CA/LV Vacation Suggestions

[Strazos]

Was hoping you all would have some ideas on this.

In May (hopefully), I'll finally be able to take some long-overdue leave, and I'm intending to spend the better part of two weeks of it driving down the CA coast from Portland to LA, then over to LV for a few days to play some craps.

I haven't been out that way in about 24 years, so suggestions would definitely be welcome.

(Could I have poured through the internet for suggestions? Sure, I guess...but this seems like a lot more fun, and might benefit someone beyond just me.)

[Samwise]

What do you like to do when you're on vacation?

 - See tourist shit?
 - Hike?
 - Gaze at scenery and/or nature?
 - Consume mass quantities?
 - Art?  (If so -- visual, performance, what?)

[Strazos]

That's part of the issue I suppose. Normally, when I take a vacation it's very purposeful - skiing, or touring ancient Egyptian sites, etc. However, besides the actual driving down the Pacific Highway, visiting my old hometown, and playing craps, this one will probably be significantly more free-form. However, in an attempt to actually respond to your question with useful information:

 - Sure, though we can probably skip the super-cheesy stuff like "The World's Largest Ball of Yarn," and other nonsense of that nature.
 - Not so much, especially not solo.
 - Sure, but not something I would necessarily want to do for hours on end.
 - Yes, I like me some good food.
 - Really depends. I've struggled with US museums in the past when I've found some of them to be lacking in "stuff." This would have to be something fairly compelling.

I hope that sort of helps - historically, I've rather sucked at vacations.

[schild]

Drive from Portland to Las Vegas, fuck California.

[Samwise]

Yeah, if there's nothing that actually excites you (it doesn't really sound like there is) it's probably best to go straight to Vegas.  It's a good place to anesthetize yourself.

[ajax34i]

It's a long drive, and Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) is all about stopping at all the little touristy spots on the way.  It's like Route 66 vs. taking the highway.  So if you don't especially like touristy stuff, either go straight to Vegas, or minimize the tourism it by just hitting points of interest in the major cities.  SF, LA, San Diego have plenty of museums, zoos/Sea World/aquariums, naval museums (ships), boutiques, restaurants, clubs, bars, etc.  You'll probably never get to Vegas if you really do the entire PCH.

On the other hand, Vegas for more than 3-4 days, eh.  Depends on the evening shows you want to go to, and on how much gambling you want to do.

Also, while in Vegas, Hoover Dam is like right next to the city (can occupy you for an hour), and the Grand Canyon (south rim) is 5 hours away (you could probably spend a day).

[Raph]

San Francisco (Alcatraz, Muir Woods, Cartoon Art Museum, the city itself) -> San Jose (Winchester Mystery House) -> PCH to Hearst Castle -> LA (Hollywood to say you did, maybe Grammy Museum, Venice or Santa Monica to say you did, then get out there ASAP) -> Go to Vegas

[Hoax]

Assuming part of the appeal is the long drive down the coast I could give you some advice.

That said I think you are really underestimating what a shit ton of driving from Portland to LA to LV is. I'm not sure I would want to drive that much in 14 days of "vacation" but some people love driving more than others.

Unlike Schild I seriously question stopping in Portland at all. If you start the trip in the bay area instead you cut out a shitton of miles of nothing and frankly Portland is pretty meh there is some stuff but I'm not sure its worth all those extra hours on the road going through nowhere.

[Samwise]

I've done the drive from Portland to SF, I hate driving but I remember it as being pleasant and scenic.  Lots of trees, right up until you start getting into the northern reaches of the Bay Area (and even then, you could do a lot worse than Marin for scenery).

[Strazos]

Yeah, part of the reason for flying into Portland is that I wasn't really seeing any decent airports in northern CA to fly into in order to see the northern stretches of the PCH.

Not opposed to doing touristy things, if they're interesting (Giant Ball of Yarn is not).

Thanks, guys - keep them coming.

