Going to LA next week-what should I do?

[Gizzmonic]

Please tell me places to go and people to eat!  I am not good at planning things.  My trip of 3.5 days should afford a bit of leisure time. Going to see Cake at the Palladium.  What else should I do?  I'm into some noir Raymond-Chandler-type shit if possible.

[Ty in Tampa]

Watts Towers
La Brea Tar Pits
Skid Row

[MusicMan]

Watts Towers
La Brea Tar Pits
Skid Row

Make sure to hit some of the local eateries around the USC campus.

[juliogotay]

My favorite old-Hollywood restaurant is Musso & Franks. Great bar, great martinis. Good steaks. Been around for decades and everyone has eaten there. If you are really into old Hollywood, there is a cemetary near the Paramount Studios where many of the folks are buried. The Fairbanks, Tyrone Power. It is open to the public. Beautiful, well-kept grounds.

Pinks for a great but expensive hotdog. You will wait in line. Phillipe's invented the French Dip sandwhich and it is terrific. I've always enjoyed breakfast at the Farmer's Market (DuPar's) and then a stroll through The Grove.

Griffith Park Observatory is a great view. Getty Museum.

[Limey]

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

[Gizzmonic]

Watts Towers
La Brea Tar Pits
Skid Row

Sounds noir as fuck!  Any chance I could pay someone to sap me and leave me in an alley?

[Gizzmonic]

My favorite old-Hollywood restaurant is Musso & Franks. Great bar, great martinis. Good steaks. Been around for decades and everyone has eaten there. If you are really into old Hollywood, there is a cemetary near the Paramount Studios where many of the folks are buried. The Fairbanks, Tyrone Power. It is open to the public. Beautiful, well-kept grounds.

Pinks for a great but expensive hotdog. You will wait in line. Phillipe's invented the French Dip sandwhich and it is terrific. I've always enjoyed breakfast at the Farmer's Market (DuPar's) and then a stroll through The Grove.

Griffith Park Observatory is a great view. Getty Museum.

Cool, thanks for the suggestions.

[Ron Brand]

Sounds noir as fuck!  Any chance I could pay someone to sap me and leave me in an alley?

No reason to pay. Just hang around for a while in Echo Park.

[juliogotay]

THe Laurel Canyon neighborhood, north of Sunset Strip, is a pretty cool neighborhoods where alot of the '60s  rock crowd lived. Browne, Mitchell, Morrison, Zappa, et al. I believe the Trabadour is still standing where many of them got their start.

[Ron Brand]

Apple Pan. Cheeseburger and banana cream pie.

Cruise up the PCH through Malibu and back. Somewhere out west are the ruins of Houdini's mansion, and you used to be able to walk up the steps and look around.

If you've got real time, the Getty museum is great. Pasadena is full of museums and galleries and I think there are a few Wright homes out there too.

The Cinerama Dome is cool.

When do you leave?

[Ron Brand]

THe Laurel Canyon neighborhood, north of Sunset Strip, is a pretty cool neighborhoods where alot of the '60s  rock crowd lived. Browne, Mitchell, Morrison, Zappa, et al. I believe the Trabadour is still standing where many of them got their start.

Tear ass around Mulholland. Imagine taking Dead Man's Curve at 80.

Seriously, canyon drives are magnificent. Last time we were there the sides were littered with houses that had slid down almost to the road.

[Jacksonian]

Make sure to hit some of the local eateries around the USC campus.

So that's what the kids in LA are calling it nowadays.

[Ron Brand]

Book Soup is one of the coolest book stores in the world.

The Magic Castle is great if you are a magic fan.

Get your picture taken in front of the Bullwinkle Statue at 8218 Sunset.

[Ron Brand]

Go back and watch No Reservations and The Layover's episodes on LA and go to those places.

[chuck]

I second (third) the suggestion to drive around in the canyons. Drive up one and down the other. The canyons are the only places I've ever been able to conjure up any of the LA essence I know through The Big Sleep or Pet Sounds or any other inclusions on the very (severely) limited list of things to have come out of LA that are worth a shit.

[juliogotay]

Apple Pan. Cheeseburger and banana cream pie.

Cruise up the PCH through Malibu and back. Somewhere out west are the ruins of Houdini's mansion, and you used to be able to walk up the steps and look around.

If you've got real time, the Getty museum is great. Pasadena is full of museums and galleries and I think there are a few Wright homes out there too.

The Cinerama Dome is cool.

When do you leave?

The wife and I enjoyed Pasadena. The Rose Bowl is locked down but the neighborhood was gorgous. We spent our last night in Riverside at the Mission Inn which is spectacular. There is absolutely no reason to go to Riverside but we flew out of Ontario the next morning. And ou won't have, or want, to leave the hotel. Maybe my favorite place I've ever stayed. Like you, RB, we enjoyed just driving around and taking in the sights and the neighborhoods. We took one of those cheesy bus tours of the Stars homes and I actually enjoyed it. The guide was full of stories, possibly full of other things, and it was enjoyable.

[Ron Brand]

If you like deli, Canter's is good. If you're a night owl, it becomes a hub for comedians after they get off work late. You never know who or what you'll see in Canter's in the middle of the night.

