Looking for suggestions on what to do for 9 days in SoCal with 14 yr old girl. We are flying into LAX, will have rental car. Been to Disney & Universal, not interested this trip. Planning to spend 3-4 days in LA (Santa Monica? Marina del Rey?), a couple of days at a beach (Newport Beach? Laguna Beach? Santa Barbera?), and a couple of days in San Diego (done the zoo and SeaWorld). Looking for hotel suggestions under $150-200/night and restaurant suggestions appropriate with teenager. We love shopping (discount!!), cultural attractions like museums, etc. Any thoughts appreciated – thanks!!

We stayed at the Comfort Inn Zoo/Seaworld (comfortinnzoo.com) in San Diego in May and was very happy with the accomodations. The rooms were clean and the continental breakfast was more than adequate with plenty to choose from.
If you like museums, I would suggest Balboa Park in SD. It's well worth the visit. Enjoy!
Kenm

Here are my suggestions for the L.A. portion of your trip.

Hotels: In your price range, there are many newer suite hotels in El Segundo/Hawthorne, adjacent to Manhattan Beach. Close to LAX, the 405 freeway, and about a 5-10 minute drive to the beach. Most have small kitchens and complimentary breakfast.
Look for Springhill Suites, Embassy Suites, Summerfield Suites, etc.

There are also lots of restaurants in that area. Johnny Rockets, Houstons, Cozymels, Il Fornaio, Flemings, McCormick & Schmicks, PF Changs are all close by.

I recommend renting bicycles and riding along the Strand from Manhattan Beach south to Torrance beach or north to Venice.

Museums: Of course, the Getty. There's also a King Tut exhibit at L.A. County Museum of Art. www.lacma.org.

If you are coming in summer, a concert at the Hollywood Bowl might be an option.

For discount shopping, check out LA's Fashion district www.fashiondistrict.org. My daughter and her teenage friends always get a kick out of shopping there. You could combine it with a trip to Olvera St. downtown.

Closer to San Diego is the Carlsbad Factory Outlet Mall.

If I think of anything else, I'll post again.

Thanks for the suggestions! Any Fodorites have knowledge of how to score tickets to TV show tapings?? My daughter is HEAVY into the OC and she would die if we could go to a taping. Any web sites would be appreciated.

"The OC" doesn't tape, nor do they do so in front of a live audience. They film on a closed soundstage in Manhattan Beach (note: in LA County!) and do a bit of location work here and there up and down the LA County coast. Any footage of actual Orange County locations is either "stock" footage or second-unit work. So you're basically out of luck vis-à-vis that show.

I would check out tvtickets.com, studioaudiences.com, etc. Or, if you're feeling lucky, hang out on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, or maybe in front of Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood; they often have people walking around offering free passes to tapings.

Thanks rjw. Too bad about the OC, but I am sure my daughter would love to see any TV filming/taping. On another related LA tourist question, can you go to Catalina Island for the day? How would you get there from LA? Is there a publich beach? Any lunch suggestions?

You can do Catalina in a day. Boats leave out of Long Beach, San Pedro and Marina del Rey, so you have choices....

check www.catalinaexpress.com for schedules and prices.

My 2 absolute "must-do's" while on Catalina would be the golf cart rental for a one-hour ride around Avalon and lunch at the Descanso Beach Club.

You should also do a search for Catalina on this board. You'll find lots of suggestions.

Check www.biddingfortravel.com and bid on Priceline.