Good Morning, Happy Friday!!
My family will be going on vacation in 2 weeks, yay!! We are going to California. We'll be in staying in Anaheim and going to Disneyland a couple of days, but I'm looking for ideas for other great places to visit in the LA area. We are thinking about a museum. My boys are 11 and 15. We are pretty familiar with the area because we go about once a year but we always seem to end up doing the same things. We don't plan to go to San Diego this trip, but one day we plan to go North toward Santa Barbara.
Any great ideas? We'd also take cool restaurant suggestions as well.
Thank you,
M.
What about tickets to a taping of a TV show? I know when I was out there many moons ago, I was in the audience for "Match Game" - yep, I'm definitely showing my age!! Was also in the audience for a talk show but it never got picked up; it was still fun.
I had tickets for "The Price is Right" but never used them. Ran out of time!!
Good luck and have fun!!
Have only been to L.A. once. Stayed in Santa Monica. Drove up to Malibu and ate at Dukes and Moonshadow right on/over the water. There is also a restaurant called The Lobster at the beginning of Santa Monica Pier that had the best food! Loved their garlic fries! Great atmosphere. It was a short walk from our hotel. We did do the La Brea tar pits and art museum that is right next door. Think we had a combo ticket. Also went to a beautiful Asian garden in Anaheim, but can't remember the name.
If you like asian food, you have to go to Daichan. Looks like a hole in the wall, but SOOOO good, reasonably priced, and actors/actresses eat here. I sat 2 tables away from Cybil Shepard. The guy from American Pie was also here when I was there. I haven't been there in almost 7 years and I miss it :(
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/5/63828/restaurant/LA/Daichan...
Santa Monica Pier?
Gladstones 4 Fish ( if it's still there! )
Try to take in a show, I saw Wicked my last trip to LA and it was incredible!
Venice Beach is a must! Amazing people watching!
You should definitely take them to the California Science Center near downtown LA. It's currently housing the Space Shuttle Endeavor and is definitely worth a visit. Plus, the museum is always free! You may need to make a reservation to see Endeavor, so go online and plan ahead. You can't just show up and automatically get to see it. http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/
They may also enjoy the Natural History Museum, which happens to be located right across the street from the Science Center. http://www.nhm.org/site/
If you want to stay closer to Anaheim, check out the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, about 10 minutes away. http://www.discoverycube.org/ The current special exhibit there is "Animal Grossology," which may be particularly appealing to boys. :D
If they are sports fans, you should see if the Anaheim Ducks hockey team is in town and go watch a game. You could also try for tickets to see the Lakers, Clippers or UCLA basketball.
Umami Burger is a popular restaurant with multiple locations and lots of interesting, very tasty burgers to try. 800 Degrees, owned by the same people, is a very popular build-your-own-pizza shop in Westwood (if you go to Westwood, you must also check out Diddy Riese cookies). http://www.umami.com/800-degrees/
Bruxie features waffle sandwiches. I haven't been yet, but people say it's excellent. From Anaheim, you'd probably want to go to the Old Towne Orange location. http://bruxie.com/ Old Towne Orange can also be a fun place just to walk around. If you're not too full from the sandwiches, there is a really good cupcake shop there, but I can't remember the name.
Speaking of cupcakes, you may hear that Sprinkles cupcakes are so wonderful but I must say that Susie Cakes (www.susiecakesla.com) are WAY better!! They are less known, but so delicious. Newport Beach is closest to Anaheim; there is also a location in Brentwood if you find yourself in Westwood/West LA/Santa Monica/Beverly Hills area.
Another thing to consider if you find yourself in Westwood is to see a movie at the Village (aka Fox) theater, where many movies have their red carpet premieres.
Aside from the last couple of days, it's been really warm here (75-85 degrees), so you might even be able to hit the beach. Newport has the Balboa Fun Zone, though I haven't been in 20+ years so I don't know what it's like these days, especially in February.
