent a car,you will have more Freedom that way,Taxis are Expensive,because Los Angeles is VERY spread out, about 80 miles North to South,aprox.40 miles East to West.One of the Few places on Earth,you can Surf & Snow Ski in one day! Plenty of fun,but like any big Metropolitan City,Always Be Aware of your Surroundings,& Keep things locked up,there are no shortages of Opportunists here! Have Fun! RoverOver

Lots of good suggestions so far. The Grove is nice, as it has a newer shopping section as well as the old farmers market with lots of booths serving all types of food, etc. Fry's in Burbank is awesome. One of the last remaining electronics stores with all kinds of stuff. You could build a nice hotrod PC with items they have on the shelf! Venice is interesting/entertaining. Your best bet for an REI store is the one in Santa Monica, just north of Venice. New, big store, and Santa Monica Promenade is another popular outdoor shopping/cafe type area about a block from the beach. You may want to catch the sunset down there if you can. Oh, and don't forget to bring along a jacket/sweater even if its 80-90 degrees out during the day. Once the sun sets the temperature drops pretty quickly. Chinatown isn't spectacular but its next to downtown and has some good restaurants. There's also the jewelry district and lots of great 20's-40's architecture. Downtown is one of the more culture/history rich places in LA. Stick to daylight hours just to play it safe. It can get a bit shady at night, to put it mildly. Oh, and Thursdays there's a nice farmers market downtown next to the City Hall building. I think its from 10am-2pm. Thats all I can think of at the moment, have fun.

3 hours or so doesn't get much in LA. Stick to things close to your convention/hotel, or travel and traffic will eat up all your time.

Take your own GPS that is up-to-date. 1999 was the year of my first personal GPS purchase. It was because I got lost in LA and wound up at the corner of Slauson and Crenshaw right as the sun went down.

Yeah, Compton is no place for a tourist after dark.

Too bad OBG isn't around to help out, I miss OBG.....

PS. Don't bother with the beach, Grand Cayman has the beach all sewn up compared to anything on the North American continent.

Sounds like its going to be the conference then whatever time i have shop for the twins. Basically find the stuff that we can't get here (or get at a decent non-inflated price).

Does anyone know where the nearest mall from the conference center would be? I'm guessing that will be all the time i'll have.

OBG is greatly missed. Its not just for questions like this, but overall. Feels like a presence is missing.

Hey Kris
I grew up all over that area. Rent the car - LA is NOT like New York where there's a cab every 10 seconds. And, yeah, catching a cab for 45 miles (and 2 hours with traffic) will add up REAL quick!

The Groves is nice, as put before - it's overshadowing the Farmer's market, but both are within about a block of each other. Eat at the Market, shop at the Groves. You could also keep venturing along the 10west to Santa Monica, where the Third Street Promenade is. Or, catch 405 North 2 miles and get off at Westwood, and catch the town and UCLA's campus if you feel inclined. All three of these are within, probably, 15 miles of each other.

Good suggestions about downtown. Don't forget Alvera St., the original neighborhood where LA started, along with cheesy Mexican gifts and good Mexican food. It's about 6 blocks from Chinatown. You can catch a Dodger's baseball game while there, since I think the season will be in full swing by then. Also, you can catch the Red Line (a local commuting train line) at Union Station (about a mile from the convention center) and take it out to Pasadena, where Colorado Blvd is nice to shop and eat. Crowded like crazy on the weekends, but easy enough if you take the train to get around. Pasadena is only about 20 minute car drive from the Conv Center, but still have to deal with traffic and parking. Parking, btw, is hit and miss if you have to pay for it or not.

Fry's is fun, but I'd avoid buying anything you aren't willing to take back. Why? Every hard drive I ever bought there needs a replacement or 2 before it works right. Don't get me wrong, it's great for prices, and everything BUT hard drives works great.

Beaches: Santa Monica, Malibu, Venice are all pretty close. Manhattan beach is (I think) a 10 min drive from LAX. Newport and Huntington are about 40 minutes away, but in Orange County and sometimes less crowded. Venice and Huntington are the better selections if you want to window shop for trinkets.

Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mtn. amusement parts are all within easy driving distance.

Wineries, if you're into that, north into Santa Barbara (about 2 hours up 101), or down to the Temecula area (not very quick, but 10 East to 15 South will get you there). It's about 90 miles away.

