Ex-L.A. resident coming back home as a tourist - what to do? (Long Beach: rental car, rental)

[highlanderfil]

I've long struggled with creating this thread simply because there are plenty of websites out there that offer "24 things to do in L.A. in 24 hours" type of lists and I didn't want to receive advice the general gist of which was "JFGI". That's not exactly what I'm after. I lived in L.A. between 1996 and 2010 and it feels like there are a lot of "typical" L.A. staples that I haven't done that residents generally tend to take for granted and those are some of the gaps I'd like to plug. Just to give you an idea, most of my time in L.A. was spent in the SFV area, as well as Downtown, Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Claremont. So, lots of geographical areas to cover.

For example, I've never once been to King Taco even though saying that is basically tantamount to admitting to sleeping with your second cousin. I hadn't been to the Venice Canals until a couple years ago, same with the (old) Petersen Automotive Museum. I have been to some of the other museums (LACMA, etc.), so I'm not necessarily after those types of places - more interested in checking out some local favorites in terms of activities, places to eat, neat things to see, etc.

I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about - when I brought my then-girlfriend, now-wife to L.A. for the first time a couple years back, we did a fair bit of driving around the typical touristy places and ended up in Beverly Hills one afternoon, but what we liked most wasn't Rodeo Drive or gawking at the mansions as one normally would, but the Witch's House. Didn't even matter that we could only look at it from the outside.

My current plans have me arriving on Christmas day and out on the 30th of December, which is neither a little, nor a lot. I'm (mostly) staying by LAX (one night in Pasadena) and will have a car at my disposal, making me pretty mobile. I will end up spending some time in SFV, because that's where my parents live, so let's call Long Beach as my southernmost boundary.

Some of the stuff I already have planned includes the aforementioned King Taco, the remodeled Petersen, plane spotting around LAX (which I usually do anyways, but this time around I'm going to give a different location - the hill by Dockweiler - a look). Plus there's a kind of a "Big Bang Theory" places tour in Pasadena (self-guided) that might be interesting. I'd also like to check out Grand Central Market and maybe Angels Flight (EDIT, just found out it was closed some time ago) in Downtown and may pile those on top of the Lakers-Jazz game I was planning on taking my father to. Generally my itinerary looks like this:

24th: fly in around 2:30, grab rental car, maybe check out the observation deck at LAX (I think it's open until 5) and probably make this my plane spotting day until sundown (Custom Hotel, Dockweiler, Imperial Hill, etc.). Maybe drive out to Malibu for a run on the Ray Miller Backbone Trail. Could use recos on places to eat, otherwise I'll just end up at In-N-Out and that's becoming passe.

25th: soccer in SFV in the morning, parents' place afterwards. This will likely be low-key anyhow because most places will be closed on Xmas. But if the weather is nice, I'd like to take my folks somewhere, so I'm wide open to suggestions.

26th: totally open. This may be the day to go to Petersen since it's closed Xmas day.

27th: Lakers are playing the Jazz in the evening, so anything Downtown-related is fair game, but probably not until around 2 pm or so, as I'll need to pick up my father and he'll get tired easily if we end up spending the whole day there. Since that means I'll be on my own in the morning, if you have ideas on good places to get breakfast in the El Segundo area, I'm all ears.

28th: relocating to Pasadena for the evening but that doesn't mean much in terms of places to go. Might take some advice from this thread, as well.

29th: meeting up with a friend in Pasadena in the morning and will likely be there until at least 5-6 p.m., at which time I'll probably drive back over to the parents' place before going back to my LAX hotel.

30th: flight leaves around noon and I'll have returned my car the night before, so I don't think I'll have much time for activities.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Fellow exile here. Head for the South Bay and the SE corner of the county. Most especially LBC/Lakewood/etc. Yelp stuff in those areas and you can have quite a packed agenda.

[socal88]

King Taco is very overrated. Go to Guisados instead. They have locations in Echo Park, Downtown LA, East LA, and West Hollywood.

Not sure if it will be open if you end up in Malibu on Christmas eve, but Malibu Seafood is a good spot. And perhaps you can take your folks there on Christmas Day to relax by the beach if it's a nice day.

If you're looking for a good hike, check out Caballero Canyon Trail (starts at southern end of Reseda Blvd.) or another trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. Hiking in Griffith Park is also fun as well. Eaton Canyon in Pasadena is also a good hiking spot.