[schild]

for real fuck california it's a shithole

[MahrinSkel]

If you get the chance, US 199, California 96, or California 299 all wind through the redwood and cedar forests in NoCal and are well worth seeing.  96 is an all-day drive all by itself and curvy as hell, I wouldn't actually want to drive it (I'd love to take a motorcycle on it, however), or more specifically I wouldn't want to be a passenger or have any passengers while driving it.  Unless you're at least 100 miles from San Francisco or LA, don't waste your time with the coast (so, north of Ukiah, or between Salinas and San Luis Obispo).  The Coos Bay area in Oregon is beautiful, and there are a lot of nice spots, just don't try to drive more than a couple of hundred miles of 101.

I'f I were planning it for my family, I'd take I-5 down to Corvallis, head west to Newport, south on 101 until Eureka, then east on 299 back to I-5 (taking about two days total, .  Coastal CA between San Francisco and LA gets really old (cookie cutter tourist traps alternating with places that do everything possible to discourage tourists), and is always overcrowded (and expensive as hell).  If you really have to go to LA, then just rocket through the Central Valley in one day, there's nothing really worth seeing there.

San Francisco itself is nice to visit if you haven't been there before.  LA has a lot of things everyone should see once in their lives, then it's pretty much the worst place on earth.

--Dave

[Surlyboi]

Fuck the PCH, half the goddamn time it's a foggy mess. If you do happen to get it on good days, the view is breathtaking, but your chances are shitty.

Swing through Napa and hit Ad Hoc in Yountville for some amazing fried chicken. Then go down through the BA and grab some food at a couple of the amazing places there, then skip the rest. Cut through Reno and head straight down to Vegas.

Though Vegas is a shithole too...

[pants]

Do you need to go to LA?  If not, I'd suggest turning left at SF, take the 120 through Yosemite and over the pass, head past Lake Momo which is pretty cool, and then the 95 down to Vegas for lots of cool empty desert scenery.

But I agree, its a damn long drive for 2 weeks.

[Teleku]

Any particular reason for your hatred Schild?

Anyways, Schild is wrong; California is the best state in the union.  There is plenty to see Strazos, but everybody is correct in that what you’re proposing is a ton of driving.  Take the pacific coast highway down from Oregon, it is very beautiful.  Just keep in mind that it takes a long long time to drive down it, as it is very curvy. 

Stop and see the Redwoods at Redwood national park, where they filmed Endor in Star Wars.  My suggestion would be to go see Fern Canyon and one of the shorter hikes through the Redwoods.  The Lady Bird Johnson grove is a nice short hike.  There are longer trails, but it’s up to you how long you want to spend there.  I’d certainly suggest staying overnight in the area to give yourself enough time. 

Then head down the coast again.  There are all sorts of random sea side towns where you can stop and see various cool things (along with a lot of beautiful state parks and beaches).  North Coast Brewing is located in Fort Bragg (one of my most favorite craft breweries).  You can either continue down the entire way to the coast (which is pretty), or cut over at some point to get on highway 101, and go down through Napa valley, which is also very beautiful.  Obviously plenty of amazing wineries and places to visit there, but might be hard without a designated driver.  Maybe after you get to SF you can have one of the F13 locals drive you up for a day of boozing around Napa.

Then finally make you way to San Francisco.  Most people from around the world I’ve had come out to visit me have absolutely loved SF.  Get one of the local F13’ers to take you around and show you all the cool neighborhoods and bars/cafes.  There is a ton to see beyond the normal touristy stuff around Fisherman’s Warf (But it’s still fun to walk along that area if you haven’t before).  Plenty to enjoy in the city.  Take a rest in SF for a few days (you’ll want to after all that driving), and take time to enjoy the city.  And again, brow beat people here into taking you out and showing you around.  I have plenty of suggestions on places to go if you need as well.

After that….. well, there are about a billion more things down the coast to see, all the way to LA.  It is, again, a very very long drive though (due to how slow driving down highway 1 is).  I could fill several more paragraphs with stuff to see on that route.  You may want to consider heading over to Vegas more directly at that point, taking the rout Pants suggested (which is very cool). 

Anyways, yeah, depends on how much time you like spending in the car and driving.  I’d just say make sure you take the trip leisurely and stop/sleep at many places along the way so you can actually enjoy what you are seeing.  I can provide a million more suggestions though if you can provide a timeline of how much time you’d like to spend on each section.

