Two broke college kids visiting LA today. What to see/do?

In My Humble Opinion
1

The background:

I am in the negative in my checking account and my credit card is maxed out, so I literally cannot spend a penny–I’d have to pay a $30 overdraft fee for any charge I make.

My ex has been cutting down her hours at work so she could spend more time studying, and is also financially hurting because of it.

We’re driving to LA from San Diego today, and expect to get there around 6 PM unless traffic is particularly nasty.

What can we see and do in LA tonight on a dirt-poor-student budget or (preferably) for free? Simple things like parks or locally-owned coffee shops would be appreciated, but if there’s some amazing deal somewhere I’d like to hear about that too.

Thanks!

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Oh, a couple things I forgot to mention:

I’m 20, in case that affects things.

Also, I’d love a good recommendation for a hookah lounge.

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Griffith Park is absolutely beautiful and a great place to hike and such. The scenery is just wonderful. Around Hollywood there’s always the star walk and other ‘touristy’ kind of sights to see. I’m sure there’s tons more, but those are two off the top of my head.

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[QUOTE=fetus]
Oh, a couple things I forgot to mention:

I’m 20, in case that affects things.

Also, I’d love a good recommendation for a hookah lounge.
[/QUOTE]

Just out of curiosity, what will you do at hookah lounge if you can’t spend money? Or a coffee shop for that matter?
I’ve only been to LA a couple of times, but both times I got the impression that it is very much a driving town, so that might make it difficult to find a single place you can do a lot of stuff at.

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This website has a whole slew of free things to do in L.A.: http://www.laokay.com/Free.htm

I’m not sure why you’d want to hang out in a coffee shop if you can’t at least buy coffee, but you might be able to find a bookstore that’s got a speaker or some music, which would, of course be free.

There’s also the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, where there’s always street musicians and acts and such.

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How do I get there?

We can probably spend a small amount of money (and I’d like to know for future reference, anyway), but we can’t go anywhere where we’d have to pay a bunch of money to get in, like a big-name concert or a ritzy restaurant or an expensive Hollywood tourist attraction or something. (Where are the free tourist attractions in Hollywood, anyway? How do you get to the star walk, etc.? We’re going to the Hollywood Improv later tonight anyway (I scored some tickets for free somehow).)

Also, can anyone tell me anything about UCLA/USC–is there some free campus walk or art collection or something? And which has the better library? (Seriously–we go to UCSD’s library and read academic journals for sport.)

I’m not sure how it is in North Carolina, but I imagine you’d say the same thing about San Diego, so I don’t think we’re in for a surprise.

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I’m assuming you have a few bucks to spend on coffee–otherwise I’d seriously recommend you postpone your trip. There’s not a whole lot you can do without at least a little money for parking.

If you’re going to be in West L.A., there’s a really great coffeehouse called Cacao on Santa Monica, just west of Federal on the north side. They’re only open evenings, and unfortunately they are not a hookah lounge, but it’s well worth a try if you’re into coffeehouses. It’s the last remaining of a half dozen independent coffee houses that used to be in the neighborhood, the most distant two still within a long walk of each other.

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The walk of fame is about 2 miles from the Improv, it’s north 3 main streets (Hollywood Blvd) and then west a bit. Seriously though, if you find a place to park around there, there’s plenty to see just wandering around.

Here is the website for Griffith Park, http://www.lacity.org/rap/dos/parks/griffithPK/index.htm Map and directions on on there. But basically it’s right off the 5 at Los Feliz blvd.

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If you’re planning to go by UCLA, there is (or used to be) a hookah bar on Broxton, right next to campus.

I’ve never been there, but I walked past it plenty of times visiting my friend at UCLA. It’s across the street from Didi Reese, an awesome and very cheap cookie and ice cream place. Just look for a long line.

A little searching found me this: The Gypsy Cafe.

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[QUOTE=fetus]

Also, can anyone tell me anything about UCLA/USC–is there some free campus walk or art collection or something? And which has the better library? (Seriously–we go to UCSD’s library and read academic journals for sport.)

[/QUOTE]

Too late, I know, but I’ll add my 2 cents anyways for your future reference.

I highly recommend the Young Research Library at UCLA. If you are a bibliophile, that’s the place to be. Downstairs is the rare book collection. Ground level hosts the periodicals. Upstairs on level three crammed into the southwest corner is a woman up to her eyeballs in texts on Roman civil procedure. That would be me. Stop to say hi, I’ll buy you a coffee at Jimmy’s. Also, in the lobby there are various displays of books/paraphrenalia/vignette/whatever on some topic or another.

On a more serious level, the Murphy Sculpture Garden right outside of the YRL hosts quite a few nice pieces, including a Rodin and a Miro. Probably closed tonight though as Bill Clinton will be giving a speech there tomorrow morning. There’s always the Hammer Museum as well, though I confess I’ve never been.

I can confirm the existence of the hookah bar on Broxton. Again, I haven’t been (Westwood Hookah Dopefest, anyone?).

