Questions for CJW, BruinSteve, Cruisin' Chick

First I want to thank CJW, BruinSteve, Cruisin' Chick, and all other SoCal experts for all the useful information I have gleaned from reading these boards for the last many months. I am hoping to get your thoughts on our plan (still a work in progress).

DH and I will be arriving in LA on May 6th and will leave from San Pedro on May 8th. Here is what we have planned so far:

We are booked at the Marriott Marina del Rey (would love to stay at Le Merigot but the budget likes MDR better) since we want the Marriott Rewards. We plan to take a cab from LAX to Marriott MDR. After check-in, we hope to walk the area, perhaps up the Venice boardwalk, and find a place for an early dinner (since we will be leaving the east coast early AM and we plan on an early night).

On Friday, May 7th, we plan to rent a car from Enterprise on Lincoln Blvd in Venice and drive to Hollywood for sightseeing. After an hour or so in Hollywood, we plan to drive to Santa Monica for lunch in the 3rd St. Promenade area. We hope to visit the pier and maybe Palisades. Around 4 PM we plan to drive the car back to the Enterprise location in Venice and return to our hotel area for dinner.

On Saturday morning we plan to have booked SuperShuttle to take us to San Pedro.

I would greatly appreciate the thoughts of those of you who know the area. Does this plan make sense? Do you see any problem areas?

Could you recommend a route from Lincoln Blvd in Venice to the area of Hollywood and Highland. What will parking be like in that area and how much will it cost?

From Hollywood, what is the best route to Santa Monica. We prefer not to use freeways if at all possible. What will parking be like in Santa Monica?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Hi Virginia,

I just happen to be checking the boards, so let me give you my 3 cents!

We are booked at the Marriott Marina del Rey (would love to stay at Le Merigot but the budget likes MDR better) since we want the Marriott Rewards. We plan to take a cab from LAX to Marriott MDR. After check-in, we hope to walk the area, perhaps up the Venice boardwalk, and find a place for an early dinner (since we will be leaving the east coast early AM and we plan on an early night).

I think that Marriott Marina Del Ray is a fantastic choice. It's a wonderful area.

I'll give you a few options from where you are:

I'd suggest if you want a nice long walk, then right behind your hotel is Washington Blvd. Walk to Washington, then turn left.

After you pass Baja Cantina (4 blocks) you will see the entrance to the Venice Canals. Take a stroll through there, and enjoy the houses, views, ducks, pelicans and the general beautiful stroll.

At the end of that you will be at Venice Blvd. South.

Turn left and just continue two blocks and you'll be in the heart of the Venice Boardwalk!

If you decide to eat right there, then just look for Sidewalk Cafe...

http://thesidewalkcafe.com/

If not, then just continue to walk back towards your hotel.

Baja Cantina, which you passed on your way up is a good Mexican place:

http://www.bajacantinavenice.com/index.html

Or just continue on back to your hotel, but continue past it down Ocean

There is The Original Cheesecake Factory right there on Mother's Beach...

Great views, and more "calm" than Sidewalk Cafe or Baja Cantina.

http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/

On Friday, May 7th, we plan to rent a car from Enterprise on Lincoln Blvd in Venice and drive to Hollywood for sightseeing. After an hour or so in Hollywood, we plan to drive to Santa Monica for lunch in the 3rd St. Promenade area. We hope to visit the pier and maybe Palisades. Around 4 PM we plan to drive the car back to the Enterprise location in Venice and return to our hotel area for dinner.

So first of all, to get to Hollywood and Highland...

You could just take Venice blvd East until you get to South Highland Ave.

Turn left and follow it up until you get to Hollywood Blvd.

You can park in the Hollywood and Highland complex, and then walk around from there.

For driving back, you can easily take my driving tour from there:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=511653

Then when you get to Santa Monica Pier/Venice Beach, just take Neilson Way (the street at Venice Beach) back down to Washington Blvd, turn left and you'll be back at your hotel!

But, I think that you could really take much more of your time and day doing this - slow it all down.

Plan to have lunch in Hollywood.

Either hit up The Daily Grill or California Pizza Kitchen in Hollywood and Highland, or for major history head over to Musso & Frank:

http://www.mussoandfrankgrill.com/

It's like stepping back in time to 1940s Hollywood.

Or if you want to continue down Sunset Blvd for a while, then stop at Sunset Plaza and have lunch at either:

Chin Chin for celebrity and people watching

http://www.chinchin.com/

or Mel's Drive-In:

http://www.melsdrive-in.com/

Then continue on the tour, and maybe plan to have dinner at

Gladstones:

http://www.gladstones.com/

Which is pretty much incredible if you can plan it around sunset...

Then, take the car back to the rental place and relax in your hotel.

On Saturday morning we plan to have booked SuperShuttle to take us to San Pedro.

Now it sounds perfect!

Hope that helps.:D

Curt - Thank you so much. We are in the process of looking at all the info you provided. So far, Sidewalk Cafe looks perfect for our first night. We had hoped to be able to go to Musso and Franks - not sure if we will be able to work that in. Gladstones also sounds wonderful but given our short time, we wonder if heading north on the Pacific Coast Highway is a good idea for lunch. Baja Cantina may be where we eat on Friday night. Thanks again for helping us plan our visit to LA.

Marina Del Rey is a nice play to walk around. After our wedding, hubby had our limo stop in MDR so we could watch our first sunset together as a married couple in a beautiful setting.

