Down by the River Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'm going to be in California for a month (October-November), kind of a working vacation. I've never been to California before and so am looking for advice. San Diego- I'm staying in the Gaslamp district. Things to do? LA Area- I have four days to spare between San Diego and San Francisco. I want to stay around Long Beach, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, etc. Any preferences for one of those different places? I'll be working most of the time, so something quite and near the beach is preferable Berkeley- I'll be at the university for two weeks. Anyone been? Things to do. San Francisco- I've found a house to rent in the Fillmore area. Has anyone been to this area? Is it relatively safe to walk around late at night? Is it walkable to the downtown Mission district area? Any recommendations for SF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera82 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I dont know anything about California, but I've heard that if you drop your wallet or something in San Francisco you'd better just kick it all the way back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I want to see the Venice Canals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KassianBeastMode Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'm going to be in California for a month (October-November), kind of a working vacation. I've never been to California before and so am looking for advice. San Diego- I'm staying in the Gaslamp district. Things to do? LA Area- I have four days to spare between San Diego and San Francisco. I want to stay around Long Beach, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, etc. Any preferences for one of those different places? I'll be working most of the time, so something quite and near the beach is preferable Berkeley- I'll be at the university for two weeks. Anyone been? Things to do. San Francisco- I've found a house to rent in the Fillmore area. Has anyone been to this area? Is it relatively safe to walk around late at night? Is it walkable to the downtown Mission district area? Any recommendations for SF? I'm going to be in California for a month (October-November), kind of a working vacation. I've never been to California before and so am looking for advice. San Diego- I'm staying in the Gaslamp district. Things to do? LA Area- I have four days to spare between San Diego and San Francisco. I want to stay around Long Beach, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, etc. Any preferences for one of those different places? I'll be working most of the time, so something quite and near the beach is preferable Berkeley- I'll be at the university for two weeks. Anyone been? Things to do. San Francisco- I've found a house to rent in the Fillmore area. Has anyone been to this area? Is it relatively safe to walk around late at night? Is it walkable to the downtown Mission district area? Any recommendations for SF? Newport is terrific but if you can I'd suggest stay in Laguna if you want to be near the beach! Its very close to newport regardless if you have a car...which I hope you do as you need one in Cali... Gaslamp - tons to do, lots of bars, restaurants, live music catch a baseball game if you can (if the season is still going) or a Chargers game! Everything is very close, its not a big city, similar to Vancouver that way. SF - haven't been in a long time so can't give ya anything there other than the niners! Have fun, weather in cali is great this time of year....San Diego and SF get a bit cold at night though so take a light jacket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I don't care much for Southern California. Even after being there many times, I can't even think of a single thing to recommend doing, unless its mega touristy Good friend of mine is at Berkeley and she really likes it. Lots of quaint coffee shops and nice buildings and that sort of thing. The surrounding area is quite expensive, and the surrounding-surrounding area is quite bad (Oakland, Vallejo), so watch yourself, my friend I've never been to SF, but I think I'd like it there. Check out City Lights bookshop! one of the more legendary book stores in America, no doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 San Diego Zoo is a must. San Francisco seemed safe when I was there. It's a fun city. You won't be bored. Never been to Berkeley. Los Angeles sucks. I went there 17 years ago. It's just the worst. My co-worker just came back on Monday from a 3 week trip to San Francisco, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. He said the 5 days they spend in LA were the biggest waste during the entire trip. They spent a lot on good food, but even then he said it didn't make up for how terrible it was. Enjoy your time, even though you'll be working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrible.dee Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'm going to be in California for a month (October-November), kind of a working vacation. I've never been to California before and so am looking for advice. San Diego- I'm staying in the Gaslamp district. Things to do? LA Area- I have four days to spare between San Diego and San Francisco. I want to stay around Long Beach, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, etc. Any preferences for one of those different places? I'll be working most of the time, so something quite and near the beach is preferable Berkeley- I'll be at the university for two weeks. Anyone been? Things to do. San Francisco- I've found a house to rent in the Fillmore area. Has anyone been to this area? Is it relatively safe to walk around late at night? Is it walkable to the downtown Mission district area? Any recommendations for SF? Newport, Long Beach and Santa Monica are all rather far from each other, especially when you take traffic into consideration. Depends what you're into, but I would say go Santa Monica, there's a lot there, and you are actually in