I could write pages and pages, but will limit this report to some basics and then answer any questions that people may have.

We flew from Ft. Myers to San Francisco on August 5, renting apartments in SF for two weeks:

http://www.vrbo.com/63308

then flew American Airlines to Las Vegas for three nights at the Aladdin before flying to Los Angeles for two weeks:

http://tinyurl.com/kxc25

We rented a car from Dollar for three weeks in LA, driving to San Diego for a week before returning to LAX to fly home. The car was a total of $13.50 a day and although we had reserved a Dodge Neon or similar, we ended up with a 9 passenger Grand Caravan. Glad we weren't doing too much driving with the high cost of gas.
Here's where we rented in San Diego for a week:

http://www.vrbo.com/72389

The apartments were all nothing short of fantastic, and it was nice to have space to stretch out and feel at home, especially for two week stays.

We saw a lot of theatre. I won't go into too much detail since most shows were limited runs anyway and are finished running. But look for the Broadway appearance of the final Kander and Ebb (Cabaret, etc.) musical called CURTAINS which we saw in LA with David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk, and Karen Ziemba. It was much fun. Also saw an amazing production of FENCES at the Pasadena Playhouse with Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. In Sad Diego we were entertained by a fun performance of the offbeat musical Urinetown, at the Starlight Theatre -- a huge outdoor theatre with planes zipping just overhead every 2 minutes or so -- I doubt I'd go back there.

We seem to travel to eat, and a few of our favorites:
SF: Three somewhat similar neighborhood trattorias that were all wonderful -- Luella (Hyde at Green), Trattoria Contadina (Union at Mason), and Antica Trattoria (Union at Polk). Loved Mona Lisa where we met with a couple other posters -- including LoveItaly who recommended this delightful place.
Had an amazing breakfast at Dottie's True Blue, then two even better ones at Mama's at Washington Square. Finally got to eat at Slanted Door (with a two week advance lunch booking) and it was truly wonderful and surprisingly less expensive than we expected.
Plouf, Kuleto's, Betelnut, Zuni Cafe, Swan Oyster Depot, and Harris were also all great choices. I thought Alioto's was only so-so, despite the wonderful views, and a place called Iluna Basque for tapas was really disappointing. We "discovered" paul k, a wonderful place near Van Ness and Market with a sort of trendy middle eastern/Mediterranean feel. A ferry ride to Sausalito for lunch at the Spinaker was nice.

In LA: we sort of played it casual this time with no big deal restaurants. We discovered a place called Harper's Express in the food court at the Westfield Shopping Center (Century City) where we ate lunch three or four times. It was worlds away from typical food court fare with a regular sit down counter and a super waiter/PR man taking care of everything. Had wonderful dinners at several Drago restaurants: Celestino in Pasadena, Enoteca Drago in Beverly Hills, and Tanino in Westwood. Kendall's Brasserie downtown was great before CURTAINS, and we loved the patio at Pane Vino on Beverly as we always do.

In San Diego, we had the WORST Mexican food in Old Town (only went there after theatre because that's where the theatre was) at Fred's, a supposedly multi-award winning Mexican place. But we made up for it at the age-old Chuey's under the Coronado Bridge. Had a wonderful meal (but absurdly oversized portions that we left half of) at Hash House a Go Go in Hillcrest. Another wonderful meal in Balboa Park at the pretty Prado restaurant, and a nice time on Coronado after taking the ferry across to dine at Il Fornaio.

This trip was more relaxing that busy, but a couple highlights were the new DeYoung Museum in SF's Golden Gate Park (including a very good lunch in their cafe), using the cable cars as an actual means of transportation since we were only a few steps away from the Mason/Green stop, and walking the Mission searching for the best burrito. (Is there really a BEST?)
In LA we visited the Getty Villa which was indeed beautiful, not unlike the Getty Museum it all seems more about the architecture and setting than it is about the art, but so worhtwhile. Also did the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena which we've always missed before.
It seemed we did almost nothing in SanDiego, but sit and enjoy our apartment and go out to eat.

The reason we stuck the three days in Vegas in there was because it seemed like a good way to get from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We really didn't want to drive that again, and flights between the two seemed so high. But we could get the flight from San Jose (which was better than SFO as we spent a night in Campbell with Lee's brother and family) to LasVegas and then on to LA for less than $ 100 each. We had a "steal" of $49 a night at Aladdin -- perhaps because the entire casino was really torn up and they were in the process of moving and redoing it for the Planet Hollywood changeover. But the room was wonderful. We saw Ka and LeReve and loved them both. Had a wonderful lunch at Bouchon, and the best meal of the stay which was a lunch at Olives. Dinners at Red8 at Wynn, Voodoo Lounge at Rio, and Diego at MGM were all good -- not extraordinary.

The best part of the return was having to switch our flight from a stopover in Dallad between LAX and Ft. Myers to a nonstop LAX to Miami then the puddle jumper Eagle to Ft. Myers. The plane was newly assigned to the route and was a deluxe international 777. We were bumped to Business Class which was as nice or nicer that when we have that to Europe. I've posted separately on that great airline experience home.

So any comments? Questions?

Wow, and I even previewed the post.

Sad Diego was not supposed to be some snide comment. I simply meant San Diego. And of course Dallad is really Dallas.

Hello Neo, thanks for posting your trip report! I would like to comment that if anyone is thinking of renting an apartment in SF for a week the apartment Neo rented is not only in a wonderful location but it is so comfortable, lovely, bright and airy with two beautiful views of SF.

I am so glad that you had a wonderful westcoast visit Neo and it was certainly fun being able to see you and the others. Hurry back!!

Oh, LoveItaly, you shouldn't have mentioned you spent time at my apartment. Now people may talk!

Wow, you sure know how to pick the apartments, Neopolitan. The views from the pictures are beautiful.

(On another subject, did you ever post a review of the place in Venice? If you did, I missed it. I know we were looking at the same place for awhile, but we couldn't get it for all our days. Now we're thinking of going back, and I'm curious how you liked it.)

I have a brother in the Bay Area, and we are always looking for places to stay. I am definitely keeping this link for future reference.

Any idea when the construction will be finished at the Aladdin? Did you find the noise disruptive at all?

Your note on Chuey's brought back lots of memories from my years in California. Glad to know they're still as good as ever.

It's always enjoyable following you on your adventures.

Ooooops, lol!! Well Neo what can I say. I could have a couple of the other guest post that they were there too I guess

BTW, the LA and San Diego apartments look fabulous also.

I wouldn't worry about your "reputations" after all it IS San Francisco you're talking about. No body would even bat an eye, ya think? LOL

kopp, I thought I had posted a review of that apartment, but couldn't find it, so just did so again.
Here's the link:
http://tinyurl.com/fno8y

Sooo true Crefloors, lol!!

Neo and LoveItaly ...

Remember, what happens in San Francisco - stays in San Francisco.

Nina

Neo,
My sister-in-law and my two nieces may be looking for an apartment in San Diego for a few weeks this summer. I love the look of vrbo 72389 and want to recommend it to her but I notice that the price says $3800 per month. I usually assume that a monthly price means that you can only rent it by month. Is that not true?