I must re-iterate the advice to not waste your time at Ports-of-Call Village in San Pedro. It has seen better days and many of the stores and restaurants have shut down. As for the crab-leg restaurant, it might be the Crusty Crab or the San Pedro Fish Market, which are both still open, but it may have been a restaurant that has since closed. I just don't think either place would be worth the commute, but it's your vacation.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/crusty-crab-san-pedro
http://www.sanpedrofishmarket.com/

If you still want to see Long Beach and the Queen Mary, then I would also recommend the Aquarium of the Pacific. www.aquariumofpacific.org/ You could also take a whale-watching trip from there: www.2seewhales.com

There are many threads on here about what to do in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert area.

>>On the other hand... this will give you a GREAT idea of our freeway systems in Southern CA!

osakaorchid,
First I have to send my sympathies to you. You were very clear in your request twice and got tons of grief instead of suggestions. We went to Scotland and stayed in a timeshare in the middle of the country so had a 1-2 hour drive to whatever we wanted to see. I didn't bother to ask for suggestions and we enjoyed our trip anyway. Having said that, please realize it will be 110degrees and 2+ hours each way with the last 30 min into Palm Springs dark and sleepy (with fatal accidents possibilities if you aren't awake) and you MUST be a confident freeway driver because we drive fast and crazy out here. Into LA from Palm Springs, I-60 or I-10 are equally bad so take either. If you go to North LA (Universal, TV studios,

OOPs - anyway continuting)
Getty Villa or Malibu) I would take I-210 as it tends to be less traffic. Be sure to use the carpool lane if you have at least 1 other person in the car. They don't always drive faster but if there is any congestion, you will usually do better. Time of day - traffic will be 6 am to 9 am every weekday although surprisingly Mon and Fri mornings seem to be lighter in my opinion, and 3 pm to 6 pm every weekday night.
I used to love San Pedro many years ago but not so much these days as mentioned. If Queen Mary is important, I would be more likely to go there first, maybe see the Long Beach Aquarium if intersted, and then drive down the coast to Newport and shop at the little stores and Newport Fashion Village.
My other major advice if this is your plan is to make sure your rental car is unlimited mileage and has AC.

You may be saving a bunch on hotel costs but you're going to spend a LOT on gas. Have you worked out the cost of all this driving? Other than wear and tear on your nerves, that is. You'll need a vacation to recover from this one.

fairygemgirl, and driving around Scotland is just like driving around Southern Californian freeways?

>>

I'd estimate $35 per round-trip in gas (130 miles X 2 ways / 22 MPG X $3.00 per gallon).

fairygemgirl: I'm a Californian who lived in the UK for several years and have been to Scotland more times than I can count (my favorite place on Earth) -- I usually rent 2 or 3 houses or cottages for a week each and use them for bases to travel around.

Trust me on this one -- an hour or 2 on rural Scottish roads is a joy, 2-3 hours each way from Palm Springs is a nightmare -- or at least a very bad dream . . . .

If you won't listen to the knowledgeable posters on this forum about why staying in Palm Springs is not a practical idea, I'll kindly suggest you need two things...

A map & a guidebook.

You have gotten a lot of excellent advice here. If you won't listen to the one piece of advice stated in almost every post (DO NOT waste your time and money driving back and forth to Palm Springs), why should anyone feel motivated to waste their time giving you advice on what to see?

You are talking about a nearly 6 hour drive each day on (for the most part) boring roads. Either spend your week in Palm Springs getting your money's worth out of the hotel, or do a triangle- two nights Palm Springs, two in LA and two in San Diego.

In that case, all I can say is enjoy southern California's freeway system.

Lee Ann

Hi,osakaorchid.

The attitude of many of the responders astounds me. Looks like a few of us less knowledgeable folks will have to fill in. I'll be back. Hang in there. Others may join in.

Gotta go for a jog now.

Joshua Tree National Park would be a great afternoon drive for you when you are in Palm Springs.

You might also consider going to Big Bear Lake. It would be a two hour drive each way, but that time should not vary much...while on the other hand the "two hour drive" from Palm Springs to San Pedro could often take 3 to 3.5 hours.

I have to agree with everyone else, Palm Springs to the other attractions you are interested in is quite a long haul, especially when you also factor in the cost for gas.

A few ideas- in the San Diego area I love Torrey Pines Beach. La Jolla is also a favorite spot to stop at when I'm in the San Diego area. Cabrillo National Monument has great views and in my opinion is worth the stop. Not sure if you are traveling with any children but if you are, Legoland in Carlsbad is a must do. My nephews actually said they liked Legoland better than Disneyland. The gaslamp district in San Diego is great for dinner out one evening.

Laguna Beach in Orange County is another town I enjoy visiting. There are many shops, restaurants and art galleries in the area. One of my favorite restaurants is Las Brisas- this is always a place I return to. They have a great outdoor patio, with beach views. The Cliff is also another good spot to enjoy a relaxing meal at or have a few drinks and take in some beach scenery.