[Tannhauser]

You might swing by Lake Tahoe, you can drive around it and stop in Reno for a night (preferably weekend but hotel prices are much higher), then head down to Vegas that way.  That's my vacation plan here in three weeks anyway. Unfortunately, Reno is not what it used to be (used to live there), but you can find good gambling fun on the strip for a night.

They got $3 blackjack at Cal Neva by the way.  And good, cheap prime rib in their restaurants.

I am not a paid spokesperson for Cal Neva.

[Khaldun]

I like CA, especially the northern coast, so don't listen to these guys. Though it does depend on what you like: northern CA coast is all about:

hiking
scenic coast/mts
eating
smoking dope


If I had a week to go from Portland to Las Vegas and I had a relatively generous budget, and it was May, I'd do this itinerary and maybe pick one of these places to stay 2 nights.

Day 1 to Eureka or thereabouts or maybe stop as early as Crescent City.
Day 2 to Healdsburg & wine country. 
Day 3 to Tahoe.
Day 4 to Mammoth, stop at Tuolome Meadows/Sierra high country on the way (assuming it's accessible, which this year it will be)
Day 5 to Death Valley, stay at Furnace Creek. (could be getting uncomfortably hot)
Day 6 to Las Vegas.

Or maybe instead stay coastal all the way through San Francisco with side visit to Sonoma/Napa/etc., stay coastal to just south of Santa Cruz, then cross up through Merced and Yosemite (though almost certainly I'd avoid Yosemite Valley itself, which is just a fucking zoo from May to October) and then down through Death Valley.

The problem is if you stick with the coast as far as Santa Maria or Santa Barbera you will essentially want to cross all the way over to Las Vegas via Bakersfield and not get pulled too close to LA, and that at least will be a boring drive until you get out towards Joshua Tree/Mojave. Mojave and Joshua Tree are very interesting if you have time to poke around or like that kind of landscape but they're going to be really hot by May (usually).

[jgsugden]

The points I'd focus on hitting:  Napa, SF Bay, LA, LV and Reno/Tahoe.  You've got about 2200 miles of driving in your trip, which would be an average of 3 to 4 per day.  I'd try to break it up so that I had driving days and days with little driving.

Napa: Wine and cheese / breweries /nature.
SF Bay: Theme parks (Great America), tourist stuff (Alcatraz, etc...)
Carmel: (Nature)
LA/Southern Cal: Theme parks (Disneyland, Legoland, etc...) and tourist stuff (Hollywood)
LV: (Censored)
Reno/Tahoe: (Censored and Nature). 

[Nebu]

Really need to think about what it is you want out of the trip. 

My 2 cents:
La/SanDiego are a waste of time and money. 
Reno is a trailer park version of Las Vegas.

Great nature and hiking in Northern Cali and the drive along the coast is serene.  Wine country would be fun as would some of the sites in San Fran. 

[jgsugden]

To be honest, my preference for week + vacations is a cruise.  If you've never done one, it is worth 20 minutes of research to see if you might enjoy something along those lines.

[Ingmar]

Man, if you can't have a good time in San Diego, something has to be wrong with you. It's awesome down there. That said it sounds like it's pretty out of the way for your plans.

As for Reno... it's not for everyone. I happen to like it a little better than LV myself, because LV is weird and fake, and Reno has a slightly charming/seedy old west mountain mining town vibe to it, and I just generally love the Sierras. But I recognize that's outside the norm.

Anyway, to me it sounds like one of the big decision points is whether you cross the Sierras at Lake Tahoe or Yosemite. Both have a lot to recommend them; Yosemite will probably be a goddamn zoo in May though. You can stop at Mono Lake on your way to Vegas either way, and that's worth it.

[ajax34i]

LA/Southern Cal: Theme parks (Disneyland, Legoland, etc...) and tourist stuff (Hollywood)

LA area:  Getty's Museum of Art, Hollywood Studios, Long Beach Aquarium, Santa Monica pier & boulevard, Griffith Observatory, Mt. Wilson Observatory
San Diego:  Zoo, Sea World, Maritime / USS Midway Museums (various ships you can visit, downtown) + Seaport Village (boutiques + food).

Also, whether in Vegas or in one of the CA cities, Fogo de Chao Brazillian restaurant.

