JA

Hi, my husband and I will be flying out of LA for Australia on a Monday evening. The thing is, we check out of our hotel that morning at 11, and have 11 hours to kill before our flight leaves. We were originally going to spend the day at Disney CA Adventure (to wear ourselves out so we can sleep on the flight over). However, we totally forgot about the fact that we wouldn't be able to shower before we started our nice long flight across seas. Anyone have any suggestions for nice relaxing things we can do instead? Maybe indoors, or something that won't make us sweat very much in August sun? ;-D
Thanks!

michele

Will you have a car for those 11 hours? You're very close to the beach (Marina del Rey, Venice,etc) and could spend time walking the boardwalk (Venice is quite colorful) and have a leisurely lunch. It should be very pleasant by the ocean.

xxx

Any chance you or your husband are VIP members of United? Lounges in Heathrow, O'Hare, Miami, and LAX have showers, concierge service, and baggage check-through.

Wendy

How about looking into a day trip to Catalina?

JA

We are not members of a VIP club, and the only option the airport has offered us is some service where they can call hotels around the airport and they may have rooms we can use to shower at a discounted rate. But, we were hoping to not do that because we're already forking out money! ;-D
We will have a car....we fly in a few days before this, and so will be returning the car when we go to the airport later that night. We were in LA last year and did the Boardwalk (SM & Venice), and that would be a good idea to hit it again. We loved walking around down there

JA

Catalina day trip is a great idea! I'm definitely going to look into that

Mina

JA, enjoy your trip to Australia!

Where are you staying in L.A.? Are you intending to rent a car? It may help people recommend some ideas.

August is hot, but not as bad by the beach. Santa Monica is north of LAX. 3rd street promenade can provide some decent shopping and restaurants.

Manhattan Beach is a favorite of mine, just a few miles south of LAX. Much more low key than Santa Monica. Good restaurants, great beach and people watching.

Or maybe a day in Beverly Hills? If you have a car, you can shop, eat, and if you get tired and hot, watch a movie so you can sit down for a couple of hours and kill time.

Mina

Wow, lots of good replies really quick.

With a car, you should be able to find plenty of things to do. Have fun!

sightseer

I've run into similar situations while traveling. I belong to 24 hour fitness which has gym facilities in many of the larger cities (even used one in Hong Kong for this purpose). I've popped in at the end of the day and was able to shower and clean up before making my flight. If either of you has a gym membership, you might be able to get reciprocal guest priviledges for one day. Just a thought, since I think the idea of a day at Disneyland or California Adventure is a good one.

Dor

Go to the southern beaches this time. Manhattan, Hermosa or Redondo beaches. Much cleaner than Santa Monica. It won't be very hot there. Nice ocean breeze.

Tired

Sit around.

Gigi

The beach areas actually do get pretty hot on summer afternoons. I think you might find yourself sweaty after 11 hours of roaming around.

The gym idea is pretty good.

Also remember that there are lots of museums in LA. You might also want to think about getting tickets for the taping of the Jay Leno show (it tapes at 5 pm and is over by the time you need to head for the airport).

John

Check out of the hotel and go to Beverly Hills for a late breakfast/early lunch at Nate 'n Al's on Beverly Drive. Shop along Rodeo or Bev. Dr. unless it's too hot, in which case pop down to LACMA on Wilshire and browse the exhibits for an hour or two. Or, if you're not into museums, head to the Farmers' Market and browse/nosh for a couple of hours.

Then head west (Santa Monica or the beach towns) and hit an early movie. After that, have dinner along the beach in Manhattan or Hermosa, walk along the sand (the fresh air, sand in your toes, and sunset in your eyes will be useful later) then head for the airport. Think about how cool it will be to watch the sun set over the Pacific one night and have it rise over the Pacific the next day.

Then

LAGuy

Who wants to walk along the beach getting all sandy and then go sit on a plane for 18 hours? Trust me, LA does get hot in August.

Disneyland would wear you out, which would be great for a long flight. If you go to California Adventure, you could hit the water ride right before you leave and get all washed down and then go change clothes (that you keep in a locker).

Gym idea isn't bad either. So many in the area that you might be able to find one right by the airport.

Museums followed by roaming around Farmer's Market and the new Grove mall is an idea.

Mina

I still vote for the beach if it's a nice day. You can park your car in Manhattan Beach, then rent a bike and ride to Redondo to the South, or even Marina del Rey to the north.

If you really want to take a shower after the beach thing, and can't find a gym, the Manhattan Pier has cold showers to rinse off. Kind of a funny suggestion, I know. But if you feel that icky, you can always rinse off, wash your hair, etc., if you bring a bathing suit and change into some fresh clothes. I thought I'd mention it. If putting on make up, doing hair, etc. is important to you (although before a 14 hour flight, it's kind of pointless IMHO) you can always use the restrooms at LAX. Most have outlets if you need them.

But if you've never done the Disneyland thing, that would be fun too. In fact, all the suggestions are fun!

j

Hi Dorothy, I think you might be disappointed with Calif. Adventure for the expebense. The Peterson Automotive Museum on Wilshire has a unique exhibit of 1,000,000 cars only till 1/03 if you have an interest. Presently We are experienceing hot humid weather, so maybe a mall or movie would be cooler until later then great view and dining somewhere. Is that 11 hours to kill till check in ? Check in can be long at Lax. Joyce

John

The thing is, we did the walk-on-the-beach thing before an all-nighter to NZ a few years ago and it really helped. By sunset the beach is seldom too hot to walk on, and you can just roll up your pants (or whatever) then rinse off your toesies before putting your shoes back on. Dress comfortably for the flight, BTW - it's a doozy.

Mina

Doozy doesn't even begin to describe the half of it. With my back problems, if I hadn't flown biz class, I may well have died up there.

Bring some snacks and a big bottle of water! It really sucks to get hungry up there.

ray

Does California Adventure have a changing area, maybe with showers? I've never been so can't answer but it may solve the problem.

JA

Thank you EVERYONE for the GREAT suggestions! We are members of Golds Gym, so I'll definitely look into that idea. I really like the idea of watching the sunset over one side of the ocean and rise on the other We are totally jazzed, so anything we do that day will be great. They were all things to think about!
JA