As far as Downtown, if you're looking to do something during the day, maybe grab lunch at Grand Central Market. Tons of great food. Or if you want breakfast for lunch, The Original Pantry is excellent. There are a couple museums Downtown but sounds like you'd prefer to do something otherwise.

[Lovehound]

Don't ask me. I've lived here my whole life and don't understand why anybody would pick L.A. as a tourist destination. Maybe I'm just jaded, seen it all...

I would tell people to go visit America's fantastic national parks.

I'd say the same about Las Vegas. Not worth it unless you have your heart set on a drive-thru wedding presided over by an Elvis impersonator!

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by socal88

King Taco is very overrated. Go to Guisados instead. They have locations in Echo Park, Downtown LA, East LA, and West Hollywood.

Cool, thanks. I think I'll have time to check out both. I want to go to KT just to say I've been, honestly. It's kind of like going to In-N-Out.

Not sure if it will be open if you end up in Malibu on Christmas eve, but Malibu Seafood is a good spot. And perhaps you can take your folks there on Christmas Day to relax by the beach if it's a nice day.

I've been, a few times, but it's always a good suggestion.

If you're looking for a good hike, check out Caballero Canyon Trail (starts at southern end of Reseda Blvd.) or another trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. Hiking in Griffith Park is also fun as well. Eaton Canyon in Pasadena is also a good hiking spot.

I'm not huge on hiking - running, yes, hiking less so.

As far as Downtown, if you're looking to do something during the day, maybe grab lunch at Grand Central Market. Tons of great food. Or if you want breakfast for lunch, The Original Pantry is excellent. There are a couple museums Downtown but sounds like you'd prefer to do something otherwise.

Yeah, museums are cool, but I'll leave that for another day. Thanks for the other suggestions.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Don't ask me. I've lived here my whole life and don't understand why anybody would pick L.A. as a tourist destination. Maybe I'm just jaded, seen it all...

I would tell people to go visit America's fantastic national parks.

I'd say the same about Las Vegas. Not worth it unless you have your heart set on a drive-thru wedding presided over by an Elvis impersonator!

I hate Vegas. L.A. is different for me because I grew up there and it's a different experience coming back as a non-resident...I like it.

[Happy in L.A.]

Check out the new observation deck on the 69th floor of the US Bank Tower Building in downtown LA. While downtown also head over to The Last Book Store. I love that place. Then walk over to Little Sisters Vietnamese restaurant on 7th. Great food !!

[saybanana]

I was going to suggest the OUE Skyspace (US Bank building indoor/outdoor observation deck, and glass slide) Opened this year. Also a nice upscale restaurant a floor above.

Nearby is the new free Broad Museum next to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Downtown is nearly brand new compared to 2010. Too many new places to shop like Fig at 7th and new Macys block. Lots of new places to eat, too numerous to count. Too many new construction as you will notice near Staples Center where parking used to be. Also the new supertall tower with a spire on 7th/Figueroa.

I personally love going to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook or Ken Hahn Park next door for views of LA City. Different view of the city looking north, but most people go to the Griffith Runyon or Getty and look south.

Space shuttle at the CA Science Center. I think that came after 2010. I saw that fly over city and then roll along streets. LACMA has a giant rock that also rolled along streets.

One place on my list is Carroll Street in Echo Park with the Victorian buildings like the one in Michael Jackson Thriller video.

Also they fixed up Echo Park lake, and have paddle boats.

They tore down the iconic 6th street bridge because it had concrete cancer. But will replace it with a ribbon bridge.

[highlanderfil]

Thanks, guys. I am going to put Baldwin Hills on my list for sure.

[adr3naline]

You noticed Grand Central Market which is a must these days. If you haven’t been there in years, there are some eggcellent new eateries. I saw eggcellent because my favorite place is Egg Slu7 (replace 7 with T). Hit that up on Tuesday and the crowds will be small since office types like me generally take off that 3-day span between the holidays. Angels Flight is literally across the street.

Ever ran up Griffith hiking trails on the basin side? There’s a relatively flat ~60min up/down if you park on the side road just south of The Greek. I run this regularly. Great views from Glendale to DTLA to Century City.

You mentioned Beverly Hills area as a favorite place. The Westfield Mall is under renovation right now. I don’t know why but I find its sheer size and intricacies fascinating.