We've been making frequent trips to visit our daughter in the LA area, and, each time, she provides us with new "adventures." Some of the things we enjoy are simple pleasures, like walking along the promenade in Santa Monica or hiking up Runyon Canyon.

This weekend's highlights:
- LODGING: Holiday Inn Express in Century City: a terrific find! We stayed for location convenience, but recommend it highly for moderate cost. Clean, comfortable and friendly - the best beds! And includes a very nice breakfast with a cheerful attendant in the breakfast room. It's on Olympic Blvd which has very minimal traffic late at night and weekend mornings. Easy access to all the areas we like to visit.

-DINING:
*** Clementine's - absolutely fantastic! The best chicken salad sandwich I have ever tasted! Charming, friendly, fresh food - really the best! Located just off Santa Monica Blvd. across from Westfield Century City Mall. Sort of hidden; tough parking. Walk if you can.

**Canter's Jewish Deli on Fairfax. The matzo ball soup is wonderful; the pastrami, corned beef, stuffed cabbages - all very good. It's an old world gem, classic, and celebrity sightings are frequent. Seedy on the outside, but inspiring enough on the inside that I almost bought the T-shirt with the picture of the giant pastrami sandwich!

** Inn at the Seventh Ray in Topanga Canyon: always a delight. Outdoor Dining with the 60's - 70's feel intact. Incredible organic dining, vegetarian and vegan options. Love the flatbread chicken and lentil; ginger lemonade is refreshing, too.

* Al Gelato on Robertson: inexpensive family dining. All the local college students know about this place. Share a platter of ravioli, a bowl of salad, fresh-baked white bread, abowl of chicken noodle or vegetable soup, about $30 for 4 people even with a little gelato for dessert. My husband and I love the Chocolate Ice. So creamy you would never know there is no milk in it.

To Be Continued...

"ADVENTURES":
*** Griffith Observatory - Our first time there. It's been renovated and now has 2 additional floors underneath. We arrived at 3 PM and stayed well into the evening. The VIEW, the SUNSET...Wow! This is a must-see. We got a kick out of the humor in the Leonard Nimoy film about the building reconstruction, and thoroughly enjoyed the extremely knowledgable and enthusiastic docents who might be astronomy grad students. (How else would we have learned about the dark side of Griffith J Griffith attempting to murder his wife and then turning philanthropic in a fit of remorse)?
Parking Tip: Drive all the way to the top to look for parking rather than settling for a space far, far down the hill, even though the lot is "full" - you might just get lucky.
** Disneyland - my husband who hates amusement parks shocked us with his request to go here. Had a great adult time, but the cost of $66 per person was a shocker. This would have been tough for us in the old days with little kids. Disney has tamed Thunder Mountain RR by applying the brakes at key points in the ride, but it was still fun.
** Dermologica in Santa Monica: Pleasant facial that doesn't leave you looking red and blotchy. No push to sell products, but some are so nice, it is hard to resist(especially the Daily Microfoliant).
*** Clementine's in Century City and Canter's on Fairfax - yes, I listed them under restaurants, but they are adventures, too. Clementine's is an adventure in tastes, Canter's is an L.A. cultural adventure. For that matter, Inn at the Seventh Ray is an adventure, too. Sit outside along the creek, read the menu, and see what I mean.

Have you been to The Getty? Go on a Fri or Sat and stay for dinner.

And check out Amandine on Wilshire west of Bundy for morning coffee and pastries. A banana caramel nut danish that'll knock your socks off!

bookmarking

For shopping fun go into downtown LA to the garment district and shop on Santee Alley.....!!

joesource, I have been to Getty Villa twice and loved it. The Getty Center got bumped to next visit due to my husband's surprise request for Disneyland. Can you tell me why you suggest Fri or Sat for dinner? It's an interesting suggestion! What sort of food? Getty Villa had a decent lunch, I thought. Is it similar fare?

kleroux, are you referring to what is called the Fashion District? Or is this something different? I have not been there yet. Thanks for suggesting. My daughter has previously mentioned Fashion District. We did poke around a sleepy but interesting block on Abbey-Kinney this time. (in Venice??)

Does anyone have any walking/hiking/outdoor suggestions?

Other restaurants we have tried and liked include Frito Misto, The Nook (a place with no sign) in Santa Monica and Chaya Venice. Also Simon LA but for some reason was not that as enamored with it as others.
I thought the Nook was fun, edgy, hip and delicious. Fun for a young crowd.

Does anyone have anything to recommend in the Silver Lake area?

I think the Restaurant at the Getty is only opening evenings on Friday and Saturday...though it's open daily at lunch. At night you'd get a great sunset or a nice view of the city from the hilltop restaurant. The menu we saw looked eclectic with emphasis on seafood pastas, grille and salads. The wine list looked terrific. You'd need a reservation which is something we didn't have so we missed out.
The Getty also has a garden cafe with great sandwiches and salads if you're there around lunch time. Not as pricey as the Restaurant.
For walking/hiking...since you're on the westside, consider the UCLA campus which is big, and hilly, and can be quite a workout. It's fun to wander around, check out the libraries or the bookstore while you're there and you might even happen upon an outdoor sporting event to watch. The Westwood neighborhood surrounding the campus has lots of lunch options.
Another must walk/hike is the Ferndale area of Griffith Park.

Thanks. I'll add the Ferndale area of Griffith Park to "The List." (Although I don't have any idea where the Ferndale area is).

We're always ready for new suggestions as we will be making many trips south to LA.

You can hike for miles upon miles in the Santa Monica mountains.

Topanga State Park is accessed off of Topanga Cyn Blvd., just a little farther up the canyon from Inn of the 7th Ray.

Have you been to Will Rogers State Park? A beautiful place in Pacific Palisades, the Backbone Trail starts there.

Be prepared for hills and dust, most trails start out as a climb, but then you get to go downhill on the way back!

elnap29, Your post is full of great tips--thank you! Sometimes the little quirky places are the most fun. And I'm all for spa treatments

More please...

Tess, I'll post more tips from time to time. Some of our earlier "adventures" are not postable, as I have no idea where they were!
For example, we went to a popular cupcake bakery called "Sprinkles" but I can't tell you where.