[Triax]

Day 4 to Mammoth, stop at Tuolome Meadows/Sierra high country on the way (assuming it's accessible, which this year it will be)


Tioga and Sonora pass are both closed currently.  That last batch of snowstorms put some good snow up there.  My family keeps an eye on conditions since we have a house up at Pinecrest Lake.

Sonora Pass 108
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/display.php?page=sr108

Tioga Pass 120
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/display.php?page=sr120

I'd also recommend a detour to catch some of the Redwood Groves (Avenue of the Ancients or any of the multitude of others up there north of Eureka and around Crescent City).  Nothing like driving through or standing around and seeing trees whose trunks are wider than your vehicle as far as the eye can see (which isn't far in some of those groves).  You can generally stop along the road and walk up and check them out as well.  Rather awe-inspiring, imo

[Ingmar]

In that last vein, Muir Woods is a good stop and close to San Francisco stuff.

[Teleku]

Muir Woods is ok, but since he's coming down right through them anyways, he should try to stop at Redwood national park or the like to see the real deal.  A lot more impressive/beautiful, imo.

[Samwise]

Not opposed to doing touristy things, if they're interesting (Giant Ball of Yarn is not).

I'll take one more crack at this question -- what sort of stuff do you, personally, find interesting?  Like, just throw out some words that describe things that would make you think "oo, I would like to get a closer look at that."  "Interesting" is a function of your personal "interests".

Alternatively, name some things that you have previously found interesting (either on vacation or where you live) and we can try to do the Netflix thing of "if you liked X you are 64% likely to also like Y."

[Hoax]

Also he really needs to be realistic about how many hours of driving he will want to do and how many nights he will want to be in Vegas. Then add one night because you should always have one extra night in case things are going awesome or more likely that one ugly day where you wander Vegas sick of gambling and see it during the daytime.

[Khaldun]

You pretty much have to decide on this kind of trip--am I going hellbent for leather one or two days and then staying put for 3-4 in the same spot, or am I moving 3-4 hours drive per day?

[Strazos]

I'll take one more crack at this question -- what sort of stuff do you, personally, find interesting?  Like, just throw out some words that describe things that would make you think "oo, I would like to get a closer look at that."  "Interesting" is a function of your personal "interests".

Alternatively, name some things that you have previously found interesting (either on vacation or where you live) and we can try to do the Netflix thing of "if you liked X you are 64% likely to also like Y."

It's a fair question.

Unfortunately, until fairly recently I wasn't really able to do much in terms of vacation, hence your difficulty. Though in the past, if I wasn't skiing, or eating...I was probably seeing historical sites, ranging from "ancient" (Egypt, Rome, etc) to "pretty old" (Tombstone, AZ...lol). Interesting architecture would, to me, be worth seeing. So would nice vistas a bit off the road (despite my reluctance to go hiking for hours solo). Museums can be worthwhile as well.

A lot of what is driving this trip (no pun intended) is 1) wanting to get a nice car and drive down the coast (been wanting to do this for a long time), 2) swing back through my old hometown for a day, 4) see some more of LA, which I didn't have a chance to appreciate as a child, and 5) craps in Vegas. Enjoying better weather (because it's been nothing but crap here for months in VA) is also a plus.

If it's helpful at all, I can tell you now that neither bars nor clubs really hold any interest for me - especially if I'm traveling alone.

You pretty much have to decide on this kind of trip--am I going hellbent for leather one or two days and then staying put for 3-4 in the same spot, or am I moving 3-4 hours drive per day?

Mostly intend to drive 3-4 hours, though I'll probably be in the SF, LA, and LV areas for 2-3 days each. If I'm in a nice car, I actually enjoy driving.

[Samwise]

Unfortunately, until fairly recently I wasn't really able to do much in terms of vacation, hence your difficulty. Though in the past, if I wasn't skiing, or eating...I was probably seeing historical sites, ranging from "ancient" (Egypt, Rome, etc) to "pretty old" (Tombstone, AZ...lol). Interesting architecture would, to me, be worth seeing. So would nice vistas a bit off the road (despite my reluctance to go hiking for hours solo). Museums can be worthwhile as well.

