San Francisco

First things first, went to Hollywood Mel's for breakfast. Get the tourist stuff out of the way - Walk of Fame, Graham's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood & Highland. Where's the movie stars? Why it's so dirty? Umm...

Then, on to the Westside. Drove to Beverly Hills, they've really re-done Rodeo Drive, looks gorgeous darling. They've also installed a huge silver sculpture  of a woman's torso, perfect ass and all; it's right in the traffic median on a large pedestal. I think that's awesome.

We couldn't find parking so we ventured to Westwood (home of UCLA) and decided to skip that and go straight to the  Getty Museum  (see photo). This was my favorite part of the trip. I LOVE the Getty, and I think she did too. She said "It's like heaven". Indeed, the white marble, fountains and gardens make it an oasis on the hill above greater LA.
 
The collections are so-so but there are some excellent pieces. I also liked the side exhibit on the Italian Futurists. The cafe, though, is a total rip-off. I payed $25 for two sandwiches and drink. And the bread was totally stale, looked like a 5-year old slapped it together. Almost heaven anyway...

Final stop of the day was downtown LA. My friend wanted to see LA Chinatown. So we went shopping in the bargain stalls next to the Metro and wandered around a bit. LA chinatown's pretty cool but compared to San Francisco rather small.

One cool thing is that there's a lot of galleries on 'Chung King Road' on the western edge of Chinatown. Most of them were closed but there's great atmosphere with the cafes and discount threads..

Finally, back to Pasadena. We walked around Old Pasadena, one of my favorite spots in LA, although it's not in LA proper. It's like Santa Monica except without the Learning Annex  yuppies, or to put in another way, it's one of the few spots in LA that has some class. 1920's buildings have been converted into shops and restaurants and in general there's a relaxed atmosphere.

Not to say that it's stuffy - all kinds hang out here, from blue-haired old ladies, Taiwanese valley girls, Art Center  students and even a few bikers. Great fun. By nightfall, however, I was pretty burnt out and we went to bed pretty early...

Time to hit the beach. Breakfast at Denny's and then hit the 10  for the long haul through rush-hour traffic to Santa Monica. First stop was 3rd Street Promenade , a long pedestrianized street filled with shops and restaurants, mostly chains, but a few one-off places have survived, like Hennessey and Ingalls  bookstore, just around the corner.

One of my favorite places in Santa Monica is Palisades Park, a narrow park fronting the bluff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean (see pic). There's palm trees, exotic foliage... and on a clear day you can see as far as Catalina Island  to the South and Malibu  to the north. Just be forewarned that the homeless have discovered this beauty spot too...

Then it was off for a bike ride along the beach. Just look for the blue shacks along the beach. Bike hire costs us $30 for two bikes, two hours. The teenage staff was pretty clueless, messing up our transaction several times, but it was a beautiful day and we were so relaxed we didn't mind waiting.

We took the winding, short path down to Venice Beach . Venice used to be the place for artists to live in LA, but it's long been supplanted by neighborhoods like Silverlake on the Eastside. That doesn't mean it's not still a great place to hang out. On the boardwalk, there are all kinds of places selling clubwear, bikinis, sunglasses, tattoos, music - you name  it, it's on the boardwalk.
 
Last but not least, we wandered down to Hermosa Beach. If you're in Santa Monica and wandering where all the Baywatch hotties are, they're down here in the South Bay.

Nearby Manhattan Beach is where they have all those Volleyball tournaments you see on ESPN and Hermosa is home to the surfer crowd. You'll be treated to lots of eye candy and the beach is much cleaner than those further north as well.

We walked out onto the pier, where I took the  above photo. There were lots of people of fishing and oddly enough, a guy pulled up an octupus right as we were walking by! Small one, but freaked me out when I saw it sitting there on the Pier.

By this time we were all beached out and we moved back inland. It was dinner time and we stopped at the Grove  for some food and shopping. The Grove is a brand new 'lifestyle' mall, complete with it's own trolley and faux-1920's architecture. Sounds hokey, but somehow it works. In any case, it's a downright luxurious mall, with fountains and a pleasant atmosphere.

Nearby is the old Farmer's Market , a great place to pick up a bite to eat, with everything from Middle Eastern to Mexican. Just a note, be sure to get your parking validated at the Farmer's Market if you park in the front lot - the Grove only validates for the three story garage off of 3rd Street..

Our last day in LA, so quick! Next up, Santa Barbara..

Decided to take the long way home via 101 North. I'm glad we did because it turned out to be infinitely more interesting than the 5 and only a couple hours longer.

First we climbed through the Cahuenga Pass  into the San Fernando Valley. Not a lot to look at initially, just the endless tract homes of the Valley. Further west, it was more interesting with rolling hills and pretty scenery.

Then we climbed another steep pass and down into Ventura. It was quite smoggy but the view down across the vast coastal plain was still impressive. I had no idea there was still so much undeveloped land so close to LA.

After Ventura, the road hit the coast, winding around steep bluffs on the way to Santa Barbara , our first stop. We shopped around State Street, the main drag. The Mission style  architecture, balmy weather and expensive boutiques create a kind of 'Riviera' atmosphere. But then again, it's also home to UCSB, probably one of the top party schools on the planet and so there's plenty of boozing at the south end of the street for the student crowd.

Too bad we couldn't stay for the party, though, I had to work the next day! So off we went after a brief stop at Ledbetter beach (see pic)...

After SB, 101 winds through yet more astounding coastal scenery before plummeting into a mountainside tunnel and out the other side. It's sort of a semi-official boundary between northern and southern California, as on the other side there's oak trees and grassy hills instead of palm trees and beach bunnies.

We rolled into San Luis Obispo  around 3. I really like this place. It reminds me a bit of Santa Rosa , where I grew up, a mid-sized town in a really beautiful setting, with just enough human activity to avoid that 'too quaint' label. We scarfed down some pasta and hit the road again..