Simo, when in So-Cal here are some places off the usual tourist trail
*Knotts Berry Farm
http://www.knotts.com/ which is kind of a low key Disneyland situated not too far from Disneyland in Orange County.
*The Queen Mary
http://www.queenmary.com/. While in Long Beach check out and drive the Indy Car GP course
http://www.gplb.com/ and where I lived for 6 years, Belmont Shore, a great little 'locals only' beach community with both bay and ocean beaches and a very cool restaurant street, 2nd street
http://www.belmontshore.org/ and maybe have a margarita and a mexican feed where I worked for a couple of years.
http://www.panamajoescantina.com/.
*Olvera street in downtown LA
http://www.olvera-street.com/ is the oldest street in Los Angeles and the place to get the best Mexican food outside of Mexico.
* Farmers Market is a market not frequented by many tourists, well worth it for street food and tourist trinkets.
http://www.farmersmarketla.com/ * For the best beer in California, drop in for a 32oz schooner or two at Joe Josts on Aneheim street Long Beach. It's the oldest bar in So-Cal and was my local when I lived there. Hasn't been decorated or changed since 1928. The t shirts are legendary as are the hot dogs.
http://www.joejosts.com/ *Mullholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills is a great place to get an ariel view of LA and to watch the knee scraper bikers and rich guys in their Ferrari's racing up the hills.
http://www.latourist.com/index.php?page=auto-tour-mulholland*Santa Monica and Venice Beaches are worth a visit. Santa Monica is the LA equivalent of Surfers Paradise, Bondi, St Kilda or Glenelg
http://www.smgov.net/ and is the home of the best fish'n'chips I've ever had at an English pub called the Ye Olde Kings Head which is frequented bt many expat actors. I actually witnessed Michael Caine and Rod Stewart having a few beers together here back in the early 80's
http://www.yeoldekingshead.com/.
*Venice Beach is busy and full of freaks but it's fun. Check out Golds open air gym for the steroid show off gym junkies.
http://www.venicebeach.com/ *Griffith Park observatory is a good place for space nuts
http://www.griffithobs.org/ and good views of LA.
*The Peterson Museum in Hollywood is a must for any car nut
http://petersen.org/*Take a liesurely drive south along the Pacific Coast Hwy to Sandiego (and Tijuana, Baja Mexico), stopping at Seal Beach
http://www.sealbeachca.gov/ , a nice little 'locals' beach that's a bit more low key than Huntington Beach
http://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/ or further down the Hwy at Newport Beach
http://www.newportbeachca.gov/ and Laguna Beach
http://www.lagunabeachinfo.com/. I don't know San Diego all that well so try and get some local knowledge. Check out the old Carlsbad motocross track
http://www.vintagemx.us/carlsbad_remembered.htm. Tiijuana is worth a look for some duty free but it's a shit hole so if you want a more authentic glimpse into Mexico drive a bit further down the coast to San Felipe
http://sanfelipe.com.mx/ and Ensanada
http://www.ensenada.com/ . Many desert races started in San Felipe and ended in Ensenada. Have a cold Margarita at the spiritual home of the margarita, Hussongs Cantina
http://cantinahussongs.com/. There is also Cabo San Lucas
http://www.cabosanlucas.net/ which is nice
but is a favourite with Summer Break kids...the US equivalent of Schoolies, so pick your time.
*If you're driving from LA to SF go via Hwy 1, you won't regret it. On the way up have a look at Hearst Castle in San Simeon
(http://www.hearstcastle.org/), have lunch at the Danish community town of Solvang and visit the Andersens Pea Soup factory/restaurant (
trust me on this one)http://www.solvangusa.com/ http://www.peasoupandersens.com/. Have a good look around Monterey
http://www.monterey.org/ and hope you can check out Laguna Seca raceway near Monterey
http://www.mazdaraceway.com/ . It's also worth dropping into Carmel
http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/ .
Sanfrancisco is a beautiful city not unlike Sydney. It's not over crowded with tourist stuff like LA is but if you look closely you'll find some very cool places.
*Marin County is worth a trip over the Golden Gate bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County,_California Sausolito
http://www.sausalito.org/ is a quaint little bayside community with some great restaurants and views of San Francisco Bay as is San Rafael which has a reasonable expat Aussie and Pom population who all seem to drink at
http://www.themayflowerpub.com/ . I had great roast beef and Yorkshire pudding there vthe last time I was in town.
*Napa Valley is well worth the drive for some great wines
http://napavalley.com/ but there are some other less well known wine areas such as the sweet little town of Los Gatos in the Santa Clara Valley near San Jose
http://www.losgatosca.gov/index.aspx?nid=63 and Santa Cruz Mountains
http://www.calwineries.com/explore/regions/san-francisco-bay-area/santa-cruz-mountains *Take a cruise through Golden Gate Park and observe the last of the hippy hold outs in the Haight Ashbury district where you can get a great boutique beer at the Toronado Pub
http://www.toronado.com/ . Check out the birthplace of the beatniks in the North Beach area. Whenever I'm in town my friends take me to this great old Beatnik Jazz pub where Jack Kerouac allegedly drank and is mentioned in 'On the Road'.
http://www.vesuvio.com/index2.html .
I could go on and on with more and more places of interest but I've run out of time. Have a great trip and make sure the credit cards loaded for Christmas in the Colorado Rockies
.
