I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

So I'm going down to San Diego and Los Angeles with Daryn for the first week of June to visit my brother, see the Commerce, and then just hang around. I've got a motel for 3 nights in SD so now I need to look for a place in LA for 5 nights.

So far the schedule is wide open to suggestions, so I want to know where in LA I should hang around. I know we both like finding good places to eat, where good may or may not equate to expensive. The Commerce is a definite, but I'm not sure if there are any other cardrooms worth checking out. I'm not really interested in all that touristy Tours of the Stars homes crap, but I'd like to know if there's anything that is a must see while I'm in town. Are there any cool areas where I can eat out and go barhopping all within walking distance of a hotel, or is all of LA a sprawling freeway nightmare?

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

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Are there any cool areas where I can eat out and go barhopping all within walking distance of a hotel

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My favorite place in all of L.A. right now is the Santa Monica Promenade. It's within walking distance of food, bars, an outdoor mall, an indoor mall and the beach. There's street entertainment, a Farmers Market and a park.

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or is all of LA a sprawling freeway nightmare?

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No.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

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an outdoor mall, an indoor mall, a Farmers Market and a park

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Wow, sounds cool.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

While "cool areas" is without a doubt subjective, The Standard on Sunset might be a good choice for a hotel. There are lots of bars nearby. The downside, of course, would be all the cheesy wannabe's in trucker hats. At least the women are hot.

It doesn't get much more touristy than Universal Studios, but I get a kick out of the backlot tour. The other cliched thing that's worth doing is Graumann's Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame. These are both full of buses lousy with foreign tourists, but at least you can say you've done it.

Cardroom-wise, I also like Hollywood Park, which has regular, well-run tournaments; and the Hustler, I don't know why.

I'm sure all the other LA people will have plenty to add.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

For SD you need to get down to the GasLamp district in downtown SD. LOTS of bars, lots of GREAT food. If you're a baseball fan the Pads new stadium is in downtown - you can eat/catchaballgame/wanderthegaslampdrinkingpickingupchicks.

If you want to play cards while your in SD Ocean's 11 is in Oceanside - its not worth going there to "check it out", its not huge or anything, but if you are wanting a card fix for a night its a decent card room.

Where is your motel? SD is a pretty big area.

Later,
FishNChips

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

I always thought Los Feliz was a cool place to hang.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

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If you want to play cards while your in SD Ocean's 11 is in Oceanside - its not worth going there to "check it out", its not huge or anything, but if you are wanting a card fix for a night its a decent card room.

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Yeah. It's just a cardroom, no annoying slot machine and has a decent low limit selection. I think it runs up to 40/80. A few of us 2+2ers go there, though I haven't met anyone there yet.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

The motel I booked is sort of north of the airport off of rt5, right next to Olde Towne Historic Park. I think I'm going to a Padres/Cubs game Friday night. I plan on hanging out downtown as well as checking out Pacific Beach.

I need some more LA people to weigh in. The Santa Monica Promenade sounds like something I would like. I need an area where I can just hangout and find stuff to do without having to plan ahead more than 6 hours at a time.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

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I always thought Los Feliz was a cool place to hang.

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I love it here, just can't imagine someone from out of town visiting Los Feliz as a destination. Maybe that's why I like it so much, it's not very "LA", as I see it.

Re: I\'m going to SoCal in two weeks
 

Sunset Blvd as mentioned earlier has lots of bars and clubs in walking distance of eachother but has expensive parking and somewhat douchey clientelle. Hot women though.

The Promenade is a definite good spot to hang out and walk around on a Friday or Saturday night there will be a lot of action.

Also, Main St. in Santa Monica a few blocks away from the Promenade has some cool bars and places to eat, and cheap parking. You can hop around to 4 or 5 good spots to drink and hangout, depending on the crowd you like.

Also, if you like shopping/looking at hot women you can make your way over here to Melrose Ave. and eat a Pink's hot dog and walk around on a weekend afternoon.

If you need any specific names of these bars/clubs, just ask.