Gods, I used to love Versailles. Haven’t been there in decades. A friend was interning nearby so we would eat there when I visited. Great Cuban food.
Different strokes for different folks I guess. I lived my first 18 years in LA, and to me it’s a hellhole. 
…so helpful to the OP.
Moderating:
Different threads for different discussions, too. When someone is seeking assistance to plan a trip somewhere, taking the opportunity to crap all over their intended destination is a thread shit. You added nothing of value to this discussion. This is not the thread for you, so please stay out of it.
So as it turns out, the Wende is only open to the general public on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Wednesday and Thursday are school tours only, and it’s closed the other days), and I went and scheduled my Museum of Jurassic Technology visit for Thursday. It does look interesting; I am interested in that era. I guess could reschedule my MJT visit for Friday since it would be the most convenient to do both the same day.
I got back last weekend, so I guess I should give everyone a trip report:
Griffith Observatory: Fun, but very crowded, at least when I was there on Sunday night. But the planetarium show was fun, and I got to look through one of the main telescopes and watch them rotate the dome to track the star it was pointed at. And the view of the LA Basin really is spectacular from up there at night. I had hoped to get a panoramic picture of the city and lugged my SLR camera and tripod around with me, but all the good vantage points were packed with people crowding around trying to get selfies for their social media, so there was no room to set up a tripod. The best I could do was to squeeze in and steady the camera on the railing to get a few shots. And the parking situation really is a mess. It almost reminded me of what the Muir Woods was like before they went to the current reservation system. But in spite of all that I actually lucked out and managed to snag a spot in the main lot.
The Petersen Automotive Museum: The current exhibit on the first floor was all about low riders. Even though low riders aren’t really my thing, I must say I gained a newfound appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into building them, with the elaborate pin striping, custom interiors, and etched chrome. Besides that it was fun seeing some really iconic TV and movie cars, like KITT, a DeLorean from BTTF, Herbie, Christine, and others. And some show cars from GM’s Motorama from the early 1950s. And the vault was totally worth it. Among other things, they have an actual limo used by Saddam Hussein down there.
The Le Brea Tar Pits were less, well, pit-like than I pictured. The pond with the big oil slick was kind of like what I imagined, although that was actually the former asphalt mine that filled with water. The rest were more like fenced off muddy areas with a bit of oil seeping up from the ground. The museum was small, but fairly interesting.
I actually really the Warner Brothers tour. Yes, it’s kind of touristy, especially at they end where you get a photo op sitting in Sheldon’s spot in the Big Bang Theory set, but it was fun seeing where some popular TV shows and movies were filmed, and learning about the whole film making process.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology was weird, in a fun way. Since most of the exhibits are almost certainly entirely fictional, I’d almost describe it as more like a parody of museums.
Although I’m not really an art museum person, I liked the Getty more than I expected. The grounds and architecture and quite nice. And even if I didn’t necessarily like every exhibit, there’s something for everyone.
As for food, I found a real hidden gem in Burbank a block from my hotel – The Tallyrand, an old fashioned family restaurant in business since 1959. Huell Howser did an episode of his show there back in 2010. The menu is typical meat and potatoes fare, but quite high quality. I ended up going there two nights for dinner and for breakfast on my last day. I can say the pot roast and fried chicken are both excellent, although the steamed vegetables they served with the pot roast were a bit bland (I was reminded of that Cafe Society thread from a few weeks ago complaining about diners serving steamed broccoli).
Went to Casa Vega one night. Honestly the food was pretty mediocre. I’m guessing people just go there for the history and atmosphere.
Thank you @Johnny_L.A for the recommendation of Versailles Cuban Restaurant. Since I was there on July 4 they weren’t offering the lunch specials due to the holiday, and I didn’t want the full dinner sized portion, so I just went with the Cubano sandwich. That was also excellent. And it still had a little roast pork on it.
Honestly, the burger at Bob’s Big Boy kind of sucked. It just brought back memories of school cafeteria food. But the car show was fun.
@silenus, sorry I didn’t have lunch with you at The Hat. But I was too busy with other activities, and also after several big dinners from the aforementioned Tallyrand I don’t think I would have had room for one of those pastrami sandwiches. I ended up skipping lunch a few days because I just wasn’t hungry after having a big dinner the previous night and then eating the leftovers for breakfast.
I’m glad you liked it. I may have said this upthread, but I’m not going to look. I’d get two or three meals out of the Cuban Roast Pork dinner.
Reminds me. I need to go to Versailles soon!
And I forgot to mention in my previous report, on July 4 I actually managed to achieve 70 mph on The 405. I get the feeling that’s a fairly rare occurrence during daylight hours.
That’s amazing!
Oh god yeah… I LOVE Bob’s but the burger might be the least good thing on the menu.
I’d never go to Bob’s for the hamburger. Well, since high school I haven’t gone back there for anything.
Bob’s does do a decent chili size. Needs hot sauce and lots of onions, but the basics are there.
I do enjoy going to Bob’s once a year as a nostalgia thing; my parents used to take us to a Marc’s as a treat when I was a kid in Milwaukee. The car nights are better than the burgers, though…
Yeah, such an odd feeling after seeing the first few exhibits or the intro video and thinking “what is this place?”
I remember going into one room’s exhibit and the light was so dim you could barely see the displays and definitely couldn’t read anything. I kept wondering if it was something wrong with the lighting or if it was on purpose?
There is a fee for parking, however.
The Tar pits are in a big museum complex.
He has been dead for a while.
The Los Angeles area is wonderful. Maybe downtown is not so great, but in the county and area, there are tonnes of great things.Lots of great places to eat.
If you go to the Getty Villa in Malibu, you also get to drive alone PCH and see the beaches, etc. Worth a trip. It has a nice place to eat and a wonderful shop also.
I refuse the current narrative that there’s something wrong with downtown LA. The Music Center–four performance venues active all year, MOCA, The Broad art museum, The Cicada Club, Phillipe’s, Cole’s, Grand Central Market, Olvera Street, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, etc… There’s so much there any day of fhe week… Skid Row is pretty bad but that’s 4 blocks of a two square mile area. DTLA is an amazing place.
Sure, note I said “maybe” and “not so great”. There are things to do, sure. Not very walkable in some areas. I used to work for the Herald Examiner.
I worked at the Music Center for 18 years. When I started, DTLA was a basically a ghost town on weekend and evenings if there wasn’t a performance at the center or an event at Staples. The difference between then and now is mind blowing. It really is the heart of LA.
If you’re a Star Trek fan (or indeed, have watched any of many shows in the '60s), you might like to visit Vasquez Rocks.
I stopped going downtown after Gorky’s closed.