Something different might be the Farmers Market. It has a large collection of food stands of a wide variety of ethnic cuisines.
I concur that Pageant of the Masters in Laguna is most enjoyable. I thought it would be painfully hokey, but I was totally captivated.
The Getty is for sure a must see.

FINDING Westwood Memorial is always a bit of a mystery (it's hidden behind the Avco cinema on Wilshire) -- a great little cemetery -- aside from Marilyn, there's Natalie Wood, and a host of others.

No one's mentioned Griffith Park, which is a really neat place for all sorts of outdoor activities, as well as a trip to the Greek (you will JUST miss the Neil Young concert by 1 day -- he starts on the 22nd).

A hot air balloon ride in Del Mar is fun. Great view of the Pacific Ocean too.

I don't think the new Disney concert theatre will be open by then, will it? That's something we're all looking forward to -- but at least go downtown, across from the music center to check it out -- very cool, and I hear the acoustics are, thank god, quite good (better than the nightmare the new Kodak has been).

I agree the Strip is a fun spot to check out, depending on your age and interests.

If you enjoy theatre, you might consider checking out our local theatre productions, from the Mark Taper to the Geffen in Westwood, to the Odyssey in WLA.

esg: Hmmmm, I confess I've never been on the Warner Bros studio tour. Don't know how long it takes or if it has enough ancillary activity to keep you busy for very long.

Laguna Beach is worth at least an afternoon's visit-- its downtown area is full of funky little shops and quite high-end art galleries (including that of the late animator Chuck Jones), and the beaches are pretty great there as well.

Avoiding traffic is dependent on the day you're traveling. From Burbank to Laguna Beach will take at least an hour. Weekend traffic is usually lighter, but as you approach beach communities, it gets congested very quickly.

Note also that the site for the Pageant is a bit north of downtown Laguna Beach; you might want to park in town for a nice visit there, then move your car (I just don't know if there are shuttles up to the Pageant/Art Festival site-- though there probably are).

Because advance reservations are required, I have decided to go ahead and get tickets for the Pageant on Friday, July 18. I've also decided to hike the "Little Grand Canyon" at Whiting Ranch and continue my "mission mission" and visit San Juan Capistrano whilst in southern Orange County. These three things should occupy one full day. Any suggestions for a decent but inexpensive place for dinner in the Laguna Beach/Dana Point area? Thanks for all your suggestions/input so far. Keith

Try El Torito in Dana Point. The food is okay but the walk around the harbor is great. Also if you are hiking Whiting Ranch, consider going down to Hertitage Hill Historic Park at Lake Forest and Serrano. It will show you what Orange County was like before it became all tract houses. Have coffee and pastry at the Black Forest Bakery which is adjacent to the Park.

Have you been to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno? You order tickets by mailing in a request with an SASE. Might not be too late for your dates.

If you do a Fodors search for "The Tonight Show" you will find the thread where I asked questions about it before I went.

Have you been to the Long Beach Aquarium? It's better than the one in Monterey in my opinion.

If you are interested in history, you might be interested in the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda.

There is also the Getty Museum (get a parking slot through the website). Do not forget to eat in the restaurant--it's wonderful. The art and the location are wonderful too.

And, you did not mention The Queen Mary. If you haven't seen that, go!

Baseball at Dodger Stadium!

Montreal at L.A.
July 19 @ 7:20PM
July 20 @ 7:20PM
July 21 @ 12:10PM

If you are in decent shape you might consider hitting the Angeles National Forest and hiking up Mt. San Antonia, aka. Mt. Baldy. It's just over 10K feet and makes for great day outside.

MM

I know there is (or used to be) a tour of the Hollywood cemeteries and they drive you around in a hearse.

If you can manage a "crack of dawn" tour, you can go down to the L.A. flower market where flowers are delivered right off the boats. There is also a bakery tour that ends at a cafe for croissants and coffee.

Studio tours and tapings are so.much.fun. It's really something to see how TV is made.

Ke1th! Come back! Tell us what you ended up doing and seeing!

So far I've purchased tickets for Friday July 18th Pageant of Masters in Laguna Beach and for Saturday July 19th tickets for "The Blue Planet Live!" by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. I will probably visit San Juan Capistrano Mission and hike Whiting Ranch on Friday since I'll be in southern Orange County for the POM. On Saturday, before I have to be at the Hollywood Bowl, I'll probably visit the Getty and maybe do some Hollywood sightseeing. I want to visit the Cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is interred (last visit I did "Forever Hollywood" where Valentino is interred). I plan on eating dinner at Hollywood and Highland (I've eaten at the Grill before) and then take the shuttle from there to the Bowl. Sunday is still open. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. Keith

The historic Farmers market at 3rd and Fairfax is fun for Sunday breakfast.

The Getty is open until 9pm on Fri and Sat, and the fine dining restaurant there is very good...exquisite views.

Sunset at the Getty! Yeah!

www.getty.edu

Ke1th, if you've eaten at the Grill, then why not try Vert at Hollywood and Highland? This is an upscale Wolfgang Puck restaurant run by his brother (looks just like him). Food is outstanding. You can book this on opentable.com (we do this because we earn points and it costs nothing). Request the second room. Or, if you want old Hollywood, the Pig N' Whistle is across the street one block and has been restored. The food is very good but not as good as Vert. It is right next to the Egyptian theatre, also beautifully restored.

