Thanks for the info on Santa Monica. Does anyone know any good outlets in these areas. I have 3 boys who are into sports gear & would love to know where to go for great shopping. I am also a mad shopper. Thanks

Hi Cherie -

One of the biggest shopping experiences in California is Ontario Mills. It opened 2-3 years ago and includes stores, restaurants, food court, movie theater, and IMAX 3-D theater. It also houses a Gameworks.

If you like to shop and eat and your kids like movies and high-tech arcades, this is probably the place for you.

The restaurants here include a New York Grille, Rainforest Cafe, Wolfgang Pucks, and a place called Wilderness.

Try it, you might like it!

Hi Cherie -

One of the biggest shopping experiences in California is Ontario Mills. It opened 2-3 years ago and includes stores, restaurants, food court, movie theater, and IMAX 3-D theater. It also houses a Gameworks.

If you like to shop and eat and your kids like movies and high-tech arcades, this is probably the place for you.

The restaurants here include a New York Grille, Rainforest Cafe, Wolfgang Pucks, and a place called Wilderness.

Try it, you might like it!

Try the outlets at Gilroy, about 2 hours south of SF on 101. Easy off, easy on and lots of good shopping.

Gilroy is great! So is Cabazon, on the way to Palm Springs from LA.

Cherie, one of the best outlets in Southern California are the Camarillo Premium Outlets. Camarillo is north on the 101, up in Ventura County. Actually, the same company owns the Cabazon outlets mentioned previously. They specialize in high-end retailers like Ann Taylor, Shelli Segal, Vuitton, MCM, etc... The are a few outlets I can think of in Orange County, such as the Nordstrom Rack across the street from South Coast Plaza, and I hear they are not really that inexpensive anymore. And there are also true factory outlet stores strung everywhere throughout So Cal, such as Vans, Big Dog, Jessica, McClintock, Mikasa, Quiksilver, and a whole bunch of others. What you can do if you are looking for a specific brand is call a regualar retail store and ask where their factory outlet is. Many stores in these outlet malls claim to be outlets, but most of them really aren't, especially in Ontario Mills, although that is a fun place to go.m There are also some good outlet malls on the way to Vegas, in Barstow, Primm, and two right outside of LV proper.

I would also second Cabazon and tell you that the Gilroy outlets are the same upscale shops as Cabazon. There's a very small outlet in Napa and some outlet shops in Sausalito.

I went on the AltaVista Search Engine and found outlets across the US sorted by region, including maps. Try it. I love Gilroy and have relatives who say Ontario Mills is a great place for lunch, too. They liked the Rainforest Cafe!