i'm going to book a vacation out to california in the middle of september and this thread will be my repository for advice, things to do and great deals. i've been there a bunch and have already had the hollywood/venice beach/orange county experiences, so i'd like to put a lot of thought into how i slice up my itinerary.

i've got the meager beginnings of a "long list", which includes the following:

koreatown
drive up to monterey for an overnighter at the jazz fest
umami burger
friend meetups (obners?)
museum of jurassic technology
shows (i'll start fishing around for tour schedules july/aug)


any suggestions for food, parks/camping stuff, weird shops, annual fests, etc will be much appreciated in the coming months...

Are you going to be on your own? With Toots Jr.? Femtoots?

I think Umami Burger is overrated. I Like Go Burgers much more but really there are so many options for good ethnic foods that you can get in LA that you probably can't get most other places in the country that I wouldn't make any Burger place a priority. Aren't you sick of Burgers already? LA is really sprawling and there are tons of good restaurants. I wouldn't say that there is any place you'd have to hit while in town. I'd plan it more by the neighborhoods/areas you are hitting for other reasons.

I assume you have Koreatown on the list mainly for food. I can't think of any other good reason to go there. I'm not a big fan of Korean food but people who are swear by Park's BBQ and Soot Jeep Bull.

If you go up to Monterey, Big Sur is close by and would be a good stop for camping. I also really like the Channel Islands which are off the coast of Ventura just a little to the north of Malibu. I also like the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs. There's obviously a lot more if you are interested in driving 4-5 hours.

LA doesn't really have any big festivals/fests. There are more up in the Bay area.

I'd probably be up for meeting for a meal/drinks or whatever when you're in town but it's a pretty long way away and I suck at committing to anything more than a few days in advance.

good point.

i'll be by my lonesome...just wanna get out of this midwestern limbo for a week or so. i'm interested in the big sur camping experience. i wonder if i could camp out there during the fest.

maybe closer to the time we could trade PMs for a possible brew or seven. it's a ways off.

thanks for the tips!

I'm not sure exactly where they hold the Monterey Jazzfest but Monterey is just to the north of Big Sur so I'd think it would be possible to camp in Big Sur and drive to the fest from there. We certainly drove into Monterey a few times last time I camped in Big Sur.

Yeah, we can trade PMs and plan to get a brew or drink or seven when it gets closer.

I'm happy to try to answer any questions that you have about places/restaurants/neighborhoods/etc. For restaurants, a good source is the reviews of Jonathan Gold over at LA Weekly. He puts out tons of lists (top 100 restaurants, top things to eat, etc) and is the only critic to ever win a pulitizer prize. You should be able to find all his stuff over on their website. I try to make sure to go check out some restaurant I've never eaten at that he likes at least once a month.

Isn't Father's Office the place to get the gourmet LA Burger?

Also, toots, I'd suggest:

Compton
The Tate-Labianca murder house
A stop in Santa Barbera if your driving b/n La and Monterrey
Santa Anita Racetrack
Nakitomi Towers
A medical gweeg script
And maybe checking out ucla to see where they filmed the final scenes in Gotcha!

I have a friend who's an LA county sherriff -- you'll probably need his number for any number of crimes Billy is planning on you taking the rap for.

Big Sur is about 30 miles south of Monterey (and 26 south of Carmel, also interesting)... camping is possible but may be full in the time you are going... Andrew Molera is a good state park just north of Big Sur which is sometimes less crowded... great, great hikes all over Big Sur. The Jazz Festival is at the Monterey Fairgrounds... the site of the greatest rock festival of all time, Monterey Pop 1967. While Monterey/Pacific Grove/Big Sur is one of the most beautiful areas in the world, it is a four-five hour drive from LA. (And is do go, absolutely spend some time in Santa Barbara).

LA? Culture stops are worth it.. the Getty high on the hill, LA County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art which, if you like architecture is across the street from the Disney Hall which is three blocks from the billion-dollar new (in the last 20 years) cathedral. Philharmonic and Dudamel!! Crack can be purchased just west of Macarthur Park, Heroin in the Pico-Union area, speed in Studio City, and a range of weed in Venice. You need, of course, to see beatnik-cum-hippie-cum-ganster-cum-hollwood aflluent Venice. Santa Monica and Malibu.

