Vacation destination: California

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2013 20:59:13 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Ava, if you don't want to drive, I'd suggest San Francisco.  I flew in to Sacramento to see my DS, took a very clean train to Orlando and switched to BART to get to my hotel.  Used BART to get to everything I wanted to see.  Most was within walking distance of BART.  No taxis.  Did take a ferry across the bay.  I'd love to see Alcatraz.

I got lucky on the weather.  It wasn't foggy.

Do you mean Oakland? At first I thought you meant Orinda but I think you probably took the Capitol Corridor Train from Sacramento.

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2013 21:06:57 GMT -5 Ava said:

Yes, thanks everyone.
I was so set on going to L.A., because all the movie stars live there and you kind of glorify the place.
I really don't want to drive; I drive a lot every day and I'm kind of burned out. I rather not drive during vacations. In fact; not driving is very relaxing for me, one of the things I look forward when I go on vacation. That and having a pool in the hotel.
I'll do San Francisco, and maybe there are bus tours to some of the excursions from there?
That would be great. I'll try to do San Diego if I can, but I'm not sure because vacations get expensive really quick. Last summer in Las Vegas I went a little bit over budget. I know California is way more expensive (I don't gamble, so my expenses were shows, exhibits, dinners, etc.).
I still would like to set foot on L.A. at least for a day, but we'll see.
I'm glad I asked because I would never had thought of all the suggestions that appear here.
I need to sort through them and see what would be possible for us.

Ava,

You can around downtown LA without a car. You can get from the Airport to Hollywood and Vine, Mann's (sp?) Chinese theatre, etc. from the subway. Several, maybe 12 years ago, I did it to prove that you could be carless in LA. I stayed at a hotel at 7th and Figueroa near a big shopping center.

Here's a link to LA's system: MTA: www.metro.net/riding/maps/

I also recommend checking out LA's beautiful Union Station. If you are a movie fan you will recognize the interior. Nearby you will find Olvera Street which is part of the original town square of Los Angeles. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olvera_Street

It can be a little touristy but it and the surrounding area are interesting.

There are a TON of interesting museums in LA. Our favorite is to go out to the Huntington in San Marino (near Pasadena) which has beautiful gardens. The gold line will get you close. I think it's about a mile from the stop so you might want to transfer to a bus.

I don't think you'll see any movie stars on your trip. Several live in Beverly Hills or out in Malibu. There are tourist buses which promise to drive by some of their homes. It's not my kind of thing so I can't give you any advice.

kittensaver lives in the greater LA area. You might contact her about some tips.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Oct 21, 2013 16:53:17 GMT -5 @bonnap said:

Oct 21, 2013 16:43:45 GMT -5 Rocky Mtn Saver said:

Personally, I'd rent a car and do one of two things - either start in San Diego (I like San Diego, personally!) and drive north along the coast toward Oregon, or rent a car in southern Oregon (or SF if you have limited time) and drive south all the way.  PCH is gorgeous and if you have the time, you can see nearly all there is to brag about in CA.  If there's more time available, OR has a beautiful coastline too! 

The PCH/Hwy 1 trip is gorgeous and a separate trip on its own right. But Ava stated in one of her posts that she doesn't like to drive in new places so in my recommendation I purposefully limited the driving.

Ah, that makes sense.  If she's not comfortable with driving in new places, I'd definitely skip driving in So. Cal.  The Napa or Yosemite areas would be a lot friendlier for uncomfortable drivers.  And you can do a lot in San Fran or SD using public transport.  I love San Diego's public transit system, especially the trolley.  And there's a ton of fun, cultural, historical, and entertaining things to do in San Diego!  I put my vote in for San Diego. 

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Oct 21, 2013 21:06:57 GMT -5 Ava said:

Yes, thanks everyone.
I was so set on going to L.A., because all the movie stars live there and you kind of glorify the place.
I really don't want to drive; I drive a lot every day and I'm kind of burned out. I rather not drive during vacations. In fact; not driving is very relaxing for me, one of the things I look forward when I go on vacation. That and having a pool in the hotel.
I'll do San Francisco, and maybe there are bus tours to some of the excursions from there?
That would be great. I'll try to do San Diego if I can, but I'm not sure because vacations get expensive really quick. Last summer in Las Vegas I went a little bit over budget. I know California is way more expensive (I don't gamble, so my expenses were shows, exhibits, dinners, etc.).
I still would like to set foot on L.A. at least for a day, but we'll see.
I'm glad I asked because I would never had thought of all the suggestions that appear here.
I need to sort through them and see what would be possible for us.

