Quick trip to LA - what to do?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have to take a trip for work to LA at the end of the month. It is short, but I will be arriving with my wife on Sunday, working half a day Monday (noon to four) and a whole day Tuesday (nine to four or so), then leaving very late Tuesday night. I would like to be able to do a few things Sunday night and Monday morning/evening after my work. What could we do that is fun, quick, and decently cheap? We’ve never been to LA, but are looking forward to the trip pretty much.

Just looking for some suggestions! Thanks.

Brendon Small

2

What part of L.A. will you be staying in? That will affect what you have access to. If you only have a few free hours, you probably don’t want to spend them stuck in traffic on the 405.

3

We will be staying on West 7th St. At the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Apparently that is where the conference people reserved a block of rooms so that seems to be our best choice. I have no idea what is near it or anything, I assumed we could figure that out before we got there though. Family friendly stuff is cool, but we are leaving The Little Small at home with family.

4

This is probably less than helpful, since I don’t frequent downtown LA, but there’s the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which you should at least get a look at it from the outside, and I think Los Angeles City Hall offers tours. I haven’t visited any of these places (except the concert hall), so I can’t vouch for them personally.

If you can make your way over to Santa Monica (it looks fairly far, though I think you could probably catch the Santa Monica #10 down and back), the pier and accompanying amusement park are a lot of fun, and Palisades Park is beautiful and offers lovely views of the ocean. There’s also the beach, and you can rent bikes to ride along the paved bike path up to Pacific Palisades and down to Venice Beach. And just walking around, taking in the sights is free, and can last as short or long as you want it to.

Sony Studios is in Culver City, and offers tours (again, haven’t done it myself). Still probably a little far, though not as far as Santa Monica.

5

The LA County museum is just south of you at Exposition park.
West of you is The LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) is in mid- Wilshire area. The natural History museum is right there. plenty of bones from the La Brea tar pits.
Also in the area is the Peterson Automotive museum. If you like cars, this is a must see.
Northwest of you on the grounds of Griffith Park is the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum.
Due North from you is the Southwest Museum. Indian lore and artifacts. Lots of them.
(Damn I am on a museum kick here aren’t I)

A few blocks from where you are staying is the Original Pantry. Have a meal there. Open 24 hours. Don’t let the line scare you, it moves FAST.
What are you into and what do you want to see?

6

I am drawing a total blank on good things to do in the downtown area tonight, but there is a ton. Also, what kind of food do you like? You are close to one of the foodie parts of town. The Athletic Club is nice, I have been to a couple of weddings there, and it’s in a part of town that has some fantastic architecture. If you are into that sort of thing you can take a walking tour. http://www.laconservancy.org/ They are fun, and if the timing is right you might be able to catch a movie at one of the old movie palaces. Check out the website.

So you need other things to do on Sunday, Monday morning and evening in the downtown area. Then something to do near LAX Tuesday evening while you wait for your plane? How late is very late on Tuesday, because that sounds like it will be the only good chance to see the West side and maybe a beach.

I don’t suppose you would want to try to catch a concert. You are close to some really good rock clubs. Monday after work you might want to try to head into Hollywood. It’s kind of a hike from where you are, but there is some neat stuff.

For Sunday I think Exposition Park is a great idea. There are some good museums, an IMAX movie theater a rose garden. All good stuff. Another option would be to head into Pasadena and hit up the Huntington Library and old town Pasadena. Griffith Park is always an option too, maybe the observatory

Ok, I’ll think on this a bit and get back to you tomorrow with more options, and hopefully some less obvious ideas.

7

I forget how late we are leaving on Tuesday for sure, but it is either 11 pm or 11:15pm. So far these suggestions are great. I think we would probably be up for a concert - we used to go to a lot of concerts when we were younger. Also, food wise is a big thing for us. I am a huge fan of sushi bars, and we like visiting different types of pubs and restaurants and trying food. I plan on putting a better response to the answers so far, but I have a quick meeting before lunch. Thanks so far!

Brendon Small

8

One thing to be aware of, since you’re smack in the middle of downtown LA - the neighborhoods change radically there from block to block, especially after dark. Seriously, you can be in an area with upscale restaurants and clubs, and turn a corner and walk a block and BOOM! Welcome to Crackland, population: scary.

Los Angeles as a city/area is really spread out, and the public transit systems are not great, so renting a car is strongly suggested. This goes double if you’re planning on sightseeing/etc in the evening - getting out to the fun places should be easy enough, but taking public transit home will very likely have you walking through/waiting for the bus in one or more questionable areas.

ETA: I don’t mean to make you nervous. But a certain amount of caution should be exercised when downtown.

9

FYI, the Southwest Museum is closed until 2013.

For a really off-the-wall museum experience, check out The Museum of Jurassic Technology.

If you have good weather on your free day, take a drive along PCH up to Malibu (and beyond). On a sunny day it’s a classic LA experience.

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I have been meaning to go there for years. I will make it someday. Their website is awesome.