And food... ethnic food...best Mexican food is, of course, in East LA (Serenata de Garibaldi, or La Parrilla in Boyle Heights), Ethiopean, Chinese (Monterey Park), Thai, Japanese (Japan Town is a lot more interesting than Korea Town), Armenian, Greek...


Back to the Monterey Pop Festival... where Jimi determine that Time itself needed to stop and wait for something completely new to emerge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdoKb7oksZE

I keep reading this as "Anal Thread" and have been avoiding it for quite some time.

amoeba

i'll probably pass on amoeba this time around. been there quite a few times.

the idea of camping at or around big sur has taken root in my brain and is starting to excite me...

People come to Big Sur in the summer and often get fog. Marine coastal climinate in CA has little sun well in July. Mid-Sept is when the weather in central CA is perfect.

[nature boner]

I'm not sure what I think of this advice. The Getty is somewhat worth seeing just for the view of LA from the grounds (although I'd prefer to hike to a comparable view). I've never really been that impressed with any of the exhibitions though and think I actually prefer the old Getty in Malibu to the "new" Getty. I'm a member of MOCA and LACMA and like both but I rarely take visitors there. If you get to NYC or DC at all, they pale in comparison to the museums you'd see there. I really like the Grammy Museum a lot which will have both a Lennon exhibit and a Marley exhibit while Toots is in town. It might be worth a visit although the thing I like most about the Grammy is their events not the exhibits. If Toots is in town on the second thursday of the month, the downtown artwalk is worth going to. Tons of small studios showing the works of local artists (with many pouring free wine), MOCA joins in and offers free admission, and the downtown has a vibrancy and big city feel unlike any other time of the month. Could be paired with a trip to one of the many great newish restaurants downtown (Lazy Ox, Riveria, Wurstkusch, Mo Chica) and/or a visit to one of the great themed bars (rum bars, whiskey bars, tequila/mezcal bars).

I think the Huntington Gardens & Library are pretty amazing and would be a better visit than either LACMA, the Getty, or MOCA. There's the Reagan and Nixon Presidential libraries if you are into that sort of thing. There are also some pretty cool oddball bus tours (rock history, scandal (think where eddie murphy picked up a tranny, etc), literary tours (bukowski, fante, chandler), murder/crime). I get a kick out of them but they are far from essential. The essential stuff to me is getting out and enjoying the outdoors and eating really well (Jonathan Gold calls LA the best place to eat in the world).

Ten years ago it was THE place to get a gourmet burger. Now it's one of a ton of places. Umami is much more popular now although I'm not a huge fan.

i came across something about the artwalk yesterday. perhaps at www.laist.com?

is that a legit site?

MOCA has a great collection (and in thelast month I've seen the Tate Modern in London and the MOMA in SF... MOCA is worth the time). The Getty on the hill is great architecture and has a strong collection. The Getty Malibu, the Huntington Library Garden, the Reagan... are all sentimental and (hargh) republican blue hairish...might as well go to the Norton Simon in sensible shoes and a flag pin.

yeah that's a pretty good and useful site.

and since Harry's started the pictures

Channel Islands:

god damn

so can you just pick any old outlying rock and set up a tent?

or in my case, since i'm from indiana and all, park a beat up and primer'd '74 winny

that's how we do

I'm not saying MOCA doesn't have things worth seeing but there's nothing quintessenial LA about it and I'd still argue that it pales in comparison to comparable museums in NYC and DC. I wouldn't go if I was a tourist but you could spend your time in worse ways certainly. I think the Huntington Library is a pretty awesome place so we'll have to agree and the last time I went there was for their Bukowski exhibit (hardly blue harish republican). I'd pit the beauty of it's grounds over the views and architecture of the Getty any day of the week. You could do far worse than the Getty though.

i neglected to mention, or at least specify, that i'd be flying into LAX and spending most of my time in or near the Los Angeles area, save the possible drive up to monterey and surrounding areas. (but not ruling out a venture into another mountainous, forested, or desertified area).

seems like that has been assumed, though.

Toots - I've been to Big Sur. It's one of the few truly underrated places I've ever been. Check out The Henry Miller Library, Esalen Institute, etc. Pretty interesting literary figure. There's also a restaurant called Nepenthe up the road and on the cliff side, which I am assuming costs about as much as your mortgage for a meal.

I didn't do San Simeon - I'd love to go back some time. Looks insane.

These are becoming as groan-worthy as some of Bobbo's jokes.