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Going to L.A. dec18-25; Road trip to D.V. and on rt66

Going to L.A. dec18-25; Road trip to D.V. and on rt66

Old Nov 28th, 2016, 10:05 AM
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Going to L.A. dec18-25; Road trip to D.V. and on rt66

Hi All!

I am from the east coast going to LA for a week before Christmas. We are a group of 4 renting a car.
Interested in Nature stuff, natural attractions, ethnic foods etc.

We will drive to D.V. Nat.park which is like 5 hrs away. Might stay overnight there...
Are there any ghost towns we can visit en route to D.V.?

How about Rt66? How far can I drive on it and return maybe after an overnight stay somewhere on rt66..are there ghost towns to see there that are interesting / safe? Any other attractions?

Thanks!
Kris
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Old Nov 28th, 2016, 11:32 AM
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Unless you really want to see something in LA, I'd fly to Las Vegas and rent the car to go see Death Valley, Mojave National Preserve and a long section of National Trails Highway (old US66) east of Victorville.
You can also drive old 66 east of Kingman AZ.
While you are in the area, also see Hoover Dam.
Car rentals are somewhat cheaper in Las Vegas than in California.
There are Rt. 66 museums in Victorville and in Barstow at the old train station.
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Old Nov 28th, 2016, 12:51 PM
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I would be pretty sure the flights are booked by now - too late to fly into Vegas now.

>>We will drive to D.V. Nat.park which is like 5 hrs away. Might stay overnight there…
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Old Nov 28th, 2016, 06:50 PM
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There is a neat ghost town between DV and Beatty,NV . If you fly into Vegas and take 95 north past area 51 to Beatty then west towards DV it is well marked road on the right. There is a house built of bottles, cemented together like bricks.
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Old Nov 28th, 2016, 11:44 PM
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https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/...-modern-desert
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Old Nov 29th, 2016, 07:23 AM
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Thanks..!

On the last post .. Randsburgh, CA seems like a touristy ghost town, which is on the way to D.V.park. Will hit that spot...saw some neat pics in yelp!

Maybe I am wrong but I don't want to risk spending time with family in a *totally* deserted ghost town LOL! Who knows what's living in there LOL!

My flights are booked (award tickets...arr/dep from LAX)..So I cant fly into vegas.

Is there a scenic drive along the shore near LA?

Pls recommend rt66 stops starting from Santa monica.

Any recommended "must eats" in LAX? I eat everything!

THANKS!
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Old Nov 29th, 2016, 09:04 AM
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> Is there a scenic drive along the shore near LA?

Along the shore? Yes
Scenic? Yes
BOTH scenic and along the shore? No.

Highway 1 -- the Pacific Coast Highway -- starts at the Santa Monica Boardwalk and goes north along the coast. It has its nice parts, but it hardly what I would call "scenic."

Natural scenery can be found in
https://www.nps.gov/samo/index.htm
but you have to do a little driving & hiking to find it.

> rt66 stops starting from Santa monica

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/27310
http://belgianroute66roadie.blogspot...monica-ca.html
http://route66west2east.com/site/ind...oduct_list&c=1
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Old Nov 29th, 2016, 11:10 AM
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Driving the coast from Santa Monica or other South Bay beach cities up to and through Malibu is always a nice drive, stop at Leo Carillo for the tidepools, maybe visit the Getty Villa (you need reservations due to limited parking), stop at Zuma if the weather is nice, maybe have lunch at Duke's with ocean views and a nice Hawaiian vibe.
You need to let people know where you are staying before folks can make recommendations.
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Old Nov 29th, 2016, 05:47 PM
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Thanks all.

We are 4 people staying in Embassy suites right next to LAX.
My nephew is into airplane spotting , and that's his fav hotel...when he visits LA. We'll stay there for 3 nights , rest of the 4 nights are TBD...whether we go Rt66 or D.V.nat.park or both!

I am into Ethnic foods...Any recommendation near airport would be great...Even food trucks!

Also planning on booking via Budget or enterprise car rental for a small SUV (like rogue, rav4). Anything local to LA that'd be cheaper? Thx
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Old Nov 30th, 2016, 12:02 PM
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Not really a lot of ethnic restaurants in El Segundo other than a few Italian and pizza places, maybe try Chef Hannas on Main.
I was going to recommend Proud Bird if your nephew is in airplane nut, a few old biplanes on the ground and lots of pictures of aviation pioneers, but they are closed for a remodel and not reopening until 2017 per their website.
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Old Nov 30th, 2016, 07:41 PM
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Not far from your hotel, head down to El Sombrero in Manhattan Beach for Mexican food, bonus you can walk the strand and out to the Pier.
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Old Dec 1st, 2016, 08:46 AM
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There used to be an Indian restaurant in El Segundo that was okay but I'm not sure if they are still open, I heard that they either closed or moved.. Name was Indian Summer and the last phone I had was (310) 322-7550,
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Old Dec 1st, 2016, 11:04 AM
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Ok great.

