Two girls on a Cali adventure

My friend and I are taking a week off work some time this summer to fly into LA, spend a few days at Sequoia National Forest, and fly out of San Francisco.

I%26#39;m from Florida and have never been to California, so I%26#39;m a little clueless. Firstly, we need some advice on when to go. We%26#39;re thinking June or August.

And, what should we do??? We want to keep it loose and just have fun, but some suggestions would be great for L.A., Sequoia or San Fran. Thanks!

Two girls on a Cali adventure

June will most likely be less crowded than August.

Did you want to go to the beach? Bars? Museums? Theme parks?

Will you have a car in LA? How many days in LA? Budget?

Two girls on a Cali adventure

We will have a car. No beaches, since we%26#39;re from Florida. Bars would be fun, and museums. We%26#39;ll probably spend 2 days in LA and we%26#39;re not totally broke but not rolling in dough either.

No beaches?!? California is half beach, half mountains, (plus some farmland in between).

There%26#39;s a place called The Farmers Daughter Motel that is highly recommended and might be perfect for you two. It%26#39;s across the street from The Farmers Market and The Grove (an outdoor shopping mall with restaurants and movie theaters - great place to spot celebrities). You%26#39;re walking distance to Melrose Avenue and also walking distance to LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

http://www.farmersdaughterhotel.com

For L.A., June may be gloomy (terrible inversions can happen). August is more sunny but can be terribly hot and humid. You are from Florida so that may not bug.

To do? Only TWO days? L.A. is HUGE so there is much to do. You may want to try to see a taping of a favorite TV show. www.tvtickets.com is a place to start. Also try www.freetvtickets.com. You can generally get the tickets for free. This can be very fun. Even though you don%26#39;t want to do beaches, you really should go to Santa Monica and see the Pier. It is an amusement park on top of the pier. Good for an hour%26#39;s stroll and people watching. Also in Santa Monica is the 3rd Street Promenade (closed to vehicle traffic). Great boutiques, restaurants, and people watching.

Also, just driving in Beverly Hills and seeing the gigantic homes is fun (you don%26#39;t necessarily need a map of the stars homes). And a must see is Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

In San Francisco? It is pretty tight so you can cover a lot in just a few days. You should at least peek at Pier 39 on the wharf side and of course, see the crooked end of Lombard Street. You can catch a trolley down by the wharf and go across town to shopping district. Half the joy of San Franciso is simply strolling around taking it all in. Bring a jacket. Even in August it is fairly breezy and chilly. Hard to believe, but very true.

I am visiting LA 3/2 - 3/6. I am overwhelmed with all the possible activities. I have to hotel options Ramada Inn near Universal or LA Downtown Marriott. From my understanding Downtown LA is not all that, but at the same time the location is better than Ramada. Please let me know your views.

FYI - I am orginally from Ft. Lauderdale, FL so I not one for visiting the beaches.

The Napa %26amp; Sonoma valleys are only a short daytrip north of SF. If you like wine you would probably have a good time.

Hi,

If you are planning on visiting some museum the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Getty would all be worth seeing depending on your artistic preference. If you visit MOCA, it%26#39;s downtown near the Gehry designed Disney Concert Hall. Also, MOCA has two museums downtown, one is called the Geffen Contemporary which is in Japanese town, a small but neat area of L.A. with some interesting shops and eats.

As for Sequoia, depending on where your staying you may want to check the availability of lodging. I go to Yosemite a lot, and if your don%26#39;t book well in advance it can be difficult to find a place to stay within the park. Sequoia is less developed than Yosemite and may have fewer lodging options so it%26#39;s worth checking into. If you haven%26#39;t been to Yosemite, I would recommend it over Sequoia. Yosemite has two stands of Giant Sequoias, including the ';Grizzly Giant'; estimated to be close to 2000 years old and absolutely awe inspiring. Plus, if your visit in June Yosemite shouldn%26#39;t be too crowded, but will always be more crowded that Sequoia.

Hope you have a great time.

Stephen

famurn, downtown LA is fine. It%26#39;s actually going through a renaissance right now and there%26#39;s a variety of projects going on around there that it will probably change the skyline and ambiance in the next few years. One of the LA posters lives in downtown and from reading his posts he enjoys living there. The Marriott is close to the freeway that you can hop on to get to anywhere(as you mentioned you will be having a car). During the weekdays, there%26#39;s a lot of people around, many restaurants open as the hotel is in the center of the business district. A little quieter during the weekends, and area where the hotel is located is safe.

correction from the previous post, I%26#39;m actually not sure if you%26#39;ll be renting a car(I guess I was reading another post). But you can still take public transportation(trains) to get to Hollywood, Pasadena, etc easily from downtown.