Museums: Univ. Of Southern Cali. has a GREAT set of museums just minutes south of the conv center on the 110 fwy. Several types (natural, science, health, etc), for cheap or free. Get out before dark, cuz the neighborhood is horrible. The LaBrea Tar Pits are near the Groves (you might smell them on hot days), goodle it for what they have, but it's pretty amazing. Near the Tar Pits are a bunch of LA County museums, ie art, sculpture, etc. The Ghetty Museum is near UCLA, about 20 minutes or so from downtown. Also art oriented. There's the Botanical Gardens out by Pasadena - I forget their name, but the hotel should be able to tell you.
If you need more questions, or have questions when you get there, feel free to PM.

Thanks for all that info!

No problem. What are the dates in May? I might be out there around the middle/end of the month.

Also forgot to mention Universal Studios Theme Park. Mind you, all these them parks run around $45/day. Knott's sometimes has half price after 5pm. In fact, if you like fried chicken, Knott's has some of the best fried chicken dinners in the LA area- lines regularly run over an hour!

Food: Check out The Hat (lots of branches) for world's best pastrami; In & Out (lots of branches) for arguable some of the best fast food burgers and shakes (ask for "animal style" if you like condiments). Restaurant Row in West LA has, well, restaurants. Ask the hotel for directions. If you like french dips, in downtown there's Felipe's, which is about 2 blocks from both Olvera St and Chinatown.

There's some good hiking in the San Gabriel Mtn range, the Santa Monica "mountains" and in Orange County. If you like desert camping, Joshua tree is about 3 hours away. In fact, the entire LA areas is ringed with mountains, and most of them easily accessible. Mt San Jacinto is a good day hike, as is Mt Baden-Powell. I'd look online for maps and suggestions, cuz there are too many to list.

Forgot to mention, I'd seriously advise to avoid LA south of the 10 Fwy (between the 405 and 710) after dark. Some real shady neighborhoods to get lost in. some folks would advise staying out of East LA too, but I've never had a problem there (that's be between the 10 and 5 Fwys, from about the 10/5 interchange to about Telegraph). Again, take a look at some of the maps online to help orient you: most of the odd-number freeways are east/west, and the even-number are north/south (Hwy 5 and 405 being an exception).

The dates are the week of the May 11th to 15th. I might try to get up there on a sunday and try to leave on the saturday, but doubt it'll happen. Sadly, it'll be all business with very little chance of any personal time.

But coming from the Caymans, i'll be on the look out for shopping. Its one of the things we don't have a lot of (rolex's we have, everday stuff is quite lacking and if it does exist its expensive).

Unfortunately just about every place, thing, event, and attraction I've seen recommended are either too far to get to or too big to enjoy if you'll only have 3 hours to spend. Even going to Santa Monica or Venice is a bit of a stretch from the downtown area if you've got to get there, take a look around and get back within 3 hours. The closest sort of mall to you would be at 7th St. and Fiqueroa. A great old time eatery that's within walking distance to the convention center is the Pantry Restaurant. Been open for many years, 24 hours a day. Only times they've ever closed was after an earthquake and once, sadly, by the health dept. Great fun if you're a meat eater. I eat there at least once a month.

I live in the Pasadena area, if you've got something specific you'd like to see or do I'll try to think of somewhere you can get to within your specified time limits.

JohnE

P.S. The place with the great dipped sandwiches is called Philippe's...;^) and they do in fact have great food and it's a neat old school place that is very much a part of old Los Angeles.

If you're there on Sunday 11-3, go up to Griffith Park and visit the LA Live Steamers (500 Zoo Drive) 7.5" gage "Live Steam" (aka they are real steam, not electric) model trains that you can ride

http://www.lals.org/index.html

Grat call KG2V!! I totally forgot about Griffith Park and the train park - which is funny cuz that's where I sprained my wrist.

JohnE, when I'm back in town I usually head up to Pasadena at least once. Be fun to grab a bite at the Hat on Lake sometime, if you're up for it.

As for Kris, have fun shopping. Most of the malls are, unfortunately, pretty standardized. Lots of off-the-wall stuff if you look around (try sunset blvd, venice beach, hollywood area) though. I won't be in town that week, as I'll be in Missouri wrapping up my ej-uh-ma-cashun. Too bad. Have a blast.