Ava, if you want to see the famous sights in LA (and there's nothing wrong with that!), I think your best local bet would be to base yourselves in San Diego.  There are some tour companies and I'm sure they do day trips to LA from there.  It's not far at all. 

Plus in SD, you can use their nice public transit system to see most things.  In addition to Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, I love Balboa Park, the Midway Museum, the Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town, the Harbor area, the gorgeous Coronado Hotel.  I think most or all of these things are accessible via public transit. 

[Phoenix84]

Well, if it's any consolation, I travel out to the SF area fairly frequently for work as well.  One of the sites I'm responsible for is also in Santa Cruz.  So there will be other opportunities.

[Phoenix84]

I also saw the OP didn't want to drive.  That does limit you pretty much to LA and SF.  I'm not sure if San Diego has a good public transportation system.

Anyway, any major city you visit, even one with good public transportation, will still involve a lot of walking.  I walked TONS in San Fransisco.  Also, keep in mind there are a lot of hills there.  I'm not sure how bad your mother's hip problem is, but you'll have a hard time having fun in San Fransisco if you can't drive and can't walk very far. 

[Deleted]

Oct 21, 2013 21:06:57 GMT -5 Ava said:

I was so set on going to L.A., because all the movie stars live there and you kind of glorify the place.

My experience is that there's a lot of them, and they get scattered around.  I think the absolute biggest names cluster nearer to LA, but there seems to be a lot of other actors who have either starred or done side roles all over.  Tom Waits lives near my parents and I went to school with his son Casey.  Little sis' classmate in high school was Max Thieriot.  My parents are camped north of San Francisco, on the coast of Sonoma county.  

Sorry I don't have much to suggest in LA or San Francisco proper though    Most of what we've done are things like take canoes and kayaks down the Russian River or on local lakes or the Estero Americano, going crabbing, bouldering at the coast, hiking at Pt. Reyes, things like that.  Cities don't really suit any of my family, and only dad drinks alcohol.   They bought their land back before the area got so popular and expensive.  

If you do go north though, DF has a fascination with the Ledson Winery, even though he also doesn't drink alcohol:




Good luck and have fun wherever you choose! 

[Sum Dum Gai]

My wife is a banana slug too.

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Oct 22, 2013 10:58:46 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

I also saw the OP didn't want to drive.  That does limit you pretty much to LA and SF.  I'm not sure if San Diego has a good public transportation system.

Anyway, any major city you visit, even one with good public transportation, will still involve a lot of walking.  I walked TONS in San Fransisco.  Also, keep in mind there are a lot of hills there.  I'm not sure how bad your mother's hip problem is, but you'll have a hard time having fun in San Fransisco if you can't drive and can't walk very far. 

It has an excellent public transit system!  I've been there several times without a rental car and I've used buses and the trolley system.  I found it's easy to use and goes many places. 

www.sdmts.com/

[kittensaver]

Oct 22, 2013 10:28:43 GMT -5 @bonnap said:

Oct 21, 2013 21:06:57 GMT -5 Ava said:

Yes, thanks everyone.
I was so set on going to L.A., because all the movie stars live there and you kind of glorify the place.
I really don't want to drive; I drive a lot every day and I'm kind of burned out. I rather not drive during vacations. In fact; not driving is very relaxing for me, one of the things I look forward when I go on vacation. That and having a pool in the hotel.
I'll do San Francisco, and maybe there are bus tours to some of the excursions from there?
That would be great. I'll try to do San Diego if I can, but I'm not sure because vacations get expensive really quick. Last summer in Las Vegas I went a little bit over budget. I know California is way more expensive (I don't gamble, so my expenses were shows, exhibits, dinners, etc.).
I still would like to set foot on L.A. at least for a day, but we'll see.
I'm glad I asked because I would never had thought of all the suggestions that appear here.
I need to sort through them and see what would be possible for us.

Ava,

You can around downtown LA without a car. You can get from the Airport to Hollywood and Vine, Mann's (sp?) Chinese theatre, etc. from the subway. Several, maybe 12 years ago, I did it to prove that you could be carless in LA. I stayed at a hotel at 7th and Figueroa near a big shopping center.

