Westward Bound...Ga to Santa Monica!!

Im taking my family on a road trip! we are heading out 7/27/12 - 8/12/12
our tentative plans are...

fly into phoenix on friday the 27th at 11 am
drive to cali not sure if i want to go to sandiego or straight to santa monica ill be there in the evening so looking for cruises or something to get into in the evening time!

places of interest are.......
Mesa Verde
Four Corners
Monument Valley
page az to camp at lake powell and maybe rent a boat for a day
Grand Canyon
las Vegas
Santa Monica Pier
So-Cal speed shop
maybe heart attack grill in Las Vegas
we want to see the winchester mystery house

its a lot to cover and do in 2 weeks. wife and kids are more interested in L.A. Hollywood sign Star walk etc.....

any ideas or things to see or do on the way????

any ideas or hints will be helpful may even camp some on our way so info or real time wildfire updates on places to avoid because of fire or misplaced families would be great help!

 

wow 94 views and no replies!!!!! i like to hear about favorite places to see or go even if its just to eat at a local fav.

anyway we changed our minds were are flying to phoenix az. get a rental car then driving to beaches in Ca. then its on to las vegas up to lake powell then down to grand canyon then back to phoenix to fly home. we may if time permits go to san fran to see alcatraz.

 

Good thing you changed your plans, you would never be able to do all that in two weeks.

 

yeah we kinda figured but we are not going with concrete plans anyway were open to do what we can and play it by ear!!!

 

Yeah, good call on flying if you've only got a couple of weeks. How old are your kids? We can recommend stuff better knowing their ages. There is a lot of very pretty country to see, but the drive from Phoenix to California beaches is quite desolate...

Any particular reason you want to end up at Santa Monica? We have 840 miles of coastline here.

 

kids want to go to pacific park on the pier but thats not the required spot to stay! we were looking from redondo up to malibu actually along the coast line. also we have six flags passes and they wanted to visit six flags in LA too.

 

So your kids dig roller coasters and such? The park at the end of the Santa Monica Pier is pretty limited (Think about how much stuff can you actually squeeze onto the end of a pier?). Six Flags is very rollercoaster ride oriented, and isn't too much different than any other Six Flags. Ever consider Knott's Berry Farm? They have some absolutely outstanding roller coasters, and it's a theme park, so your kids can get a taste of the "wild west" sort of deal, too.
Nothing wrong with Santa Monica, but it tends to be on the pricier side of accommodations that are near the ocean, and let's face it, you (hopefully) won't be spending too much time in a hotel room!

 

well we want to visit the pier its on the wifes list of things to see. we thought about sixflags because we have season passes from here in ga. were unsure about going there. we plan on seeing the hollywood sign,the star walk, wax museum, petersons auto museum maybe, and i heard the drive from santa monica to malibu was beautiful along the coast. we were considering driving up to the winchester mystery house in san jose too maybe even up to san fran but not sure on that one. trying to see the best things to see while were there! so in your opinion where is a good place to stay? i just dont want to end up in the ghetto.

 

I'm a fireman in LA, if you must see the pier and tourist stuff in LA I'd make it quick and then get back to real life and enjoy the real gems of the west.

Grand Canyon, Hoover Damn, NHRA Walky Parks Museum in Pomona,

If you have a choice I would go thru San Diego and stay away from LA.

 

The Peterson Automotive Museum is also great (Los Angeles)

 

Don't forget to go to Beachwood Drive in Hollywood and have your family's
picture taken in front of the Hollywood sign!

Oh, and The Broiler in Downey.

 

I have lived in SoCal my entire life. Myself, I would go to Petersen's Automotive Museum on Wilshire/Fairfax, take the wife and kids down the street to the "Grove" Mall/Farmer's Market on Fairfax - I always take relatives there and they seem to be always filming something, for TV, during the week. The La Brea Tarpits are just around the corner and Fairfax will take you up to Sunset Blvd which runs parallel to Hollywood Blvd. for which the "Star Walk" is located. Be prepared for a boatload of Wacko's on the Blvd. Third Street Promenade, in Santa Monica, is great for food, shopping and people watching. I recommend "Barney's Beanery". The pier will just be a disappointment. Santa Monica to Malibu is like 15 miles of bumper to bumper traffic, depending on the time of day. Highway 101 from Ventura, (60mi North of Los Angeles) to Santa Barbara is a beautiful drive and Santa Barbara is a great getaway. Be prepared for traffic like you have never experienced especially all the work going on the 405freeway, which splits Santa Monica & L.A.

 

I agree with Tommy's advice.

Eat at In N Out and if you do got to Knotts eat at the chicken dinner place.

The Winchester House would mean a dedicated 2 days of travel and IMO it's not worth it.

 

I personally thought Mesa Verde was more interesting than the Grand Canyon.

