Hello everyone!

I'm a female singer-songwriter from the midwest heading to LA in November for a music conference and am just looking for a little advice on my trip. I've been to LA 5+ times and I love the area. I've seen all of the touristy things to see but now am interested in a couple places to do a little songwriting and exploring while i'm there.

Couple questions on my mind...

1) Where is the spot that you always see on tv (lame, I know haha) that is in the hills and overlooks the whole city? I feel like I see it on MTV type shows where characters always go hiking and have "deep" conversations, haha. I would love to hike up there and see the city. If you know where it is, please let me know!

2) Beaches...for writing as well. Looking for a non-tourist populated beach that's kind of secluded. Would my best bet be somewhere along the PCH?

3) Do you know any good open mics, coffeehouses, etc that I could play live? I play pop-acoustic music.

4) In-N-Out I've always wanted to eat there! I'm staying around LAX, are there any close by? Or what is your favorite location?

5) Traffic? From LAX area to all these places. I'll be done at my conference around 6 or 7pm...would the traffic even be worth it to se5) e these sites? I won't be renting a car, so I'll be taking a taxi or if there's any other form of transportation.

If you have any other ideas of places that I can do my songwriting, that would be fantastic! I appreciate your help SO much and I greatly appreciate it! Thank you!!

In what part of the city is your conference? I'm not quite sure what you're asking....it gets dark early in November, are you saying you want to find a beach to visit at night, and a spot with a view too? After 6pm????

Sorry for the confusion! Conference is at a hotel by LAX.
I have some time during the day to do a little sight seeing so I would probably do some of it then. But I finish my conference around 6 or 7pm, just wondering how bad traffic is then and if it's worth it to go anywhere if the taxi fare would be $$$. Thanks for the help

At LaX you're close to Manhattan Beach, so your daytime excursions there would be easy, and there is a MBeach trolley service that picks up at some LAX hotels and would be convenient for you. I'd also look into this area for open-mic night type events since it would only be a $15-$20 cab ride back to LAX. Venice Beach would also be near, but some of the Venice area can be sketchy at night for a female alone so you may want to avoid.

At the end of your conference day, yes...unfortunately, the traffic is crazy bad in the area until about 8pm. Public transportation is not the greatest though you might be able to find some open-mic type bars in the Culver City area which would be accessible by 15-20 min bus ride. Cab might be more comfortable then bus for the late-night trip back to the hotel however since the streets around LAX will not feel safe to you. However if you meet others at the conference who want to venture out and you do so in a group, there is decent bus service to a few areas until near midnight. THere is a Hertz office in the LAX Hilton and a few of you might pitch in to rent a car for 24 hours as you could get up to West Hollywood/Sunset STrip to visit some music clubs, or drive up through the hills or to the Griffith Observatory (cool place and open til 10pm, vast views of the city).

P.S.
LAWeekly.com probably has a pretty extensive list of open mic nights and jams, though you'll want to call each venue to make sure the information is up-to-date. If you find any that look promising you could come back here and ask about the location and whether or not it is semi-convenient to your hotel.

For your first question, it may be Runyon Canyon that you're thinking about: http://www.hellolosangeles.com/Artic...their_dogs.Cfm

"Where is the spot that you always see on tv (lame, I know haha) that is in the hills and overlooks the whole city?"

I'm not sure where "the" spot is, but if you go up to the Baldwin Hills overlook off of Jefferson Blvd. or up to the top of Bill Botts Field in Culver City you get an amazing view of LA (not the San Fernando Valley). You can go up to Botts at night. You might find a few people "parking" up there.


"Beaches...for writing as well. Looking for a non-tourist populated beach that's kind of secluded. Would my best bet be somewhere along the PCH?"

If you are staying near LAX then the most convenient beach is the one in Playa del Rey down to Dockweiler. This is underneath the LAX flight path so it can be a little loud, but it's safe, not too crowded and not terribly touristy. There is also a sewage treatment plan, so the farther north you are, closer to Playa del Rey the more pleasant the beach. (The plant isn't icky, but it's there).

"Do you know any good open mics, coffeehouses, etc that I could play live? I play pop-acoustic music."

Try The Spot in Culver City and Henri's in Canoga Park. The Spot allows people to come in and do gigs in their small room the in the back. Henri's has open mics but I'm not sure when.

"In-N-Out I've always wanted to eat there! I'm staying around LAX, are there any close by? Or what is your favorite location?"

There is an In n Out in Westchester right outside the airport. It was the last place my son ate before getting on an airplane to head back to college. Very easy access.

"Traffic? From LAX area to all these places. I'll be done at my conference around 6 or 7pm...would the traffic even be worth it to se5) e these sites? I won't be renting a car, so I'll be taking a taxi or if there's any other form of transportation."

All of the above recommendations are very close to LAX. I would not want to have to rely on a cab to pick me up at the beach, however if you are in Playa del Rey there are a number of businesses just a couple of blocks from the beach where I am sure a taxi would pick you up.

If you have any other ideas of places that I can do my songwriting, that would be fantastic! I appreciate your help SO much and I greatly appreciate it! Thank you!!

Awesome, thank you all so much!! Your responses are so helpful!!!

I think the spot you see in most TV shows is Mulholland Drive. You can access it in different places but here is the view I think you are referring to.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregoryjordan/2022618545/

Here is information on different places to access Mulholland. You'd really need a car to do this as a cab would be very expensive. Maybe you could do as clarkgriswold mentioned and rent a car one evening to go to West Hollywood and then drive up Mulholland.

http://www.latourist.com/index.php?p...our-mulholland

Now that i'm getting such great advice from you guys, I really am thinking about renting a car for a day or two just to do a little sightseeing. Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom, it's been a great help!