I am more into Authentic Malay, hong kong, Hot pot Chinese,Cajun/creole, Carrib/Jamaican...also any authentic Asian would be great ..except indian coz I eat it daily LOL.
Anyone tried these? :
https://www.yelp.com/biz/singapores-...af-los-angeles
https://www.yelp.com/biz/din-tai-fun...e-6?osq=taiwan
https://www.yelp.com/biz/jiouding-hot-pot-rosemead
https://www.yelp.com/biz/prado-resta...c=best_of_yelp
https://www.yelp.com/biz/front-page-...c=best_of_yelp

Also are there any sea cruises to nearby islands, any nature related cruises? Nothing to snorkel there right?!

thanks
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Old Dec 1st, 2016, 11:12 AM
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Is Indian Summer the one that was on Main Street? We ate there once with an Indian coworker and the food was pretty good, had a lunch buffet special for a decent price.
Our regular hangout for a casual place was Richmond's, good burgers and homemade chips we dipped in ranch dressing.
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Old Dec 1st, 2016, 01:32 PM
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yes, Jamie99. misekris, have you looked on a map? Inglewood is close but not a great neighborhood. some of the other places Glendale..Rosemead...are far away.. could be an hour drive in traffic. El Segundo is not a hotbed of ethnic cuisine..pretty much whitebread.
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Old Dec 2nd, 2016, 06:40 AM
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mlgb,
Yeah I must remember L.A. is huge and notorious for heavy traffic!Most carribean food is in poor/bad neighborhood IME, so I might go to Inglewood during lunch ...takeout !
Is that safe?

Is Chinatown worth it to visit as a tourist? Is korea town separate? We night park and walk around , eat in hole-in-wall places for a day...
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Old Dec 2nd, 2016, 02:06 PM
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I think that location on Manchester should be okay for lunch at the Jamaican place.

Chinatown isn't really that Chinese any more. The authenic higher end stuff is out eat of downtown, eg Rosemead.

The South Bay is a good place to look for Japanese in particular and perhaps some chinese or Korean. That would be Torrance, LOmita,etc. It's still a little far from El Segundo though.

YOu might find okay Thai-chinese in Westchester at Ayara Thai

https://www.yelp.com/biz/ayara-thai-...geles?osq=thai
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 10:01 AM
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Which of these two give a nice view of L.A.?

Runyun canyon park (sunset view?).
Griffith Park ( read it has nice views from Observatory to see L.A. / Hollywood sign)

How is the Red Rock Canyon State Park( 2 hr from LAX..on the way to D.V.park…)?

Is snorkeling good in santa-cruz-island? Will water be cold in Dec?
http://islandpackers.com/santa-cruz-island/

Thanks
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 12:05 PM
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Defintely Griffith Park (Observatory is closed on Mondays) for a good view of LA as well as the sign.
The Pacific is cold all year long and you will need to wear a wetsuit to snorkel, dive shop can tell you what thickness. There is some decent snorkeling off Catalina, never been to Santa Cruz, only Santa Barbara via sailboat.
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Old Dec 6th, 2016, 12:07 PM
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The water is cold year round. I would not plan on snorkeling in December anywhere. water temps are below 60 F. If you get a fine day, want an excursion, you could take the Catalina Express over to Catalina...you can see the Garibaldi perch from the dock.There are also glass bottom tours and submarine. Be sure to call ahead to see if they are running daily in off season

http://www.catalinaadventuretours.co...e-the-nautilus

Elsewhere on Catalina, you can hike or rent a golf cart and go up to the Wrigley Memorial..it isn't unusual to see one of the semi-tame Catalina foxes up there..so cute! Also visit the "Casino". You can get more info about Catalina things to do at catalinachamber.com

On the ride over you'll probably see dolphins and maybe some sea lions (also plenty in Avalon Harbor at Catalina).

If Catalina is more than you want to do, December is the start of gray whale migration, whale watch tours go part way out and along the coast..The ones out of Long Beach are run by the Aquarium and should be discounted (check Groupon).

If you don't want to go out on the ocean, A nice place to walk along the coast is the Palos Verdes Peninsula, you can start at Point Vicente Intepretive Center where there may be docents doing whale watching from the bluffs.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/point-vicen...palos-verdes-2
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