advice on shopping long beach or san pedro

[Minoushka]

looking for a mall or fairly large shopping centre not too far from san pedro

should i rent a car

do not like freeways or highways

can i get to a mall without needing a highway

looking for macy's or other big name store

boys want electronics and target

 

any advice appreciated

 

how warm is july in california

[VentureMan_2000]

There is a Sears, Mervyns, and those kinds of stores (I think it's a Mall) about 5 miles away from the Port, off of East Pacific Coast Hwy, near the Long Beach University campus. About a mile away from the Hotel I will be staying in, GuestHouse Inn, is the Mall. guesthouselb(dot com.

[Bruin Steve]

looking for a mall or fairly large shopping centre not too far from san pedro

should i rent a car

do not like freeways or highways

can i get to a mall without needing a highway

looking for macy's or other big name store

boys want electronics and target

 

any advice appreciated

 

how warm is july in california

 

Again, Del Amo is your closest bet--Macy's, Best Buy, etc....Very large Mall...It's about 12 miles from San Pedro...usually reached going 110 Fwy North to the 405 North to Western...But you can drive on surface streets as well...Take 9th Street west out of Pedro to Weymouth, make a right, then merge onto Western a few short blocks later...take Western to Del Amo Boulevard and turn left on Del Amo and follow it all the way to the mall...

 

Del Amo is a GIANT mall...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Amo_Fashion_Center

 

There is a Target across the street at 3433 Sepulveda Blvd...

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/search_results.jsp?&startAddress=Torrance,%20California,%20United%20States&mapType=standard&startingLat=33.83664786521645&startingLong=-118.34141484277168&mapCenterLat=33.826928&mapCenterLong=-118.346683&mapWidth=0.5&mapHeight=1

 

 

Weather in SoCal in July is pretty warm...but with virtually zero humidity...Rain would be an extreme oddity (like virtually NEVER)...Wear shorts and T-shirts, bring sunblock, drink water...It's actually quite pleasant...almost perfect weather as far as I'm concerned...

[Minoushka]

thank you thank you

wish me luck

i hope i find all i need

michele

 

first real visit to california

very excited

[Cruisin' Chick]

Del Amo is one of the biggest malls in So. Cal.

 

You may still want to bring a sweater in you're coming here in early July. Every once in a while "June Gloom" continues into the first week or so of July. That means overcast skies in the morning, but once the clouds burn off, it gets pretty warm. If you're staying by the coast (San Pedro, etc.), you'll have more milder weather than inland.

[dshimizu]

Can you get to the mall via taxi or bus? We will be staying at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro??

[Bruin Steve]

Can you get to the mall via taxi or bus? We will be staying at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro??

 

You can get anywhere by taxi...for a price...andyou'dbetter make arrangements ahead of time for one to come pick you up...Taxis are nowhere near as common in LA as in most other cities in the world...

 

You might want to ask the hotel about buses (of course, they might not know either)...

 

You sort of have to know the mentality of Southern Californians (at least those of us with any degree of affluence)...We don't take public transportation ANYWHERE...

 

LA, up until the 1950s, had one of the greatest public transportation systems you'd find anywhere--the "Big Red Car"...a fixed rail system...It was bought out by a consortium made up of General Motors, Standard Oil and Goodyear Tires--who proceeded to demolish it...

 

Ever since then, the city has been built on the premise that everyone should have a car...or two...or several...$4 a gallon gas may be changing that, but it's a slow change...

 

That said, I just tried to look it up...and it appears confusing...it seems you'd have to change buses at least twice in each direction: The 205 to the 232 to the 444 and the reverse back...

 

Seems to be the standard case of "You can't get there from here"...But that's fairly typical in LA...It's why we usually recommend renting a car...

 

By the way, check out this thread on Del Amo from back in December, lot's of useful stuff on here, especially from Curt:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php?t-456227.html

 

Good luck....

[98Charlie]

First off, thanks for all the great info you (and Curt) offer those of us who are not from the west coast area.

 

Now another question regarding San Pedro/Long Beach areas.

 

DH & I are flying into Long Beach (got a great deal we couldn't refuse) and will be sailing out of San Pedro on NCL Star end of Sept.

 

Have not made hotel reservations yet but figure we will stay in Long Beach the day after the cruise. Aren't too sure as to where to say the night before our cruise. We won't arrive in Long Beach until about 1 p.m. your time. Not sure how tired we will be after a verry looong morning and are not sure if it is worth booking a hotel in Long Beach to allow for some sightseeing or booking a hotel in San Pedro where we can just catch dinner and collapse for the evening.

 

From all I've read on these boards many of the hotels we've looked at in the San Pedro area are not close to restaurants and shopping. DH has reward points with several hotel chains as he works out of town a lot and our daughter is a manager for a Hilton property and can get us very good prices on any Hilton property.

 

Any suggestions for a San Pedro hotel or should be stay in Long Beach where there are more options for sightseeing close to hotels?

 

Dianne

[dshimizu]

Well I decided to look at the Crowne Plaza hotel site which is where we are staying in San Pedro (bid through Priceline- $115 and hear that it's great if you stay in the tower, not the low rises). Anyway, lo and behold they provide a shuttle to the Del Amo Mall and to Costco as well as anywhere within a 5 mile radius of the hotel. We plan to go to VOn's to stock up on supplies as we will just be leaving the Coral and then catching the Sapphire up to Vancouver. We spent some time in February in Palm Desert and it seems to me that without a car you would be totally stranded so I understand perfectly what you mean about Calf. transportation!

[98Charlie]

Well I decided to look at the Crowne Plaza hotel site which is where we are staying in San Pedro (bid through Priceline- $115 and hear that it's great if you stay in the tower, not the low rises). Anyway, lo and behold they provide a shuttle to the Del Amo Mall and to Costco as well as anywhere within a 5 mile radius of the hotel. We plan to go to VOn's to stock up on supplies as we will just be leaving the Coral and then catching the Sapphire up to Vancouver. We spent some time in February in Palm Desert and it seems to me that without a car you would be totally stranded so I understand perfectly what you mean about Calf. transportation!

 

Thank you so much. That's very valuable info. Sounds like something we would like.