LA (Sort of) lots of action on the 3rd street promenade, lot of bars, clubs ect. so If you are looking to meet people and "pawtaay" then this is your best bet. Forget Long Beach, Newport, if you want that SoCal, OC, beach town vibe. If you surf there are some good breaks there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrible.dee Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I don't care much for Southern California. Even after being there many times, I can't even think of a single thing to recommend doing, unless its mega touristy Good friend of mine is at Berkeley and she really likes it. Lots of quaint coffee shops and nice buildings and that sort of thing. The surrounding area is quite expensive, and the surrounding-surrounding area is quite bad (Oakland, Vallejo), so watch yourself, my friend I've never been to SF, but I think I'd like it there. Check out City Lights bookshop! one of the more legendary book stores in America, no doubt LA can be a major pain in the a$$, It's a great party town, but once your over that, you start noticing that little things become a big hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NucksPatsFan Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Went to LA for a week a couple months ago. Don't go to Venice beach, it's dirty and full of homeless people, and while walking on the boardwalk I thought someone was going to shove a needle into my arm. Don't drive on the 405 between 7am and 9pm because, well, you won't get to where you want to go. The Sunset Strip is nice to walk down at night if you've never been. I recommend checking out a show at The Laugh Factory or The Comedy Store, we checked out one at The Laugh Factory and Dane Cook made an appearance and was hilarious. It's also quite easy to see celebs at night on the Strip if you're into that. The Warner Brothers tour is something I found very worth my money. It's $50 for a 2 hour tour. We got to visit inside the soundstages of The Big Bang Theory, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Conan O Brien. They have a Batman museum with original props and costumes from every Batman movie. They also have a Harry Potter museum with original props and costumes from every movie. Also got to visit the Central Perk set from Friends and many other sets from currently running shows and movies In n Out burger is incredibly overrated. 3 menu items, can get better burgers at A&W up here There's a secret beach in Malibu we stumbled upon. Not sure how to describe how to get there as it was an accident but it was beautiful and only 2 or 3 other people were there (1 of whom was Jay from Modern Family). We basically were driving north up the 101 past the Malibu Pier and all that and turned left at a set of lights to go to a "view point" and ended up hiking down the side of the mountain and ended up on the beach. edit: Hermosa Beach is beautiful with great people and a great town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 LA can be a major pain in the a$$, It's a great party town, but once your over that, you start noticing that little things become a big hassle. well, considering the itinerary i provided for him only included going to a bookstore and a coffee shop, i think it's safe to say i'm not the type of dude to fly into los angeles and cut into some lines (both literally and figuratively) and party the night away i liked disneyland tho. main street parade is about as wild as i get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrible.dee Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 well, considering the itinerary i provided for him only included going to a bookstore and a coffee shop, i think it's safe to say i'm not the type of dude to fly into los angeles and cut into some lines (both literally and figuratively) and party the night away i liked disneyland tho. main street parade is about as wild as i get. My line chopping days are far behind me as well, so a lot of things people want to do there just don't interest me. When friends come into town they all want to go out to this place and that place...I'm usually like "Ya, have fun" Big part of the reason I chose Burbank to live in is because of how mellow it is, compared to adjacent areas like Hollywood/ North Hollywood ect. But you're right about Disneyland, had a blast there not too long ago, and California adventure (The new park) has some decent rides. Oh, there is one thing I can recommend to CDC'ers coming down here. A DUCKS game! And not for the obvious reason's either. Honda center is old enough that it still has that old school hockey barn atmosphere. When the Ducks play the Kings the crowd is INSANE, Staples center isn't even close, if you think Rodgers is a boring place to see a game, wait till you sit through one at Staples. Worst building atmosphere I've ever experienced. But yes, If you have the chance go see the Ducks, doesn't matter who they are playing, but I recommend either Dallas or LA. My GF hates hockey and I took her to a game there last fall, even SHE said it was fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrible.dee Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Don't drive on the 405 between 7am and 9pm because, well, you won't get to where you want to go. If you take one piece of advice from this thread, take this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down by the River Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 A lot of awesome advice, thanks to everyone. My girlfriend will be joining me when I'm in the LA area and so the tour stuff from NucksPatsFan will definitely be helpful. Checking out a Ducks game would be great, even though she has no interest in hockey. Partying days are behind me, so what I'm really looking for is nice coffee shops along the beach, places to take the girlfriend, safe areas that we can just wonder around in without getting into trouble, etc. As a side note, I'm not staying in any hotels. Everything I've book is either with AirBnB or HomeAway. Obviously I can't attest to