Los Angeles Thread #7: Busch Gardens

on a similar note, been really enjoying the valley relics FB page. do they have an actual store? their website doesn't work

so I priced that Best Western near 101; in July the rack rate is about $200 a night, and Travelocity doesn't have it cheaper. May have to opt for a Quality Inn nearby, but probably won't reserve anything for another week, until I talk to my friend in the Valley.

Try Hotwire. You can get a pretty good idea of which hotels they are here: http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=427&

never used hotwire but with that forum feedback tool i might be inclined

Morbs, why don't you stay at the Secret Garden in WeHo? Looks like its $135/night in July. If you can find a conventioner to share with you, even better. I've stayed there before and I'm staying there next week--the only thing is you might have to make conversation with the owner, but he'll tell you about Frank Sinatra and Chasen's.

http://www.secretgardenbnb.com/

i know people who have stayed here, seemed ok. close to LACMA, fairfax district, not too far from weho or hollywood

http://www.wilshirecresthotel.com/

VaPlain, the LA stay is AFTER the baseball convention, which is in Long Beach. (And I'm paying $119 a night there, solo, bcz I skip roommates on vacation too.)

donna rouge and i are participating in the adult spelling bee down in long beach! root for us! if i win, i'm giving half the prize money to doctors without borders.

and if i win, i'm giving half of mine to NARAL pro-choice california!

this is going down in sylmar right now.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/officer-domestic-dispute-sylmar-119173789.html?tw

Favorite Thai spot in the Hollywood area ?

everyone will prob say jitlada and they'll prob be pretty correct

Dr. M., perhaps you will meet a revivalist baseballer who you can invite to share your room for a romantic Hollywood weekend.

My sister's planning on renting a car; is this really necessary? The only out of town we might do is go to Pasadena.

Any classic old Hollywood recommendations for us?

Having a car certainly makes it easier to get around Los Angeles. I know there's a big public transportation contingent on here, but the public transportation isn't that great. Renting a car will certainly save you a lot of time sitting on buses.

It depends a lot on where your home base is and where you want to be going from there.
As a native to the area I would have never considered not having a car back in the day but on more resent visits I have been using a car less and less.

LA -> pasadena = definitely rent a car for that

gold line goes to pasadena, people complain about how slow it is tho

180/181 bus goes from Hollywood to Pasadena, so if you're in Hollywood it may be as fast as red line to Union station then gold line to Pasadena. Having a car is nice, though.

Are there any good restaurants or bars near Selma and Sunset?

i've heard good things about pinches tacos (right across from chateau marmont)

Are there any good restaurants or bars near Selma and Sunset?

selma and sunset run parallel? which intersection?

they converge on the westside (which i didn't know until about an hour ago - i was all set to recommend bodega wine bar)

i didn't know it either. i'm still kinda westside-illiterate.

in that case, i highly recommend bar marmont!

a.o.c. is awesome for wine/small plates/atmosphere and is on 3rd and crescent heights. you'd have to drive or take a cab, but it's not super far.

that's where the sunset strip more or less begins, avoid on weekends at the very least

We went to chateau marmont for dinner and we loved it. Is that cheesy? We're saving bar marmont for another night. Thanks for the suggestions!

apparently it's not up the grapevine, it's just after castaic?

If it's what I think it is, it's the Honor Ranch Gas Storage Site "a repurposed oil field where wells are now injected with natural gas, coming via pipelines from the north, for storage before being distributed through the urban grid" (from the latest CLUI Lay Of The Land newsletter)

I witnessed the quickest pickup I've EVER seen on a Gold Line train the other day. I almost wanted to shake the dude's hand it was so impressive! He got on the train, sat down opposite this woman and was typing her number into his phone in, like, two minutes, I swear. So...go Gold Line.

Morbs you might want to check the Beverly Laurel hotel, might be a little bit too far south for you but the price is pretty good and it was pretty clean last time i stayed there

Is it possible to get to Griffith observatory via public transportation? I think we should have rented a car after all...

will consider, Aerosol, but even w/ limits of transit I think I'd like to be closer to a train line.

Now I'm even thinking of starting earlier to spend 4th of July weekend in either LA or SF.

there is a bus that goes up hillhurst to the observatory - i think you can catch it at the sunset/vermont metro stop

looks like the shuttles only run on weekends right now:

http://golosangeles.about.com/od/thingstodoinlosangeles/ss/GriffithObserv_5.htm

It's a nice shuttle, I've used it before.

not recommended: hiking up the mountain without using the designated walking path, especially while hungover

(not that i'd know...)

Rolling down the hill, though...

What happened to the sun? I think we'll wait till the weekend for Griffith park, and that way maybe it won't be overcast and we can hop the shuttle.

Gonna go to lacma and to look at historical downtown buildings...any good places to eat around there?

Downtown, or near LACMA? Because those are two very different locations. Unless you're talking about MOCA?

Well, yeah, we were going to go to lacma and then downtown, but we've decided to just do downtown and moca.

if you're going to moca, you can take the california plaza escalator down bunker hill afterward and get pupusas/tacos/etc at grand central market

Or even ride the Angel's Flight train if in operation. (Did it shut down again?)

i was gonna say angel's flight but (a) dunno if it's open (b) i don't want to be responsible for anyone's early demise via ancient and rickety tourist attraction

Best to look at it from afar, I suppose. She could walk down the steps next to it, though.

watch yourself walking around town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKhGr3-KxZQ

We rode the angel's flight train and we ate papusas, so thanks for the suggestions. Saw a lot of awesome buildings, but missed the Ed ruscha mural--is that still there? Went to el Carmen finally. For tomorrow; is Hollywood forever cemetery a good place to go? Anything else interesting to do around there!

Re the mural: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/04/downtown_ed_rus.php

For tomorrow; is Hollywood forever cemetery a good place to go? Anything else interesting to do around there!

eh, it's okay. it's in a scuzzy neighborhood.

when my friend and i drove through the cemetery we saw a peacock cage!