That is why I included "things you find interesting near home" as a possible data point -- you don't have to go on vacation to discover the things that you enjoy.  Conversely, knowing the things you enjoy can help you plan a vacation.  I feel like I'm explaining the concept of pleasure to Commander Data here.  

Interesting architecture in the Bay Area I can do, though:

Marin: the Marin County Civic Center (Frank Lloyd Wright, it's where they filmed Gattaca because of its weird space age look).

San Francisco: the Circle Gallery aka Xanadu (Frank Lloyd Wright), the 450 Sutter medical building (art deco), Grace Cathedral (gothic), Mission Dolores (old), everything in Chinatown (funky), the Golden Gate Bridge (duh), the Castro Theater (art deco), the Palace of Fine Arts (neoclassical), the De Young (modern/ugly IMO but very unique), the SFMOMA (modern/not ugly), the Palace of the Legion of Honor (neoclassical), the Cliffhouse (location), the Neptune Society Columbarium (neoclassical), any neighborhood with lots of Victorian houses (Victorian).

Oakland: the Paramount Theater (art deco)


Some of the architectural sights I mentioned are also museums, so you get two for the price of one there.  Museum-wise, again, what the fuck are you interested in?  There are different kinds of museums that have different kinds of things in them catering to different interests.  But I'd recommend the Exploratorium if you only see one science museum (the Academy of Sciences and the Randall Museum are both specifically life sciences oriented if that's more your bent), and either the Legion of Honor or the MOMA if you only see one art museum (depending on whether you like classical or modern art).  There's also the Maritime Museum, the Hyde St Pier, the Beat Museum, Alcatraz, the Cable Car Museum, the Cartoon Art Museum, the Jewish Museum, the YBCA, Fort Point, the Musee Mecanique, the Pampanito and the Jeremiah O'Brien, and that's just the ones I can think of in SF proper off the top of my head.  There are a fuck lot of museums around here.


Nice thing about driving down Hwy 1 is all the great vistas right on the road.  You won't need to detour much.  But if you like views and you're in SF on a clear day, go up to the top of at least one of the big hills.  Coit Tower is a good pick because you'll have a nice little walk getting up there, you can check out the tower itself (also a point of architectural interest, which has murals inside), and it's smack in between Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach which have a lot of other stuff going on (they're fairly saturated with tourists but there's good stuff too).

Top of the Mark and the Cliffhouse are good picks if you like food and drink with your view.

[Khaldun]

Ok, so if LA is one place you're going to be:

a) there are a few hikes in the Santa Monica mountains that are surprisingly underutilized, mostly over towards Malibu.
b) I personally like the beaches in South Bay the most (Redondo, Hermosa, etc.)
c) The LA County Museum of Art has changed dramatically since I was a kid--really impressive now. Ray's and Stark Bar there is a great place to eat lunch if you can get in. You can wander over to the tar pits afterwards too.
d) I would otherwise focus on eating and entertainment--LA is otherwise very diffuse, I think, because it's so built around driving from point to point. There are just not that many spots in the city that I like to go to and then walk around the whole area. You need to know what specific destination you're going to.

[WayAbvPar]

Go to Huntington Beach and have a mai tai @ Duke's (is it still there?). Best cocktail I have ever had. I drank dozens of them to be sure, and yep- they are the best.

[Ingmar]

The Getty and the Huntington Library are other good LA-area options for art museum type stuff.

[Strazos]

This is all extremely helpful - thanks all.

That is why I included "things you find interesting near home" as a possible data point -- you don't have to go on vacation to discover the things that you enjoy.  Conversely, knowing the things you enjoy can help you plan a vacation.  I feel like I'm explaining the concept of pleasure to Commander Data here.   

That's legit. Unfortunately, when I am "home" (wherever that happens to be at the moment), my default tends to be to stay in, mess around on the computer, and lounge about while watching Netflix...unless I'm somehow prodded to action by someone.

It's kind of funny - if a friend asks if I want to go do something (almost anything), I'll probably go. But if you ask me on Monday what I did over the weekend...odds are good that you'll get a big ole nothing.

But these are seriously all good suggestions, even if I only end up following through on a portion of them.

[Khaldun]

Oh, yes, Getty all the way. Fucking great.