whether these places work out, but I've found some really nice places that are less expensive than a lot of hotels and of course have a kitchen which will also save me a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stawns Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I want to see the Venice Canals! Venice Beach is a hole. It's ok during the ay, but stay away at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'm going to be in California for a month (October-November), kind of a working vacation. I've never been to California before and so am looking for advice. San Diego- I'm staying in the Gaslamp district. Things to do? LA Area- I have four days to spare between San Diego and San Francisco. I want to stay around Long Beach, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, etc. Any preferences for one of those different places? I'll be working most of the time, so something quite and near the beach is preferable Berkeley- I'll be at the university for two weeks. Anyone been? Things to do. San Francisco- I've found a house to rent in the Fillmore area. Has anyone been to this area? Is it relatively safe to walk around late at night? Is it walkable to the downtown Mission district area? Any recommendations for SF? For Socal.. Santa Monica. This is about where the beach water gets warm when geographically heading southward from Norcal. If you're a beach person, Santa Monica is among tops. You won't get a chance to enjoy the water in Norcal unless you're one of the Norcal freaks who get in that freezing cold ass water without a bodysuit. As for SF, I lived there for quite a while, you're safe, as far as SF goes (which is, to say, far less safe than Vancouver) when on known and well lit streets.. best times to go out and see things are clearly during the day. I would go check out the Nob Hill/Chinatown region. The areas north of Tenderloin are good, and most of Tenderloin near Market is okay during the day, just do not be caught dead in Tenderloin near night time, especially in the north-of-market region of Tenderloin on the east side. During the day, just beware of thieves (Chinatown/Japantown) and people trying to scam you out of money on the street (Market). You'll likely run into an abundance of homeless people near City Hall during the day, and many other places at night. As for Berkeley, I'd stay inside the campus area for the few weeks. The East Bay, which includes Oakland, Berkeley, and especially Richmond, are a ghetto mess, and not much to do. If you're a theme park person, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is just over the East-to-North Bay bridge to Vallejo, unfortunately it happens to be in a craphole city. There's a decent water park I knew of around Concord that my cousins worked for (Big Bear?) long ago. I dunno if that's still around. Once you take in the sights in SF, the usual Golden Gate region and near City Hall, wharf, etc. if I were you I'd try and make room to go down to San Jose/Santa Clara, where things aren't so cramped. There's a tech museum there, some decent pubs (the Tied House is one of my favourite), and there's a Dave and Busters in Milpitas (at a decent shopping mall right next to the prison) if that's your sort of thing. SF has a decent zoo there, if you can manage the trip to San Jose/Santa Clara, surely you can manage Santa Cruz and Monterey to the Boardwalk (or the beach area in Capitola) and Aquarium. A lot of awesome advice, thanks to everyone. My girlfriend will be joining me when I'm in the LA area and so the tour stuff from NucksPatsFan will definitely be helpful. Checking out a Ducks game would be great, even though she has no interest in hockey. Partying days are behind me, so what I'm really looking for is nice coffee shops along the beach, places to take the girlfriend, safe areas that we can just wonder around in without getting into trouble, etc. As a side note, I'm not staying in any hotels. Everything I've book is either with AirBnB or HomeAway. Obviously I can't attest to whether these places work out, but I've found some really nice places that are less expensive than a lot of hotels and of course have a kitchen which will also save me a lot of money. Honestly, if you like coffee shops and that sort of scenery, I'd check out Capitola where Margaritaville and Pizza My Heart is. Decent beach too. Just avoid the cold water. In any touristy area, whether it be SF, or Santa Cruz/Capitola, always have change for parking meters if you're driving. SF is a huge pain in the ass to find parking in. Other areas are just annoying with parking meters. If you go over any bridge, carry small bills for tolls. I think the Golden Gate is like ~ $7 by now, so I wouldn't go over that one too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLASSJAW Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 SF Museum of Modern Art had a really neat exhibition this summer (if impressionism is your thing), and I just looked to see if it was still on--apparently the gallery is going through a major renovation and has exhibitons scattered around the town. That MAY be worth checking out. But my Berk friend went to the MOMA there this summer and really liked it I've also heard (from many people) that the science/natural history museum, the California Academy of Sciences, is fantastic. If I were going there, it would definitely be on my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalky Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 I'm going to be in California for a month (October-November), kind of a working vacation. I've never been to California before and so am looking for advice. San Diego- I'm staying in the Gaslamp district. Things to do? LA Area- I have four days to spare between San Diego and San Francisco. I want to stay around Long Beach, Santa Monica, Newport Beach, etc. Any preferences for one of those different places? I'll be working most of the time, so something quite and near the beach is preferable Berkeley- I'll be at the university for two weeks. Anyone