mrwunrfl

Ok. Here is my two cents anyway:

The Embassy Suites in Arcadia is an excellent location for visiting Santa Anita Park! It is only a mile away, a 3-minute drive. Horse racing in North America doesn't get much better than what you would experience at Santa Anita. The combination of the beautiful venue, scenic view, high quality racing, and expected excellent weather are hard to beat. There will be three graded stakes on the 5th and two on the 6th. I could go on and on about this, if you are interested.

Traveling east to west is pretty easy, imo. You gain 2 hours. Am guessing that you are on Southwest, arriving at 5:55 PM. With that afternoon departure you could sleep in for two hours and be on PST the whole day.

jamie99

Jamaica Bay Inn is in a MUCH better location than Pasadena, which is a nice town but way too far east from the majority of most tourist sites.

donnae_b

Happy Early Valentines Day to you and DH!

It might be fun to have dinner in Little Italy near San Diego airport, or, perhaps in the Gaslamp or somewhere in San Diego that another Fodors Member might suggest. After dinner head out to LA

Are you staying in Arcada/Pasadena area for Racetrack? If so, cool enjoy a few hours there before heading out for an overnight stay in Hollywood or perhaps West Hollywood (maybe the Andaz?).
* Although a little seedy these days, DH has to walk or at least drive down Hollywood Blvd (see all the stars "on the street" as you walk down Hollywood Blvd.)
* Drive Sunset Strip
* Hike Runyon Canyon
* Drive Laurel Canyon, be sure to stop at the Canyon Store and ask to use the restroom if you are a fan of Mamas and Papas, say hi to Mama Cass for me
(just outside Canyon store is a house that Jim Morrison used to live at, it is marked "Morrison House")

Next night in Marina Del Rey...(I would stay two nights in Marina Del Rey)
* Explore Abbott Kinney Street/Shops/Food breakfast?/Lunch?
* Explore Venice Canals
* Explore Venice Beach - early evening (before it get's too late)
* Explore Santa Monica Pier
* Explore 3rd Street Prominade Santa Monica
* Maybe do the workout steps in Santa Monica for a physical fun vibe
* Walk down Ocean Park in Santa Monica (this park leads to the pier)

YOU COULD DRIVE DOWN PCH TO SAN DIEGO <-- JUST A THOUGHT...

Next night perhaps stay overnight in Laguna Beach
*Expore, walk around ENJOY

Stop at the Stands Beach or Aliso Creek Beach on your way to San Diego for gorgeous views

This will get you to San Diego by Tuesday or Wednesday...

scubachick18

I echo about being in San Diego towards the later part of trip since you have a morning flight out at end of trip. The traffic can be fun, I live in SD on North side of town and my last drive to Anaheim 105 miles away was 3 hours there and late night return was 1.5 hours so just expect that it could take some time especially as LA is further. If you google map it from your starting point you can put the time of day and estimated departure time in and it will give you a rough estimate of how long it will take you. Doing a drive later at night is not necessarily a bad thing (though yes it is almost always busy) but later can sometimes be good although if you are traveling from Florida I think it is a good idea to break that up as you are doing.

What do you want to see exactly? I think your time frame is long enough to easily fit in LA area sights but there is a ton to do in San Diego so it depends what you like. Balboa park (Museums, Zoo), Coronado beach is one of the nicest beaches and should check out Hotel Del which is historical. La Jolla has some nice sights by the beach, Point Loma has Cabrillo National Mounment with Light house(s), tide pools, great views. Downtown near the water are lots to do, lots of restaurant options, USS Midway tour, multiple water tours like whale watching etc.. Seaport village, Little Italy, Farmers Markets...

In LA you'll be close to CA Science Center if the space shuttle Endeavor interests you. I haven't seen it yet but on my list. Griffith Observatory (further away) is nice to see and several other museums. Santa Monica Pier...but keep in mind the drives to these areas seem like they aren't far but due to traffic it is a drive.

StuDudley

""It might be fun to have dinner in Little Italy near San Diego airport, or, perhaps in the Gaslamp or somewhere in San Diego that another Fodors Member might suggest. After dinner head out to LA"'

Are you suggesting that on arrival day they have dinner in Little Italy & then drive to LA??

6m, arrive in SD after a 6 hr flight
Secure car at 7pm
Have dinner 7:30-9:00
Drive to Santa Monica @ 9:00 maybe arrive well after midnight - on a Friday "get away day"

Stu Dudley

jamie99

Griffith Observatory right now is only open on the weekends. Either the Getty Villa (closed Tuesdays) or Getty Center (closed Mondays) would be a good pick.

donnae_b

good point.

How about grabbing a bite to eat (fast food) and get on the road. My thought is to get you to Los Angeles where you can get a good nights sleep and wake up in the morning where you want to begin your journey.

I believe one of you are kind of familiar with SD and LA

StuDudley

Personally,, I would not want to get into the LA mess anytime on Friday "getaway day". I would head to Laguna Beach (1 1/4 hrs from SD airport), and spend 2 nights there. IMO, Laguna Beach & Newport Beach are a lot more interesting than Santa Monica. We lived in Laguna Beach for 4 1/2 years after we got married - and I worked in Carlsbad).

Stu Dudley

mrwunrfl

Leave at 9 and get to MDR by 11 or 11:30

StuDudley

Or if the traffic in LA is normal or worse on a Friday getaway day - 12:00 to 1:30am & hope that the hotel will be open to check you in..

mrwunrfi - do you really recommend that for someone who woke up that day in Florida??

