Guys, she said she wasn't interested in the beach. Will you drop it with the MB recs, already? It has a couple of good breakfast spots, a few busy dive/surfer bars (although nothing compared to Hermosa Beach), and the same row of shops and boutiques that can be found in 300 other places across the country. And a nice beach. But that's not what she wants, see?

Two girls want to spend a fun non-beach weekend in LA. If the girls are in their 50s then Pasadena would do fine. Plenty of ladies who lunch, home furnishing shops, and a few nice museums. But the clear best option for twobees is West Hollywood and/or Beverly Hills for world-class shops, bars, restaurants, clubs, spas, etc. Flying into either LAX or Burbank would be fine. The commute to SF Springs would be tough, hence you should switch to a closer hotel the night before the meeting.

So what kind of scene are you looking for, twobees? You've mentioned what you DON'T want, but you should get a bit more specific about what you DO want to get more helpful advice.

I'm thinking Pasadena might be nice for ladies of a certain age. The Huntington
http://www.huntington.org/ also has a tea service in the Rose Garden Cafe, and I think the Ritz Carlton is fun to walk around even if you're not staying there (Sunday Brunch?). Norton Simon, great shopping, lots of restaurants.

http://www.pasadenacal.com/shopdine2.htm
For an "adventure" you could take the Gold Line to downtown Los Angeles. Maybe tour the Disney Concert Hall? Little Tokyo? Dimsum lunch in Chinatown at CBS or Empress?

Jeez! I'm not pushing MB. I missed her comment about not being interested in the beach. Nonetheless, I hate the beach, unless I'm going surfing or such (and no, I'm not some 20-year old), but that doesn't mean I don't like cute beach towns.

I also thought it would be nice if she didn't have to spend an hour in traffic after landing at LAX on a Friday night.

But excuse me for recommending something I and all the women I work with have enjoyed tremendously.

bobludlow is spot on about LA. Twobees - what kind of "fun" are you looking for?

West Hollywood (Sunset Blvd.) has a huge night scene and great shopping (on Melrose - think Urban Outfitters), but it's young... 20s to 30s.

The Beverly Hills area also has great shopping and an okay night scene, but the shopping is more upscale (think Anthropologie or Wallpaper Magazine) and there are fewer bars. Better for 30-40 somethings.

Santa Monica
The 3rd Street Promenade area seems to be fun for all ages, and the Viceroy down there is quite a scene... good for people watching.
The Montana Avenue area is a bit more refined and sedate.

LA is basically a collection of suburbs... whatever you want, we have... we just need a bit more information.

I think bobludlow's descriptions of Manhattan Beach (where I live), Hermosa Beach and Pasadena are all pretty shallow. His descriptions of Beverly Hills (where I work) and West Hollywood are only slightly better.

MB has a couple of restaurants (Petros, Cafe Pierre) that rival anything anywhere in L.A., and most of the shopping in MB and HB is one-of-a-kind retail stores, hardly the "same row ... found in 300 other places across the country." There are great spas in each town: Glen Ivy in HB, Trilogy in MB. To describe them as merely beach towns reveals the lack of time spent in either.

My husband and I go to Pasadena at least once a month for lunch or dinner and a movie or theater performance, and I would estimate the average age of people in Old Pasadena on weekends (especially evenings) is 30-40 with a fairly equal mix of families and singles until later hours when the younger people are the overwhelming majority. To refer to "plenty of ladies who lunch" and nearly dismiss entirely the Norton Simon Museum, the Pasadena Art Museum and the Huntington Library is just plain weird. How about live theater at the Pasadena Auditorium? The enormous (and loads of fun) flea market at the Rose Bowl?

Obviously, we need to know more about what interests the twobees, but let's at least accurately describe the different areas.

I don't know if you are just directing your comment to bobludlow or to everyone, but did I not mention the Norton Simon and give a link to the Huntington?

The Rose Bowl swap meet is fun, but it's only held one Sunday a month.

I used to live in Pasadena and loved it, but I do understand bobludlow's point. Here are some generalizations that might help:

Pasadena (Old Town & South Pass) caters to a more family-oriented crowd. Mid-westerners would feel right at home here.

Beverly Hills caters to a more upscale, pampered crowd (sometimes European).

Hollywood/West Hollywood (Sunset) caters to a very young party crowd and a film industry crowd.

West Hollywood (below Sunset) caters mostly to the gay and lesbian community.

Santa Monica caters to the British and a fun, young-spirited, yet mild-mannered crowd.

Venice Beach caters to a young, hip, grungy crowd.

Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park cater to a very hip crowd... often young, but at least young-at-heart, artistic and often offbeat.

These are generalizations, I know, but it gives you an overall sense of the areas' atmospheres.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that these women are "of a certain age" or "in their 50's"

bobludlow apparently has Downtown Manhattan Beach confused with Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.

