I’m going to E3 with a bunch of colleagues on Wednesday. We’re arriving around 1:30 on Wednesday and are looking for something touristy to do Wed afternoon to evening.
Quick! LA Dopers! Advice!
Something reasonably cheap that we’ll be able to get to after we get to the hotel!
Help me, Obi-Wan KeDoper! You’re my only hope!
Where are you staying in LA? It’s a big place. You’ll have car right?
If you are near Santa Monica you could try the Santa Monica Pier, which is a fantastic tourist attraction, very lovely and scenic and beachy with various kinds of carnival attractions and a nice Mexican place at the end of the pier. That is on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. There is a park right next to it on Ocean Avenue that is on a bluff over-looking the ocean. The park is a lovely place to take a walk. It is also just a few blocks from the third Street Promenade, which is a great open air shopping mall with nice restaurants and great street performers. This is the area that I mostly tend to hang out on Saturday nights.
If you are downtown go to Olvera Street. It is a recreation of old LA with a very Mexican flavor and very nice, affordable Mexican food. Its a nice place to spend a few hours and to get dinner – though it closes a little early. There phone number (from the web) is 213-680-2525.
If you have time, and are in West LA you could try to schedule a visit to the Getty Museum, but you should call in advance for direction/reservations/whatever. It’s a little strange to drive to and park at (you’ll probably want to take a taxi from your hotel) so you’ll want some visitor’s information. From the web, their number is 310-440-7330.
If you want more info about Olvera Street or the Getty Museum, they have good websites. I’m a doof and don’t know how to put the web addresses in my post, but look them up in Google, and they’ll be the first pages listed.
Ye Olde King’s Head on Santa Monica Blvd. at 2nd Street in Santa Monica has the best fish’n’chips I’ve had. We had a Dopefest there last month.
The Museum of Flying (or Flight) is on the north side of Santa Monica Airport. Kinda small, but it has some neat stuff. There are also museums near USC: Natural History, Science and Industry… LACMA (L.A. County Museum of Art) and the La Brea Tar Pits are off of Wilshire. The Gene Autry Museum and Southwest Museum are around someplace.
Venice Beach is a fun touristy place to go. The Sidewalk Café has decent food and a view of the beach walk. Look for the guy wearing roller skates and a turban and playing an electric guitar with a bull’s eye on it. He’s a fixture at Venice Beach. Just don’t make eye contact or he’ll come over and play for you. The “Meat is Murder” display is pretty funny. Nice depiction of an evil Ronald McDonald. T-shirts galore. You’ll look just like a tourist.
There’s a good falafel stand across from Santa Monica College on the north side. Good shawerma too. I want to say it’s around 20th Street, but I’m not sure. I usually just drive there.
There’s a big model train store in Culver City on Sepulveda, south of Culver.
Depends on what you’re into, I guess.
It really depends on what you and your friends like, where you’re staying, etc. Without that info, it’s difficult if not impossible to give you any meaningful advice.
My personal favorite people watching place is the Santa Monica Promenade, especially during this time of year. Lots of beautiful ladies walking by, good food, places to shop, etc. But your mileage may vary.
I usually take visitors to the Griffith Park Observatory. You have to see their Tesla Coil demonstration. And I like the foucalt pendulum, and the old WPA-style murals. Hope the weather’s clear and you can use the telescopes to look out over Hollywood and the whole city. Plus it’s free. I like free.
I like museums, MOCA downtown is my favorite. Depends on your taste though. Gallery hopping is fun, but too difficult if you’re from out of town and can’t get around easily. Check the http://www.laweekly.com for listings of events, shows, etc.
Oh and BTW, at E3, try to find the Alias booth, and ask them if they have a seminar like they did last year, demoing and training on Maya. It’s kind of behind the scenes, usually up off the floor upstairs in a seminar room, you have to ask about it. I went, it was the best thing I saw at E3. I got a couple of hours of good training on about the hardest graphics package on the market, plus the only good swag from the whole of E3, a black Alias tshirt with a screen shot of Pong on it.
This may be the most obvious thing in the world, but unless it was mailed to you (in which case you are much more important than I), spend a half hour or so to get to the Convention Center and pick up your badge holders. Trust me, you do not want to be in that line come Thursday morning.
Heheh, see you there. 
ALSO—how old are you?
BTW—what’s an E3?
FIRST thing you do is----hit the POLO LOUNGE at the BEVERLY HILL HOTEL.
Color me important. We’ve got our press badges already. Trust me, the swag is MUCH better if you’re press. All the PR people suck up to you and get you drunk.
Last year I got to hang with Sid Meier and give him tips for Civ3. He really picked my brain. Really, it’s an interview! I swear it!
On the OP…
We just have about 6 hours to kill on Wednesday afternoon and I thought I’d treat the weenies to something. Better than just staying at the hotel all day. Yuck.
Well, you can get a burger at the original Tommy’s at Rampart and Beverly for 55 cents. It’s their 55th anniversary.
Too bad Gorky’s is no longer alive. It was near 8th and San Pedro (somewhere around there) and it had great food.
There’s always Chinatown, which isn’t too far from the Convention Centre. Little Tokyo isn’t too far away either. I don’t know if it goes to the Convention Centre (I rarely get downtown), but the DASH bus is only a quarter to ride (at least it was when I was on jury duty a few years ago).
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*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance *
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I suggest you try Sunset Boulevard, then.
And watch out for undercover cops.
[sub]Sorry[/sub]