Stu Dudley

Jean

Flight or no flight, I would rather start that drive early the next morning when traffic is lighter. Then make a stop or two along the way... in daylight! (There are no views of anything in the dark.) Stu likes Laguna and Newport. (I would add Corona del Mar.) I like Capistrano's Mission and Los Rios Historic District.

If it happens to be raining, count on the drive taking longer... and reeally long on a Friday night.

mrwunrfl

Stu, it is what I would do. They have a two-hour time change which is easy to adjust to starting the day before or day of the flight - especially when it is an afternoon departure.

The 'getaway day' concern would be that rush hours start earlier and last longer. ok, but most of the traffic on the 405 is going to be heading south.

I do understand a desire to not travel at night and some people (like from western FL) might be intimidated by LA freeways. It is going to be a long day.

The chance of rain is really slim and it is reported in tenths of an inch.

I agree with donnae_b

Instead of leaving SD at 9PM the OP could likely arrive in MDR at 9PM. That inn is less than 6 miles from LAX, btw.

I still like the idea of going to Arcadia that night.

Ok, let's do that. I set the time in the link at 3:45 PM because that had the worst case 2h 30m to 4 hrs. You can advance the departure time by 15 min. At 6:30 PM, when the car is picked up the travel time is 2h to 2h 40m. That travel time is 10 minutes slower than 8AM on Saturday.

mrwunrfl

That link didn't work the way I wanted.

Click on "More options" in the above and then click on "Leave now" and select "Depart at" and you can change the date/time.

I did notice that travel time from ECP to LAX is longer on Southwest. The time savings gets lost on the drive. The one-way car rental would be $80 more, booked today at Costco.

mlgb

More debate.

These days I PREFER to drive the freeways at night, or before 5AM when they are mostly empty. I feel it is safer then, as long as you retain night vision (as many older Fodorites likely do not) and stay out of the left lanes favored by speeders. Of course being jetlagged might be an issue, but that isn't for us to say for the OP (personally I am a night owl).

During the day you will see more than a few of the 85+mph speeders weaving in and out of traffic to get around someone only going 70+. I find that 73-5 mph tends to keep you out of trouble from either the law or the speed demons. Traffic is bad pretty much all day. With all of the work from home employees I am not sure that there is as much of a traditional rush hour. It largely depends on where the accidents are. That is one of the problems with Marina del Rey, there are not many alternative back routes if there is a jamup. Not knowing your way around is not an issue as long as one has either GPS or is familiar with their own phone ap such as Google Maps, Waze, etc. If you do not routinely use those, I would get familiar with them in advance.

As far as the Jamaica Bay Inn, it is a nice hotel which friends like for an inexpensive weekend anniversary stay. However, it isn't necessarily convenient for sightseeing, unless you plan to restrtict your sightseeing to "the westside". Personally, I don't think either Venice Beach or Santa Monica are "all that". The beaches are nicer in San Diego.

If you want to include the typical tourist sights of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, it will be a bit of a nightmare. This time of year, staying in West Hollywood or Burbank or even Pasadena would be just as nice.

There really is no one ideal location, it depends on your list of 'to-dos'.

StuDudley

""Stu, it is what I would do. They have a two-hour time change which is easy to adjust to starting the day before or day of the flight - especially when it is an afternoon departure.""

I was commenting on your 9 PM departure from SD - getting to MDR at 11:30pm or so. And after a 1 1/2 hr dinner (which makes me sleepy).

Their flight (if it is Southwest ) takes 7 1/2 hrs and they will probably get to the airport at 10:45 AM. The time zone change is irrelevant, IMO. I would not look forward to a 7 1/2 hr flight and then immediately follow it with 2 1/2 hr nighttime drive on the San Diego Freeway and navigate to MDR. . Laguna Beach as an alternative would miss most of the LA freeway rough stuff.

Stu Dudley

mrwunrfl

I would not be looking forward to that 2.5 hr drive to MDR nor that 1.5 hr drive to Laguna Beach, That helps make a case for doing the SD part of the trip first.

The OP is considering Hilton properties. My first thought would be the Hilton Garden Inn in El Segundo.

ETA: that 7.5 hour trip makes me think of an 8 hr day at the office that those getaway people do before their 3+ hour drive to Las Vegas. Except that they didn't get to nap at the office.

Barbara

I think it might be a good idea to stay overnight somewhere not too far from the airport upon arrival. You can eat, sleep and you'd be awake early because of the time difference, so you could get on the road very early and be in the LA area when things are opening up for the day.

mlgb

The problem with that "getting to LA area early" is that you have to keep all of luggage in the car, if the hotel isn't willing to let you drop luggage and run.

I would definitely end the trip in San Diego. As the OP lives near one of the nicest beaches in continental United States, I can't imagine that beach time in February (especially in Santa Monica/Venice which are largely fill sand) is a high priority.

I often recommend the El Segundo Hotels. They are usually a bargain since too many hotel rooms were built during the aerospace boom. One of my favorite Fast Food chains (The Habit) has an outlet on Sepulveda at Grand, right next door to Upshift Brewing Co. (limited brewery hours, see below).
Hours:
Wednesday - Thursday - 3-9PM
Friday - 3-10PM
Saturday - 12-10PM
Sunday - 12-8PM
Monday - Tuesday - CLOSED

Barbara

That would be true for any of the suggestions here other than driving directly to MDR from San Diego.

mlgb

Which is what I was suggesting that they do. Although I do not necessarily agree that Marina del Rey is an optimal location.