Here's a link to LA's system: MTA: www.metro.net/riding/maps/

I also recommend checking out LA's beautiful Union Station. If you are a movie fan you will recognize the interior. Nearby you will find Olvera Street which is part of the original town square of Los Angeles. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olvera_Street

It can be a little touristy but it and the surrounding area are interesting.

There are a TON of interesting museums in LA. Our favorite is to go out to the Huntington in San Marino (near Pasadena) which has beautiful gardens. The gold line will get you close. I think it's about a mile from the stop so you might want to transfer to a bus.

I don't think you'll see any movie stars on your trip. Several live in Beverly Hills or out in Malibu. There are tourist buses which promise to drive by some of their homes. It's not my kind of thing so I can't give you any advice.

kittensaver lives in the greater LA area. You might contact her about some tips.

Bonny has given you great (and accurate!) public transportation info

Send me a pm if you'd like any specific information about specific vacation or tourist destinations. Like every large metropolitan area anywhere in the world, you could spend weeks and not see everything. So a clearer focus on what interests you for your visit would help me steer you better.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I'm not sure if San Diego has a good public transportation system.

As I remember it, it's pretty good. We had a meeting in San Diego and the only cab I remember taking was to a restaurant that I wanted to go to that was off the beaten track. We did take a day trip to LA, we also took a day trip to Mexico that trip too.

Personally, I think it is much easier to get around San Francisco without a car and there is so much to see and do. Parking is obscenely expensive downtown though (especially at the hotels), so if you do decide to rent a car to take a trip, take it for the day and return it back to the rental company rather than keeping it. Another thing you might want to do is look to see if there are any wine tasting tours out of SF.

I would put a plug in to visit the V Sattui vineyards in Napa. Beautiful surroundings and awesome wine that you can only buy directly from the vineyards. I've been there several times, and I've always brought back wine from there.

[Deleted]

@copperpouches said:

Most of what we've done are things like take canoes and kayaks down the Russian River or on local lakes or the Estero Americano, going crabbing, bouldering at the coast, hiking at Pt. Reyes, things like that

I have canoe envy!  For our first wine tasting trip we rented a vintage cabin 2 miles east of Healdsburg square (Fitch Mountain) right on the river. I understood exactly why folks would decamp foggy San Francisco in the summer and spend a week (or a month). And when we got to Jenner I was about ready to sell the house and relocate. What a gorgeous spot!

[Deleted]

Oct 22, 2013 10:58:46 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

I also saw the OP didn't want to drive.  That does limit you pretty much to LA and SF.  I'm not sure if San Diego has a good public transportation system.

Anyway, any major city you visit, even one with good public transportation, will still involve a lot of walking.  I walked TONS in San Fransisco.  Also, keep in mind there are a lot of hills there.  I'm not sure how bad your mother's hip problem is, but you'll have a hard time having fun in San Fransisco if you can't drive and can't walk very far. 

Actually Phoenix, most people with cars are pretty miserable in San Francisco unless you are at the far end of the Avenues (in the 40s out by Ocean Beach and the Great Highway). Every single person I know who had a car in San Francisco has had their car broken into and multiple tickets. One co-worker even got "the boot" aka the wheel-locking system to keep you from driving away because he had so many unpaid parking tickets.

Buses go EVERYWHERE in SF. It does take some time to figure out the schedule but she'll be fine.

[Phoenix84]

The point is even with public transit in SF, you still do A LOT of walking.  Either that or I wasn't doing it right.  But I'm 28 and I still got soar from all the walking we did.  I didn't mind it, but someone with a hip problem might have issues.  Plus, there's a lot of hills to climb up and down.

You shouldn't get a car if you're hanging around SF, but if you want to go outside of SF, like to Big Sur or Napa or anything, you'll need one. 

As I said, maybe I wasn't doing it right, but there was still a lot of walking involved. 

As a side note, I ended up losing my three day public transit pass soon after I bought it.   I had the receipt from the purchase, but they wouldn't give me another one.  I ended up sneaking on the bus when I could, and only paying the bus driver when I had to. 