Go hiking or horseback riding in Griffith Park
Go to a Dodger game
Catalina Island
Melrose Ave.
Sony Studios Tour

I forgot to add, for the quintessential Southern California experience, grunion hunting. July 18th and 19th are two nights when this might occur!

One of my favorite things to do in LA is to take in a silent film at The Silent Movie Theater on North Fairfax in Hollywood. Complete with live music accompaniment, it's a great night out. I'm sure they have a website with a schedule of events.

I just got back from this long weekend trip to Los Angeles and wanted to thank everyone for all the suggestions that were given. Here is what I ended up doing....

Friday, July 18th: In the morning my friend and I hiked several miles through the canyons of Whiting Ranch in the Cleveland National Forest in Southern Orange County. After several hours of this, We drove to San Juan Capistrano and toured the mission grounds. The gardens here are beautiful. The "Serra Chapel" is said to be the oldest building in California. By now it was around 4, so We headed over to Laguna Beach. We parked near the Irvine Bowl, home of the Pageant of the Masters, and walked the short distance into Laguna Beach. After a brief stroll browsing through the town, We walked up the hill to Las Brisas for dinner. This place has a gorgeous view of Laguna and the ocean. I had the Camarones Tampiquenos, which is probably one of the best seafood meals I've ever had. My friend had the grilled swordfish. After dinner and a few drinks, We walked back down into Laguna and then to the Arts Festival, just outside the POM. The guest artist at the festival this weekend was Jane Seymour. I hac no idea she was a gifted painter. At 8:30 pm, the POM program began. I knew what the POM was from reading about it, but I had no idea how uncanny these live tableaux would be. It was amazing. As I knew one of the performers, my friend and I were able to get a back stage pass/tour. Seeing how all this comes together was very insightful. If you've ever thought of going, but just didn't know if it was worth it, I'm here to tell you that it is definitely worth it.

Saturday, July 19: Had brunch at a diner in Hollywood. Nothing spectacular here. Just watching the people walk up and down Hollywood Blvd. was fun, however. After brunch, we drove over to Westwood and visited the cemetery where Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, and Billy Wilder, among others, are buried. I was very suprised at how small this cemetery actually is. And how it is hemmed in by the tall buildings of Westwood. If you didn't know it was there, you'd never see it. After Westwood, we drove to Hollywood along Sunset Blvd. Shopped for DVD's and CD's at the big Virgin store on Sunset where Schwab's Drug Store used to be. Saw lots of beautiful people, but no major celebrities. After Virgin, drove over to Hollywood and Highland and parked the car in their huge underground deck. Walked up and down Hollywood Blvd checking out the "Walk of Fame" stars. (Even took a roundtrip ride on the Subway, just to say I've done it). At about 6:30, decided on dinner at "Trastevere" in the H&H complex. Had the Pollo E Broccoli pizza. This is a 12" thin crust pizza with chicken and broccoli. I ate the whole thing by myself. My friend also had one of the pizza dishes and also ate the whole thing. As we were stuffed, we decided to walk it off and walked from H&H to the Hollwood Bowl for that evenings concert. The concert that night was "The Blue Planet". Music written for the BBC/Discovery Channel production about our oceans and all the varied and unusual life that lives in them. The composer of the music, George Fenton, was also the guest conductor of the LA Philharmonic. Scenes from the documentary were shown on big screens as the music played in sync. Very moving and also very intense at times as the brutality of nature was given equal time. The MC was Ed Begley, Jr. So, I saw at least one celebrity in Hollywood, if a minor one at that.... :)

On Sunday, we just stayed at home, watching some of the DVD's we had purchased at Virgin the day before. We had a BBQ with some of his friends. He had purchased a cut of beef "discovered"
in California called "TriTip". It was
very tasty. Kinda like a prime rib.

I flew BlueJet from Atlanta to Los Angeles. I left Thursday evening and returned Monday morning. I have no complaints against BlueJet. My roundtrip tickets cost about $200.00, I was able to choose my seats when I booked my tickets online. The seats seemed to be slightly bigger than the seats I remember on other airlines. The seats were leather and had the small display screens in the back of the seat in front of you with about 25-30 DirectTV programs to watch (as well as a GPS map of your progress). I've never seen these screens on DOMESTIC flights before. Of course, no meal was served, but they were very generous with the snacks and drinks. Would definitely fly them again. (Blue Jet actually flies Atlanta to Long Beach)


Had a great time for such a short trip and really appreciate all the suggestions given here. As a trip to LA is so reasonable for me (no hotel or rental car bill), I will definitely keep a list of some of the things suggested here and use them in the future. Thanks again

Keith

Wow, KE1TH, sounds like a great visit!!

The JetBlue Long Beach/Atlanta service is quite new. I'm planning to fly them LGB-Las Vegas sometime soon (I live 10 minutes from Long Beach Airport). How did you like walking out onto the tarmac to board the plane (up the ol' Jet Stairs)? Like flying back in the 40s, isn't it?