Pacific Coast Highway shouldn't be too bad, traffic-wise in early May as it's much too early in the year for beach going. As long as there's no accidents (there shouldn't be brush fires or mudslides at this time of year, we hope), it shouldn't be hard to drive. Third Street Promenade is a nice place to visit and weather should be decent (there's always the possibility of overcast skies in early May, and it usually is on my birthday on the 4th...strangely we're supposed to get some rain next week in April).

Taking Sunset Blvd from Hollywood to the Palisades should be a pleasant drive (and you'll be going past some landmarks such as the Comedy Store...there also used to be an interesting store right near there for Jay Ward fans -- Rocky & Bullwinkle, etc., that I wished was still there).

Patty - thank you for adding to what CJW posted. We are feeling good about our choice to stay in MDR. I hope we have two beautiful sunsets while we are there. Your hubby was very thoughtful to plan that stop for you.;)

Your info on the Pacific Coast Highway is very helpful. I would love to drive as far as Malibu. I guess it will depend on how our day is going. Since we only have the rental car until late afternoon, we want to be careful of our timing.

I am feeling very good about how this is coming together for us and I really appreciate any thoughts you have about our 1+ day in LA.

Excuse me if this is posted incorrectly. We are sailing on the Star on Jan 29. I got the Radisson in Culver City booked for 2 pre-cruise nights (thru Priceline at $55) and have an area tour booked with LASightseeing. I was booked at an LAX airport area hotel until I read negative posts so I cancelled and booked the Radisson. I had already booked r/t from LAX to San Pedro port thru Primetime Shuttle. My plan is to take the hotel shuttle back to LAX on cruise morning and catch Primetime as planned. Does that sound okay or should I change Primetime shuttle to pick up at hotel and pay extra $$s?

Careful where you venture in MDR. It's not a very safe area. :(

JUST KIDDING!!! :p

MDR is a great location and I second CJW's rec of the Sidewalk Cafe on the Venice Boardwalk. I would also suggest C&O's. It is great little Italian restaurant on Washington just a few blocks off the boardwalk.

I also second the rec from Cruisin Chick that you take a drive along Sunset Blvd from the Palisades to Hollywood. You'll cut through some very interesting area's along the way including Brentwood, Beverly Hills and the Sunset Strip. You could also use Santa Monica Blvd but Sunset is WAY more interesting.

In Hollywood just pay for parking around the Kodak Theatre. You could try and find free parking on Franklin but it's not worth the effort if your time is limited. Also, the parking restrictions in some areas are so convoluted I heard they were actually going to teach a class in our schools on how to decipher them.

Have a good time and welcome to LA LA Land. Enjoy the wildlife!!

I second C&O. You can walk from the Marriott. It gets busy, if you are going for an early dinner, it should be ok. I love that they have smaller portions for all of their dishes. And "small" is a relative term. http://www.cotrattoria.com/

Cheesecake Factory has a great selection and the views from the patios are great. They have heat lamps.

For a more "local" hole in the wall experience, but with great food, try Alejo's. http://www.yelp.com/biz/alejos-presto-trattoria-italia-marina-del-rey

I moved away from the Westside, but still come back here to eat!

If you have never tried In-N-Out Burgers and wonder what the hype is all about, there is a location at Washington and Lincoln in the same strip mall as Costco. http://www.in-n-out.com/default.asp

I also second walking around the Venice Canals. I love walking over all the little bridges.

Another area to stroll and eat is on Abbot Kinney. A very hip and cool area with all local independent stores. No mass chains here: http://www.abbotkinneyonline.com/

Excuse me if this is posted incorrectly. We are sailing on the Star on Jan 29. I got the Radisson in Culver City booked for 2 pre-cruise nights (thru Priceline at $55) and have an area tour booked with LASightseeing. I was booked at an LAX airport area hotel until I read negative posts so I cancelled and booked the Radisson. I had already booked r/t from LAX to San Pedro port thru Primetime Shuttle. My plan is to take the hotel shuttle back to LAX on cruise morning and catch Primetime as planned. Does that sound okay or should I change Primetime shuttle to pick up at hotel and pay extra $$s?

Hi b2neetie - I noticed that you had posted a new question on the thread that I started last April. It might be better to start a new thread on the West Coast Departures board. That way people responding will answer you specifically.

I can't answer your questions regarding Culver City and transport to the port but hopefully one of the West Coast experts will see this and respond.

We had a wonderful time in LA last May. Marina del Rey was a perfect place from which we explored the area, walking from our hotel to the Venice Boardwalk (where we ate at the Sidewalk Cafe - good food and lots of fun watching the antics on the boardwalk). We walked the Venice Canals - if you have the time definitely worth doing. We rented a car for one day and drove into Hollywood, explored that iconic area and had lunch at Musso & Frank (a quintessential "old" Hollywood experience). We then drove Sunset Blvd to Malibu (so much to see along the way) and then up the PCH and into one of the canyons behind Pepperdine University. We hope to some day do it again; there was so much to see and do - we couldn't do it all in a short time.

I hope you have a great time in LA and on your cruise:).

Wineaux and chinita415 - thanks for responding with new information. If we do get to visit the area again, we will definitely try C&O:). If you can help b2neetie with her questions re Culver City, that would be great too.

 

Wineaux and chinita415 - thanks for responding with new information. If we do get to visit the area again, we will definitely try C&O:). If you can help b2neetie with her questions re Culver City, that would be great too.

:eek: I didn't even realize it was from last year! In my head, we are still in 2010. I think b2neetie started another thread with her question.

Well, maybe other people got some tips for LA. Glad you enjoyed your visit!