If you go up Bruin Walk (which is the main artery leading from the medical center/Westwood/South Campus to North Campus - my general locus) you’ll likely find something free to do. Whether you want to do it or not is something else entirely. This is where all the clubs hand out fliers, and the general hub of activity. Margaret Cho gave a free performance last night, and Clinton’s speech tomorrow is free as well (I have class however, and my grades are slightly more important to me than Slick Willy’s endorsement of Prop. 87). $2 movies are often offered (This week is PotC2 and The Devil Wears Prada).

Westwood has many reasonably priced restaurants that are much better than that offered on campus, plus there is decent shopping to be had. Bring your anti-religious-nut raygun though, they’ve been thick as thieves lately.

I can’t say much for SC, except it’s by Exposition park. AFAIK, admittance to the Science Center is free (or used to be). That’s always a fun way to burn some time. I don’t remember how much it is for the Museum of Nat. History, but I know there is a student discount.

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We got on the road a lot later than we thought. We ended up picking up some Tito’s Tacos (she was a little disappointed that they didn’t have chicken tacos), then we sat down for hazelnut mochas at Cacao. They were playing an indie band called the Mountain Goats that she was way into and had never heard anywhere other than her own computer before–that was awesome. We got lost in Hollywood and ended up at the Improv an hour late, but we caught some great acts and even ran into Michael Richards, who was grey, grumpy and in a hurry to get out. It was a very brief and impersonable encounter, but us broke-ass San Diego community college students were dazzled. We had a blast.

Thanks for all the tips, guys; we plan to hike at Griffith Park when we have a day up there, and probably check out the Getty Museum (I’ve been once, it was amazing). Of course we’ll visit Cacao again–awesome atmosphere, good coffee and totally a hole-in-the-wall underground shop if either of us has ever seen one. (Thanks Spectre of Pithecanthropus! We should meet up there for a cup or two sometime, no?) We thought about going to the walk of fame and walking around the area, but it was getting to be 2 AM and we decided there were too many cops and robbers milling about and we both had to get up in the morning anyway.

iamthewalrus(:3=, we’re absolutely going to visit UCLA sometime soon, and we’ll check out Didi Reese and the Gypsy Cafe on the way. Thanks!

Awesome! We’ll let you know when we’re coming up.

I am so down. I’m sure she’d love to go, too.

Cool! Tons of great info, thanks. She’s an atheist from the Deep South so she’s used to fending off religious nuts.

Thanks for the websites too, Shayna. That will inform many of our coming weekends, to be sure.

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[QUOTE=The Sausage Creature]

If you go up Bruin Walk (which is the main artery leading from the medical center/Westwood/South Campus to North Campus - my general locus) you’ll likely find something free to do. Whether you want to do it or not is something else entirely. This is where all the clubs hand out fliers, and the general hub of activity. Margaret Cho gave a free performance last night, and Clinton’s speech tomorrow is free as well (I have class however, and my grades are slightly more important to me than Slick Willy’s endorsement of Prop. 87). $2 movies are often offered (This week is PotC2 and The Devil Wears Prada).
.
[/QUOTE]

UCLA is definitely worth seeing if you haven’t been. There are some great photo ops, and if you’re into architectural photography, those neo-Romanesque buildings around Royce Plaza are almost impossible to photograph badly.

If you play written music, the music library has a good collection. You might be able to find something you’ve wanted for a long time, and it doesn’t cost much to make copies.

Actually I’ve loved the place ever since I was a student there, and the only reason I don’t study there for the program I’m currently in elsewhere is that I can’t use their Internet hotpoints.

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Take a drive out to Wayfarer’s Chappel in the Palos Verdes Peninsula area - a chappel designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s kids, I believe. Awesome scenery. The chappel is entirely glass and open for meditation if no one else is using it for weddings or such. Also in the PV area is a botanical garden - Descanso Gardens.

At that, another near-freebie in Pasadena is the Huntington Library. Beautiful gardens, ancient books and some nowhere else art masterpieces. “Blue Boy” and “Pinkie” have been there, IIRC.

Or pick up a guide book for some of the historical bits of downtown LA - the public Library, Union Station, the Angels Flight funicular. Olvera Street is pretty touristy, but nearby Chinatown is pretty genuine.

All cool, all cheap.

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[QUOTE=fetus]
Also, I’d love a good recommendation for a hookah lounge.
[/QUOTE]

They have hookah lounges here?

Well, I live in L.A. and I’d also like a good recommendation for one. (and I have at least some money)

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[QUOTE=Rigamarole]
They have hookah lounges here?

Well, I live in L.A. and I’d also like a good recommendation for one. (and I have at least some money)
[/QUOTE]

:eek: Are you serious? Hookah lounges are everywhere in Southern California. I just didn’t know where the good ones in LA were. Gypsy Cafe has been mentioned here, and I passed another one (don’t know how good it is, though) going into and out of North Hollywood a couple of weeks ago.