[Ron Brand]

The wife and I enjoyed Pasadena. The Rose Bowl is locked down but the neighborhood was gorgous. We spent our last night in Riverside at the Mission Inn which is spectacular. There is absolutely no reason to go to Riverside but we flew out of Ontario the next morning. And ou won't have, or want, to leave the hotel. Maybe my favorite place I've ever stayed. Like you, RB, we enjoyed just driving around and taking in the sights and the neighborhoods. We took one of those cheesy bus tours of the Stars homes and I actually enjoyed it. The guide was full of stories, possibly full of other things, and it was enjoyable.

Pasadena is a really pretty island in the sprawl.

We never did one of those tours, but I've looked at the maps and when you drive around Beverly Hills or Belair and you see the houses, they don't look that big. I remember seeing where Jimmy Stewart lived and thinking, "It's a nice house, but Jimmy Stewart? He should have some huge mansion." They're just nice houses right next to nice houses, with common lawns, etc. I guess that all changed in the late 60s when the giant Bel Air Walled Mansions were built.

I enjoy LA. I get a kick out of the little things, like orange trees in dinky city lawns that are full of fruit. I'm sure if I lived there I'd grow to hate it but visiting is enjoyable.

[juliogotay]

Yea, Jimmy Stewart and that crowd did live in more modest homes in Beverly Hills. Not the more ostentious places today in the Hills like today's group. Lucy and Ethel were even neighbors on the same street. BTW, when we did the tour, Jennifer Lopez was living in the Stewart house.

As for the little things, we were driving down the street that face the bungalows of the Beverly Hills hotel and this oddly dressed little fella walked out towards a limo. He was carrying a guitar and dressed to the nines. My college age daughter got a kick out of seeing Prince unexpectedly.

[Limey]

Take a whizz in a park in Beverly Hills.  You never know who might be hanging out there.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Downtown L.A., Madame Wong's?

[Matt]

Find the Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck.
Have ramen in downtown LA at Little Tokyo
I second the Griffith Park suggestion.
Don't go look at the stars on Hollywood Blvd.
In fact, avoid that area mostly.
Venice is always weird.
Check out the Getty art museum.
Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

[Ebby Calvin]

Father's Office has great beer on tap and a really good burger.
Walk the Strand near Manhattan Beach.

[juliogotay]

Just saw an episode of Emeril's Originals in LA. One of the three feature establishments was Musso & Franks. They opened in 1919, original location still in use. THey cook their steaks over a mesquite grill that is original. Raymond Chandler used to frequent the bar. Chaplin had a favorite booth in the corner. Boulabaisse (sp?) is also a specialty and looked damn good.

[juliogotay]

Gizzmonic, have you been to LA yet? Was curious as to what you did out there.

[Gizzmonic]

 We stayed at the Roosevelt.  Went to see Cake in the Palladium-great show, great venue.  They played 2 sets, and it was packed, crowd was into it, etc.  They gave away a small tree in a planter to a fan.  Walked past the giant "PSYCHIATRY=DEATH" Scientology compound on Sunset, which amused my psychiatrist wife.

Next day we went to the farmer's market and ate at DuPar's (per your recommendation).  I bought some vintage crap at Shine's (I love dangerous toys).  We went up to the Getty with a friend and roamed around Hollywood Boulevard some more.  The whole area seems a lot like Vegas to me.  They were putting up barricades in preparation for the Oscars.  Wasn't able to get a table at Musso and Frank's, but the "Public" restaurant at the hotel was awesome.  Had leek salad and a French dip.

Monday (President's Day) we visited my uncle and he drove us to the LaBrea Tar Pits, up the coast, the start of I-10, Malibu, then back through the canyons.  Very scenic!  Monday night I chilled in Echo Park with some friends.  I really wanted to go to "Pins & Needles" pinball arcade/tailor shop, but it was closed.  Maybe next time.  All in all, I felt like I barely scratched the surface, but I only had 3 days, and I was mostly visiting friends.

[juliogotay]

You did alot. Sounds like you had a great time.

[Matt]

We stayed at the Roosevelt.  Went to see Cake in the Palladium-great show, great venue.  They played 2 sets, and it was packed, crowd was into it, etc.  They gave away a small tree in a planter to a fan.  Walked past the giant "PSYCHIATRY=DEATH" Scientology compound on Sunset, which amused my psychiatrist wife.

Next day we went to the farmer's market and ate at DuPar's (per your recommendation).  I bought some vintage crap at Shine's (I love dangerous toys).  We went up to the Getty with a friend and roamed around Hollywood Boulevard some more.  The whole area seems a lot like Vegas to me.  They were putting up barricades in preparation for the Oscars.  Wasn't able to get a table at Musso and Frank's, but the "Public" restaurant at the hotel was awesome.  Had leek salad and a French dip.

Monday (President's Day) we visited my uncle and he drove us to the LaBrea Tar Pits, up the coast, the start of I-10, Malibu, then back through the canyons.  Very scenic!  Monday night I chilled in Echo Park with some friends.  I really wanted to go to "Pins & Needles" pinball arcade/tailor shop, but it was closed.  Maybe next time.  All in all, I felt like I barely scratched the surface, but I only had 3 days, and I was mostly visiting friends.

yeah that's a lot to cram into 3 days but you're right about barely scratching the surface.