I'd be up for the Hat just about anytime. Best pastrami around.

Griffith Park would be fun but again, there's that 3 hour time limit thing.

JohnE

Well the 3 hour marl is a guess... figure a sunday afternoon and an evening. rThe rest of the time will be conference.

The Hat on the Lake... Best pastrami... Sounds like a spot that needs some exporing!

I have NO Affiliation what so ever with Fry's Electronics,However... You are arriving in Los Angeles for a Microsoft Convention/Conference.As Spock would exclaim"It is Most Logical!"Let me ask you:Which Airport will you be arriving at?LAX? Aprox.3 miles straight south of LAX on Sepulveda Bl.&Rosecrans Ave. there is a Fry's, BUR which is Burbank Airport,Aprox.1 mile straight south on Hollywood Way,there is a Fry's,The one in Burbank is Very Impressive,All Fry's stores have different themes to them.If I were in The IT business,& From Elsewhere on this Planet,such as yourself,That would be my primary destination,Everything after that would be Secondary.They have diy: do it yourself everything there,from Nano to Mega! By the way,Johnnies Pastrami in Culver City has NO equal & As is Tito's Tacos,of which, is right next door!O.K. back to the shadow's for me! Have fun in LA! RoverOver

Hmmm...I gotta call a foul on Tito's, never found it to be worth the hype or the wait. Johnnies does have a very good reputation but I've never tried it.

The Hat is a small chain of restaurants, one of which is on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, unfortunately there is no actual body of water involved.

Funny but to someone not in IT I would think you'd want to avoid places like Fry's, cause that's what you do at work all day but when I was a photographer I did visit camera stores while on vacation so I guess it's all good.

The only other issue with Fry's has been brought up earlier, having to do with the quality of some of their merchandise. Are their prices worth the aggravation of getting a defective gadget?

JohnE

With only 3 hours in LA, there's barely enough time to get out of downtown to grab a bite to eat. I agree with most of what JohnE has recommended. I'd give Tito's a pass, they are popular, but the food is ok at best. Phillipe's is just south of Chinatown and near Union station, so you could take the metro there and walk around. It's been voted best French dip sandwiches in LA, and their pastrami and other sandwiches are pretty good too.

The Pantry is also another LA landmark, but if I'm in downtown during the day I skip it and head straight for Grand Central Market in Downtown LA. It's kinda like an indoor farmers market with food and fruit stands. Head straight for the center of it and look for the crowd around the mexican food place. That's where you want to eat. If you have trouble finding it, it's right at the base of Angels landing, the worlds shortest railway.

Of course, the other LA landmarks that can't be missed is Pink's Hotdogs and Tommy's Burgers. Both are open 24 hours if you feel like a late night snack. Tommys is in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood, but if you don't wander around too far late at night it's fine

For shopping there's almost anything you could ever want, but it's probably not close by. If you want a day of shopping you could always head over to Glendale where they just opened up the Americana, a outdoor urban shopping complex which is almost identical to The Grove, plus you can always walk over to the Glendale Galleria which is one of the larger indoor malls in the area. And if you're in Glendale, that opens up a world of options for eating. You almost have to stop by Porto's bakery, I would say that might even be a priority over almost anything else.

You almost have to rent a car in LA, there is public transportation but because everything is spread out it isn't as convienent as driving.

if you want chinese food, go to the new chinatown in the san gabriel valley, Alhambra/Monterey Park/San Gabriel all have better facilities and more choices than Chinatown.

there is a REI in Arcadia, or one little south of LAX. they are all within driving distance of LA conventional center, but if you can't avoid rush hour, you won't have any time left to browse by the time you get there.

Thanks all!

Kris,

Remind me when this trip gets closer to happening and I'll try to provide some local guiding if I'm in town and not working.

JohnE

JohnE,

Thanks for the offer! I'll definitly pm you when the trip comes closer.

Kris

Looks like MDinana beat me to mentioning the Ghetty. I second it if you like art: http://getty.edu/

Also, I have never been let down by any of the used book stores anywhere in LA.

There are some nice hiking trails in the local Santa Monica Mtns.

Mulholland Drive is a nice drive with some great views.

http://www.lathingstodo.com/area.htm