been? Things to do. San Francisco- I've found a house to rent in the Fillmore area. Has anyone been to this area? Is it relatively safe to walk around late at night? Is it walkable to the downtown Mission district area? Any recommendations for SF? If there is one thing I warn people about Southern Cali is that it takes way longer to get around than you plan. Traffic always sucks and it is bigger than most people think. Don't get stuck wasting time driving long distances every day, it's tedious. For San Fran, the Fillmore area is fine at night. I would stay away from Tenderloin at night though, totally fine anywhere during the day. For the LA Area find this food truck kogibbq.com LA is huge and hard to get around, I would focus on one area and do what you can. Not sure how the people watching is at Venice in Oct/Nov but I imagine it's still worth it. Santa Monica Pier is cool. Gaslamp is cool but I you can be done in one day. You can eat, drink and people watch. San Diego,which of course in German means a Whales Vagina, is a pretty awesome place. I wouldn't miss the SD Zoo, Pt. Loma Lighthouse, La Jolla beach for the sea lions, and Sunset Cliffs. Eat tacos everywhere...and fried chicken, I'm not joking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kragar Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 San Diego Zoo is good, but the San Diego Safari Park (aka Wild Animal Park) is awesome. Think Jurassic Park, but with zoo critters. Huge expanses of land with animals roaming around. Very peaceful, as long as its not crowded. And since, it won't be as hot when you go, the animals are a little more active. They have some cages, and smaller enclosures like a zoo, but the open areas are breathtaking. And, unless you want to do special tours, it's not that expensive (if you buy the annual pass, it gets you into the SD Zoo too, and some free passes, so you may have a cheap way to take the GF too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down by the River Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 For Socal.. Santa Monica. This is about where the beach water gets warm when geographically heading southward from Norcal. If you're a beach person, Santa Monica is among tops. You won't get a chance to enjoy the water in Norcal unless you're one of the Norcal freaks who get in that freezing cold ass water without a bodysuit. As for SF, I lived there for quite a while, you're safe, as far as SF goes (which is, to say, far less safe than Vancouver) when on known and well lit streets.. best times to go out and see things are clearly during the day. I would go check out the Nob Hill/Chinatown region. The areas north of Tenderloin are good, and most of Tenderloin near Market is okay during the day, just do not be caught dead in Tenderloin near night time, especially in the north-of-market region of Tenderloin on the east side. During the day, just beware of thieves (Chinatown/Japantown) and people trying to scam you out of money on the street (Market). You'll likely run into an abundance of homeless people near City Hall during the day, and many other places at night. As for Berkeley, I'd stay inside the campus area for the few weeks. The East Bay, which includes Oakland, Berkeley, and especially Richmond, are a ghetto mess, and not much to do. If you're a theme park person, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is just over the East-to-North Bay bridge to Vallejo, unfortunately it happens to be in a craphole city. There's a decent water park I knew of around Concord that my cousins worked for (Big Bear?) long ago. I dunno if that's still around. Once you take in the sights in SF, the usual Golden Gate region and near City Hall, wharf, etc. if I were you I'd try and make room to go down to San Jose/Santa Clara, where things aren't so cramped. There's a tech museum there, some decent pubs (the Tied House is one of my favourite), and there's a Dave and Busters in Milpitas (at a decent shopping mall right next to the prison) if that's your sort of thing. SF has a decent zoo there, if you can manage the trip to San Jose/Santa Clara, surely you can manage Santa Cruz and Monterey to the Boardwalk (or the beach area in Capitola) and Aquarium. Honestly, if you like coffee shops and that sort of scenery, I'd check out Capitola where Margaritaville and Pizza My Heart is. Decent beach too. Just avoid the cold water. In any touristy area, whether it be SF, or Santa Cruz/Capitola, always have change for parking meters if you're driving. SF is a huge pain in the ass to find parking in. Other areas are just annoying with parking meters. If you go over any bridge, carry small bills for tolls. I think the Golden Gate is like ~ $7 by now, so I wouldn't go over that one too much. Thanks for all of this. CDC is far more helpful than reading reviews of neighborhoods on taveladvisor, etc. Appreciate the time you took to post and help out. I still haven't book my place in SF. I have actually found some nice places near Nob Hill, so I might just visit Fillmore to listen to some jazz music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Ambien Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Thanks for all of this. CDC is far more helpful than reading reviews of neighborhoods on taveladvisor, etc. Appreciate the time you took to post and help out. I still haven't book my place in SF. I have actually found some nice places near Nob Hill, so I might just visit Fillmore to listen to some jazz music. Concert venues are what I loved most about SF -- Slim's, Regency, Fillmore, The Pound, etc. Weather was a little mucky. It can get very chilly and windy there. Only place in/near the Bay Area I can think of with SF-like weather is Monterey/Carmel, where it's often foggy, chilly, and misty. The rest of the Bay Area is usually a lot warmer in the summer/fall, so I'd probably be wearing my Socal clothes outside SF and Vancouver clothes in SF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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