 

Your kids will probably be disappointed with Pacific Park. It's basically just a bunch of run-of-the-mill amusement rides crammed onto the south side of the pier. Hopefully, you are not confusing it with Pacific Ocean Park, which was a full amusement park ala Disneyland, but it closed back in the late 60's. It was on it's own pier about 1 mile south of the Santa Monica Pier. That pier no longer exists. Santa Monica Pier makes for a nice outing, and the restaurant at the end of the pier is good, with great views. Your kids would probably have more fun just going down to the beach (easy stair access from the pier). Smaller kids, go north side where there's the breakwater. Bigger kids - south side. Fun walking under the pier, too. Oh, the pier has a beautiful, old merry-go-round near the front of the pier, featured in many TV shows and movies (including 'The Sting') IIRC, it's NOT part of 'Pacific Park' - inexpensive ride fee. .

 

I took took my family to LA a couple years back and totally agree with the advice posted here. Especially regarding The Grove/Farmers Market. My wife loved it, seeing celebs etc while walking around. Gotta do In N Out Burger (neopolitan mikshake! mmm), SoCal Speed Shop tour, The arboretum, Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake, Hollywood Blvd, Miceli's off hollywood blvd for a pizza, drive the coast down to San Diego, hit Coronado, Point Loma Lighthouse, get some fish tacos at South Beach Bar n Grill, Breakfasts at Hash House a Go Go...waaaaaay too much to do in a short time. have fun!

 

thats what im looking for guys i dont know even know where to drive in from phoenix and start maybe san diego is possible i keep hearing its nice. this is what i have been wanting because i have no idea what to see or do. my wife and kids want to see the santa monica pier with the dang ferris wheel lit up at sunset for pics i guess! but the farmers market sounds good what days are good days for these things?

 

i have dark glasses lol but the wife will be pointing them out so its cool! ill have to check on the bus. we are looking at places in the area but not on beach so it will save sum cash. i was wandering about parking near the pier too.

 

Parking in Santa Monica is tough. Venice Beach is a freak show. If you like old ships the uss Iowa just opened up in San Pedro. The Peterson and the grove is a good time and on the way to Hollywood but traffic is a drag.

 

The Peterson and Farmers Market are in fairly close proximity - you could do those two together.

 

sounds like traffic is gonna be a b!%ch. but ohh well.

 

Hit up south of the border grill on 4th in Santa Monica. Some of the waiters are light in the loafers but there happy hour is pretty good.

 

Another thing that is good is,go see the tonight show with jay leno,tickets are free and are not hard to get,you just show up on the day you are there and if tickets are available ,you can get them.been there twice and really enjoyed it.Also be careful where you park,the meter cops are all over the place,make sure you feed the meters!.Disneyland is out there too,it is in Anaheim,not real far from LA. Harvey

 

Just be prepared for Hollywood. It's not all glitz and glamour. The Wife wanted to check it out and we were constantly beraded by what appear to be teenage runaways everywhere. If you need to use a restroom they are all locked to keep them out. I guess they use them to shoot up, smoke their stuff, shower, etc. My Wife went into a restroom and before the door could shut one ran in from side door and jammed in after she walked out. It's pretty sad. We always liked the Orange County area. There is a nice clean affordable Laquinta off the 405 and Sand Canyon ( down the street from the what was OCIR ). From there it's a short drive to San Clemente, Dana Point, Huntington Beach ( Surf City ), Laguna, all very nice areas and less zoo like than LA. Just a thought if ya get burned out on LA

 

Like someone above said I'd pass on the Winchester house, it's interesting but not enough to warrant a trip from LA for. You can easily spend a couple weeks in southern Ca. without seeing, doing it all if you never been there before. Save the northern stuff for another trip another time, you could spend a week or two up there doing touristy stuff as well.
Be prepaired, a lot of stuff you read about that you want to see (Santa Monica pier, Hollywood sign, ect) might be dissapointing once you've been there but I understand you gotta do it once, I did. Peterson and NHRA museums are a must for gearheads. Personally nowdays when I'm out there I'm happy to find a nice beach to plant my ass on and people watch.

 

That's New Jersey, isn't it? Wrong coast!

 

Never cared for LA when I went there on business. Been to the pier, Malibu, Griffith Park for the Hollywood sign and a panaramic view of LA. Eyes were burning from the smog and could hardly see the San Bernadino Mts. I really enjoyed Orange county, Balboa Beach, Manhattan Beach. San Diego is really nice as well as Coronado Beach. Now for the other end. Go to Carmel, Monterey, Gilmore for some garlic. San Jose for the Winchester Mansion, it really is cool. Use Highway 1 from Carmel all the way to San Jose and San Francisco. In San Fran hit Fishermans Wharf, Lombardi Street, Golden Gate Park and Bridge and ride the cable cars. Go over to Muir Woods and be blown away by the Redwoods and then up to Mt Talapalas for a view of Oakland, San Fran, the Bay and the Pacific. Really cool. Theres more there, but you dont have the time I think.

 

Dont know how bad the traffic is now, but you could try a drive on Mulholland drive to see where they used to race back in the day between Laurel canyon & coldwater canyon.

 

great ideas guys. theres a lot to consider doing there! although we will see some touristy stuff, the local spots are great to know about as well! i dont want to miss out on a great affordable local restaurant! obviously i love old cars so naturally i would love to catch a cruise-in or other old car stuff. also ill be there next saturday, here in ga we have a local cruise-ins every sat evening in nearby towns/cities. the mullholland drive sounds cool too!