However, he is right in that we cannot suggest "places of interest" if we don't know what those "interests" are.

Probably from another post where she stated that her parents were celebrating a 60th wedding anniversary.

Basic math is my strong suit.

Where to begin with the most recent generalized descriptions of areas of L.A. and what type of people each area caters to?

On any typical weekend evening in Old Town Pasadena, there is an amazing ethnic, economic and age diversity reflected in the people dining, shopping and wandering around. It's unlike almost any place I've traveled and represents a microcosm of what makes L.A. one of the more unique cities in the world. OTP might feel like another planet to a visitor who lives far from urban areas of the U.S.

On any day in Beverly Hills (where I've worked for more than 30 years), I see lots of average tourists and not very many people of the upscale, pampered variety. IMO, Rodeo Drive has become a cartoon version of itself where the shops are more like museums.

FYI, the "film industry" crowd does not hang out in Hollywood. There are active studios and supporting technical providers located throughout L.A. County, including Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach!

"Santa Monica caters to the British" (huh?) and a "fun, young-spirited, yet mild-mannered crowd." The second part sounds like any town along the L.A. coastline. Not mentioned is that SM caters to a sizeable, permanent homeless population.

All this, and no mention of Culver City which has a huge film industry connection (MGM, Columbia, Sony Pictures, Tristar) and a very dynamic arts (visual and performance) scene.

Jean - that's why I prefaced them as "generalizations."

Re: the "film industry crowd," I'm speaking of the executives (with whom I hang out). The younger ones are in Hollywood and downtown (the new cool place in LA) and the older ones are in Beverly Hills.

Re: Santa Monica, I believe it's the largest British ex-pat population in America (maybe the world, but definitely America). It's packed with Brits. But also with a diverse assortment of everyday people and tourists.

Culver City is indeed experiencing a huge renaissance, but it doesn't seem to appeal to tourists as much as it does locals. Again, this is a generalization... one of my visiting friends who'd been to LA quite a few times loved Culver City. But for the most part, people who haven't been to LA before want to see areas like Hollywood, the studios, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.

As for Rodeo Drive, I personally avoid it like the plague (except to see one of my doctors who is based there), but tourists seem to love it for the people watching and high-end shops.

I apologize for upsetting you, Jean. I do think that Pasadena is a nice town. And you should note that my description did mention that it had a few nice museums. A few = 2-3. Nice = certainly worth visiting, but probably not worth planning an entire vacation around. I'm sure that there are plenty of young 20-somethings that really enjoy living in Pasadena. But would a 20-something on her first LA vacation truly prefer Pasadena to west hollywood or santa monica? I doubt it. The same goes for a 30-something unless she was a museum/gardening nut.

The same goes for Manhattan Beach. It is a great town, but pick any category of attraction and you will find something better elsewhere in LA. Sure, there are several one-off boutiques on the main drag. But their number and quality pales in comparison to what you can find along La Brea Avenue. If twobees were looking for a great weekend of shopping, would you really recommend Manhattan Beach over La Brea? Likewise for Petros and Cafe Pierre: would a real foodie fly across the country to eat their food? The answer would be "yes" for any number of restaurants in other parts of Los Angeles.

So again I have to ask twobees: what do you want to do for your fun weekend? We'd love to help point you in the right direction.

I'm not upset. I just thought we were talking about entirely different places with the same names. I'm an L.A. native of more years than I'll admit to, and your perceptions of the various areas was foreign to me.

As for the restaurant and shopping comparisons, to each his own. I doubt people fly across the country to eat in a particular restaurant, but Petros has been described as having the best Greek food in California. Twobees didn't mention shopping (or museums for that matter). The only thing we have to go on is "safe," "fun," and "pleasure." We don't even know that they are 20-somethings. Presumptions that they would prefer SM and WeHo over Pasadena because of their age are incorrect.

But, no worries. We've scared them off with our nattering.

bobludlow - I agree with you. I once suggested on this very forum that someone visit Culver City while they were here, only to realize later on that Culver City just isn't as cool to tourists as it is to me.

I may avoid Hollywood & Highland, Rodeo Drive, the clubs on Sunset or Universal Citywalk like the plague, but new visitors seem to love them. To them, those areas "are" LA.

But Jean, as a long-time resident of LA, I also agree that I personally would rather spend my time at the Huntington, one of the wine bars in Culver City, a venue in Silverlake or one of the many great new restaurants that open up in strange neighborhoods around town. It takes a while to appreciate the genuine value of LA.

Thanks again for all the great info.
Here are now the only plans we have: flying into LAX on Sat/early AM. Business: Sante Fe Springs on Mon.& driving to Fresno on Wed. departing LAX Thur. PM. The rest of FUN time is up in the air. We are 30 & 50ish! Love to shop and want to see ALL the sights! Still not sure where we will be staying....probably will stay in some fun place on Sat then move to someplace close to SFS on Sun.