6 days and nights in la
 

Hi all, i am arriving in LA on sat 3rd march for 6 nights. Staying in Santa Monica. Can anyone advise if there are any flea markets open on a sunday. Also any good jazz music bars that are near Santa monica. Also open to any suggestions ref entertainment in that area generally. Thanks for advice in advance

Simpsy,<BR><BR>Where are you staying in SM? My husband and I are looking for a motel/hotel. We are going the 8-9th of March. Also, did you rent a car? If so from who and was it a good deal?<BR><BR>There is a good mexican resturant called: El Cholo on Wilshire and 10th or 11th. It's a real trendy place. I have not been but was told it's good. Other places are:: Tia Juana's on Olympic and Tito's Tacos (which I have been to when I lived in LA back in the mid 80's). It's in W.LA. On Washington Place, west of Supulveda.<BR><BR>I know a great pasta place called: Macaroni Grill. Lots of locations. There is one in Torrance, South of SM. <BR><BR>I don't know any jazz music bars. I found this when I was doing a search. www.santamonica.com You can look up all kinds of dining, things to see/do.<BR><BR>Anthor good source of info is the public library. Just do a search and e-mail the reference. You can get all kinds of free suggestions. <BR><BR>If you want to know more, please feel free to e-mail me: [email protected]<BR>Where do you live? I'm in WA State.<BR><BR>

Simpsy, <BR><BR>One of the best flea markets in the L.A. area is at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It is held the second Sunday of every month. Here's the link to the website:<BR><BR>http://www.rgcshows.com/rosebowl.asp<BR>

&quot;I know a great pasta place called: Macaroni Grill. Lots of locations.&quot; Everywhere.<BR><BR>This typifies &quot;la&quot;.<BR><BR>That is almost as good as the Olive Garden.<BR><BR>Curious

The closest jazz bars to S.M. are Lunaria on Santa Monica in the Century City area (great French food too!), and a little hole in the wall, the Jazz Bakery, at the old Helms Bakery in Culver City (shoot straight down Venice Blvd. and you can't miss the Helms sign). Other places where jazz is served up from time to time are the Broadway Bar &amp; Grill in Santa Monica, and the Rose Cafe in Venice (on Rose). There are a number of small clubs in Santa Monica that are enjoyable, like the 10 Below. I like the Kingston 12 for Reggae; there's live bands at oh, I forgot the name for the moment, I think it's on 4th in S.M. between Santa Monica Blvd. and Broadway; a couple of rock clubs. I would check the L.A. Weekly; it provides a pretty comprehensive list of what's playing where, and is free! You can view a shorter version (without the ads from all the clubs) online at laweekly.com.<BR><BR>Finally, and this can be fun depending on who's playing, is Rusty's Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier. Usually good local bands on the weekend, and some pretty good clam chowder too.

Simpsy,<BR>One more thing, you might want to check your flight. Saturday is March 1st, not 3rd!

The Rose Bowl is a great flea market if you're in town the 2nd Sunday of the month. There's also a popular antique flea market held at the Santa Monica airport.

Forget Macaroni Grill in Torrance which can be a 20 minutes or an hour away depending on traffic. Stick with restaurants on the Westside. La Serenata di Garibaldi or Border Grill for Mexican. Warsawa is a great polish place in SM. <BR><BR>I like Harvelles on 4th street for live music. Small but cool.

Yeah. And if for some reason you can't get in at the Macaroni Grill, I've always had great dining experiences at Chilis.<BR><BR>Actually, one of my favourite dining experiences in memory is Geoffreys, which is situated on a coastal cliff up Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, to the north. It's expensive, but if the weather is mild and you want to splurge a bit and enjoy great food in an incredible setting, I highly recommend it. I like the alfresco option, an outdoor table cliff-side overlooking the Pacific... Very professional, unobtrusive service, a nice menu, a fantastic place to be at sunset.<BR><BR>As for flea markets, I seem to recall that there is a nice one in Venice on the weekend, which is the town just south of SM.<BR><BR>Harvelles has world class blues, great call and right in the SM area. I need some help on this one because I forget the details, but I also seem to recall that at one of the hotels in SM, there is a lighter jazz ensemble that plays on particular nights of the week, and the female vocalist that sang with the ensemble was sublime. Really great music, very traditional 'old school' jazz.<BR><BR>Definetly pick up an LA Weekly. Judging from your interests, it will be your bible in finding the particulars for your entertainment options.

If you want a good pasta place, Earth, Wind, &amp; Flour on Wilshire (&amp; maybe about 16 th street?)in Santa Monica is excellent. If you are up for a very good breakfast with some great Califonia Omlettes &amp; fresh fruit &amp; fresh orange juice, try the Omlette Parlor on Main street. I forget which days(Maybe Sunday), but there is a Farmer's Market in the parking lots behind the stores on Main Street. <BR>Also, if in the mood for a Deli for lunch, Iggy's on Wilshire is excellent &amp; the soup &amp; sandwich will definitley fill you up.

Sorry, should be Izzy's not Iggy's.

If you are looking for flea markets, one of the best is at Pasadena City College on the first sunday of the month. It's free and the prices are usually better than the Rose Bowl. If you are looking for interesting things to do, Pasadena has alot to offer. If you want to eat at a good, real authentic CA Mexican diner for lunch, El Toreo on Fairoaks at Colarado Blvd. is great. It's been there long before the tourists. Nothing fancy, but the salty chips, green salsa and cold beer put El Cholo to shame.