[Deleted]

this was our week

flew into San Francisco stayed 2 nights, and did alcatraz, fisherman's wharf, golden gate, and other assorted sites in the 2 days

spent next 2 nights in napa valley (had reservations at french laundry, and one other place i cant remember name of....mustard something?) toured a couple of wineries, and spent time in the pool

drove southeast and visited Sequoia National forest.....

continued on to Lake Tahoe where we finished our trip

Some of the prettiest country.....and Tahoe for those of you who havent been was even more spectacular than the redwoods

[svwashout]

I don't know of anyone who's tried to tour California on their own without a car, but it probably can be done in the more crowded areas. I'm not fond of driving around there either, and the 405 north of LA is now a mess due to road construction. LA has a subway/lightrail system but I've not tried it, and its coverage seems pretty limited. So if you're looking specifically for art and museums in LA with zero driving, here's an idea that I'm thinking of trying--

Hilgard House bills itself as "the museum hotel" in Westwood (UCLA) and it's near where metro bus lines 720 and 761 cross. You can walk to the Hammer art museum and the Fowler museum at the north end of UCLA. If you take bus 761 west to Sepulveda, that reaches Getty Center which I recommend very highly, I need to make a return visit because we saw less than half of it. They can tell you the bus route to get to their sister museum on Malibu beach. Toward the east bus 720 takes you to LACMA and the Page Museum (that's La Brea tarpits). Further east 720 connects to the LA subway "purple line", and from there you can reach Union Station and the galleries around Little Tokyo.

Along this 720 bus line is the south end of Rodeo drive, and for a few bucks more, there's a Luxe hotel with a dinky entrance that may be worth a try.  Nearby Beverly Wilshire is sure to please, but their room rates are way above my range.

P.S. I see Bonny mentioned the Huntington; I haven't been there but my mother loved it. Also I read somewhere that the Grove a half mile north of LACMA is a good place to experience LA shopping.

[Deleted]

Oct 22, 2013 14:50:13 GMT -5 @gdgyva said:

this was our week

flew into San Francisco stayed 2 nights, and did alcatraz, fisherman's wharf, golden gate, and other assorted sites in the 2 days

spent next 2 nights in napa valley (had reservations at french laundry, and one other place i cant remember name of....mustard something?) toured a couple of wineries, and spent time in the pool

drove southeast and visited Sequoia National forest.....

continued on to Lake Tahoe where we finished our trip

Some of the prettiest country.....and Tahoe for those of you who havent been was even more spectacular than the redwoods

Sounds like you had a great trip! When our house guest from the Czech Republic visited we had plans to visit Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Unfortunately it was the week of Sept 30 . We did get to see some of Yosemite but had to cancel our plans for Sequoia and Kings Canyon.

ETA: And although the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite is not Sequoia it really was awesome to sneak in and see them with no crowds!

[Ava]

Thanks for all the links for public transportation.
Definitely don't want to drive. Also, I love cities, the bigger the better.
There's a ton of info in this thread. I still don't have a clear picture exactly because we are talking July or August, so many months away. My mom is talking with her doctor about having surgery, so she may be perfectly fine by then. If not, we are really limited because she cannot walk too much.
Any trip outside a major city we take, someone else will do the driving; bus tour.
I'm leaning towards San Fran and San Diego, and maybe a day tour to L.A.
We could have done a day tour from Las Vegas to LA, and I really wanted to.  But we were having so much fun there, that we didn't want to wake up early and leave for a full day.
We didn't go to the Canyon either, my mother didn't want to go.
I need time to think and absorb the info. And also plan a lot, since expenses can get really high when you are on vacation.

[TheOtherMe]

Oct 21, 2013 22:01:43 GMT -5 @bonnap said:

Oct 21, 2013 20:59:13 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Ava, if you don't want to drive, I'd suggest San Francisco.  I flew in to Sacramento to see my DS, took a very clean train to Orlando and switched to BART to get to my hotel.  Used BART to get to everything I wanted to see.  Most was within walking distance of BART.  No taxis.  Did take a ferry across the bay.  I'd love to see Alcatraz.

I got lucky on the weather.  It wasn't foggy.

Do you mean Oakland? At first I thought you meant Orinda but I think you probably took the Capitol Corridor Train from Sacramento.

 Hides head in embarrassment.  Yes, I took the Capitol Corridor train from Sacramento to Oakland.  I have no idea of why I typed Orlando.  

[Deleted]

LOL, @theotherme, don't feel bad. You made me look up the stops because I've only been on the Capitol Corridor a couple of times. We had a blast in Old Sacramento. We visited the old train museum, stayed on the old riverboat, the Delta King, and loved poking around the antique and interesting shops. And maybe I'm just weird but I loved having drinks and watching the swing bridge open.