I would advise not spending to much time in Hollywood. I feel that its one of those places everyone wants to see but when you go, its somewhat of a let down. You can easily see the Hollywood sign from the Kodak theatre, the Chinese Theatre & star walk are all also close by. Not sure if your interested in the tours of celebrity homes but quite honestly for the most part you are getting great views of trees, shrubs and privacy fences.

barbara and janis - I have lived and driven in this exact area for the last 30 years so I know PRECISELY what is involved, as recently as yesterday. I have an opinion on it but that WASN'T what was requested. And by the way, there are many, many people who do it regularly so there is no need to be so morally superior about it.
My point about Scotland was that - I made my decision and wanted suggestions about what to see and how to get there, not if I should. I frequently choose to drive huge distances on vacations because it doesn't bother me and perhaps that is also true for the OP. Cautions and appropriate information are helpful to consider, but it is the OP's decision and I don't see the need for any poster to insult the decision.
Good for those who actually did give helpful responses to oskaorchid. Perhaps she will feel welcome to use these boards again.

oskaorchid, if you do come to SoCal and drive anywhere, a great website for checking comgestion on the freeways in real time is http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/feature?...fic&id=5780758 If you can get it, you may want to watch it for awhile during the times you think you want to drive and you will have some idea of the congestion and the challenges in driving anywhere in southern CA. And sf3707 is right, if you haven't accounted for gas - it is currently about $3/gallon but is likely to be closer to $4 over the summer.
In the Palm Springs area, many people enjoy the Palm Springs Tram because it makes a nice cool break from the summer heat - it is much cooler at the top. The Living Desert is enjoyed by many and close. And the spas/golf courses/pools are always a major desert hit. On the way to or from the desert, along the I-10 in Cabazon are a huge collection of outlet stores that many enjoy, if shopping is your thing. I recommend Hadleys right next door if you like dried fruits or nuts. And their date shake is a widely discussed "must try."

I was about to convey similar info about traffic tools, but fairygemgirl beat me to it. I use:
http://www.sigalert.com/Map.asp?lat=...118.223015&z=2

I believe that's the source for the link posted by fairygemgirl, but it doesn't matter. It's the same data.

A useful feature of both is that you can get an estimate of driving time based on actual conditions at the time. On the abc site, click on the "Construct Your Route" button, or on "Routes" on the sigalert site and you can enter starting and ending points (restricted to freeway on and off ramps), and it will kick out up to 3 routes with distances and estimated times. For example, I put in Start on: 10 West at: Date Palm Drive, Exit: 710 South at: Ocean Blvd (that's Long Beach) and it comes up with 3 routes, the fastest being 1:59. If I go back a couple of hours from now, it'll be longer.

Anyway, I always check before taking a freeway trip of a half hour or more.

It's also a good idea to listen to the radio traffic reports while driving. I prefer KNX1070 AM. They give a report every 10 minutes, "on the fives"

That was "Customize Your Route"

fairygemgirl, I frequently support visitors who want to spend a lot of time driving around California. Despite that, I think this idea is poor. Many, many visitors to California have no idea at all how far "a" is from "b" and how long it takes to get there. It would be remiss of those of us who live in this area if we didn't educate visitors and try to help them to make the best possible plan before they get here.

I am Scottish. My comment was a poorly worded attempt to point out that your experience of driving longish distance every day in Scotland bears no resemblance at all to the plan under discussion here.

Which is better?

• To be honest and tell a visitor her plan is basically unworkable and try to help her w/ some much, MUCH better options.

-- OR --

• To feel her pain -- "Oh you poor dear, all these people are being soooo mean to you. If you really want to drive hundreds of miles in gawd awful LA traffic - you go girl! Don't let those meanies talk you out of it!"

One is helpful/practical - the other might be 'nicer' but isn't very realistic . . . .

Can you break up your lodging option?

If you could spend a couple of nights in San Diego, that would be ideal.

If the Queen Mary is a must see, you could also spend one night on the Queen Mary itself. Be forewarned, however, that the beds are very narrow - definitely not suitable for lovemaking or other wonderful things that young people like to do.

If you don't mind hostels, there are two excellent Hostelling International hostels in Los Angeles, one is in San Pedro and the other in Santa Monica.

Otherwise, you can bid on Priceline and get excellent hotels for less than $80-$100 a night. If you haven't used Priceline before, do come back and ask. There are ways to bid and not to bid. You'll find lots of help here.

SAN DIEGO: you will need at least a day at the Zoo, it is huge and you will get tired walking.

you didn't say where you're from, so it's difficult to know if some things may not be duplicates of what you have at home.

However, Sea World is another big attraction in SD.

http://www.seaworld.com/sandiego/default.aspx

The other attraction to look into is Balboa Park which has a number of museums and other attractions.

http://www.balboapark.org/

Actually, the Zoo is at the north end of Balboa Park. If you leave the zoo early, you may want to explore another attraction in Balboa Park.

Places to eat: George's in La Jolla is an excellent suggestion.

Another day you may want to drive out to Coronado Island and visit the Hotel del Coronado. There are good beaches there. It'll make for a fun day.

http://www.hoteldel.com/

Lots of places to eat in the SD downtown Gaslamp area.

A bit of a drive and it may be quirky, but I really like the Green Flash Restaurant on the beach, especially at sunset.

http://www.greenflashrestaurant.com/

Hope this helps a bit. Lots more suggestions in LA, but it's getting late for me.

BTW, what's in the San Fernando Valley? Is there something you really need to see there?

Yikes! What a plan

You really need to get a place near the coast if you plan to spend all your time there. An inexpensive way to get a good bed(the bed at the PS 5 star is all you will see w/current) and do that plan is get a business hotel in Irvine right next to the 405.

if you do go with your plan
1) PS is just hot in June, stifling in July and Aug
2) school is out so summer rush hr traffic is better than Sept-May but weekend afternoons being worse