If you have good weather on your free day, take a drive along PCH up to Malibu (and beyond). On a sunny day it’s a classic LA experience.
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My only concern about sending Brendon to PCH is the distance from downtown and the traffic involved getting across town. On a sunny day I would say that Point Dume up in Malibu is my favorite beach in California. I got married there, its amazing, it’s sort of hidden away so it isn’t overrun with tourists, but it’s very far from Downtown.

On the scary neighborhood front…I am going to send you to two food stops that you must eat at while in LA, and you must go to during daylight hours. So these are lunch stops.

Stop 1: LangersDeli. Get the Pastrami. Map to their from the Athletic Club.

It’s in a bit of a scary neighborhood, but as long as it’s daytime you will be fine. It’s the worlds best pastrami. Better than what you can get in New York.

Next Tommy’s. It’s a Chili Burger and an institution. It’s also a chain that has inspired a number of knock off chains. This is no a “must go” like Langers, but rather a “go if you can, it’s worth it”. Map to therefrom the Athletic Club. This is the original shack, and their food is just better there. Get it with Chili. They quite literally invented the Chili Burger, don’t cheat yourself by not getting the chili.

While we are talking burgers. Tuesday after work, while you are heading west anyway, go to The Applepan and order a hickory burger. Bring cash, it’s all they take. Try to go at an off time, but don’t try to go on Monday since they are closed. Put up with the bad parking and be willing to wait a bit for a seat. There is no better hamburger that I have *ever *had, and there are lots of people who will back me up on this one. Map This one is in a very nice neighborhood, so don’t worry about going after dark. Remember the other two are daylight trips.

For breakfast the Pantryis great. Map
Rather than try to recommend a club to you, I am going to link you to the LA Weekly’s Calendar page. They are a great guide for event type things to do, if you feel like doing an event type thing. The Renoir Exhibit at LACMA is supposed to be fantastic if you are in to art. It isn’t near downtown, but it is close to the tar pits and the Peterson Auto Museum that have already been mentioned.
More as I think of it.

11

I just had a great idea. Check out the Grand Central Market! People will tell you to go to the Farmer’s Market at Third and Fairfax, and sure, that’s great. But this is around the corner from your hotel and the Farmers Market is far. (map). Also, this is a little less…prefab. It’s more what the Farmers Market used to be. It will be fun and crowded and full of tons of good food. Get yourself some really really good Los Angeles Mexican food for cheep.
ETA: my map links aren’t working right it seems. But copy and paste in the addresses. You’ll see everything I have linked to in these posts (other than the Apple Pan) is really close by the Athletic Club.

12

Have dinner (or, on Monday, lunch) at Olvera Street and/or Phillipe’s, both of which are accessible from where you are three stops away on the Red Line (subway).

Olvera Street is a great tourist trap AND has excellent Mexican food, if you’re into that. It is right across the street from Union Station, the central train station. You can’t miss it as you walk out of the front door of the station. Just a block away is Phillipe’s, one of LA’s oldest restaurants (slightly more than 100 years old) and home of the original French dip sandwich.

One or both of these locations should be a pitstop for you no matter what else you do with your time.

13

Ditto on Phillipe’s. I almost put it on my last list, but didn’t want to put too many items on. And I picked the Market over Olvera Street because Olvera Street is just so touristy.

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FYI skid row

15

I always enjoy visiting the La Brea Tar pits. Fantastic paleontological museum there.

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It’s MY neighborhood, so I can vouch for its safety.

I’ve refrained from commenting because I don’t know downtown well at all. But if you come over to the west side where The Apple Pan is, you could also drive up to Westwood Village and check out The Hammer. And just a short walk away is Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery, a cozy little neighborhood cemetery where you can see the graves of Marilyn Monroe, Farrah Fawcett, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Torme, Will & Ariel Durant, Bob Crane, & Walter Matthau among many others.

17

Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip, which are adjacent.

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bump because we never ever hear back from the OP in these types of threads and I am always left wondering.

Did you get to LA yet? If so, what did you end up doing and what did you think?

19

Clifton’s Cafeteria. Go there.

20

La Golondrina, on Olvera Street. It’s worth it for the food and margaritas as well as the history of the building (oldest fired brick structure in the city). It looks like you’re near the 7th St Red Line station so you could go there by subway. Olvera Street and the Plaza are more or less “north Downtown”, and it’s generally pretty safe.

If you’re at all interested in Hollywood, or even if you’re not, there are some restaurants and bars up there that are worth the time. Musso & Frank has been there since the 1920s, and you’re likely to meet ancient bartenders who personally poured for Bogart and Barrymore. Poured a little too much, in the latter case. The Red Line goes there too, just make sure the destination plate says North Hollywood. Being downtown the transit system, sparse though it is, does put you into easy reach of a lot. You can’t get to Venice or other beach neighborhoods on it, but since you appear to have only evenings, the beach isn’t really worth it.

If you will have a car, make sure you have a GPS (I suppose all rentals come with it now). If it’s your own car and you’re driving in, get one. I wouldn’t care to find my way in this city if I didn’t live here, without a spot of deus ex machina help. In fact, I even use my GPS though I’ve lived here all my life. It sure beats trying to read numbers on the doors of buildings.