Goin To California

[user 10246]

Off to California later this month with Mrs Goldy. Wondering what you guys recommend to do or avoid over there, mrs is keen to see some breweries too, so that'll be sweet.

Never been to those parts, we are staying in LA for a bit, then heading towards Vegas for a few days, then off to Hawaii for a week.

SO thought I'd see what thoughts people had from here

 

[scott_penno]

Are you heading up to San Francisco and the bay area at all?...

sap.

 

[OzMemphis]

I was there 2 months ago! did the coast up from LA and headed in from San Fran
Vegas is insane
San Fran is really nice
LA/Hollywood is a dive.
Yosemite National Park is stunning
Depending on your budget I recommend doing: Exotic Racing
San Diego is really good too.

It all comes down to what you are there for, what you are interested in and the good old budget!

Either way, its a great place

 

[user 10246]

Awesome, looking at doing a similar trip as you OzMemhpis, got a car rented & we're gonna do some cruizin.

Would mind checkin out some good brewpubs & maybe a brewery tour or 2 as well.

Would love to get to San Fran bay area if possible, will see ho it all goes.

Cheers guys

 

[Dave70]

Spent a few weeks there with three mates last year but we came down from the San Fran and drove through the desert to Vegas and on to Huntington beach.
While Vegas was one of those 'must do's', for me it was an overpriced, tacky shithole with everyone on the hustle.
The flight over Hoover dam and trip out to Red Rock Canyon made up for it though. As did the trip to Outdoor World and the Boot barn..
Driving past Joshua trees in the desert (we came via Stove pipe wells) along endless highways evoked a few 'Fear and Loathing' flashbacks.

If you get the chance, hit Lake Tahoe. We spent a few days there skiing, and I hate skiing (and managed to knock myself out at one point) but loved the place. Truly breathtaking year round. As an added bonus, the Lakeside In sell's of Sierra Nevada for $2 a pint.
Like a previous caller said Yosemite National Park is stunning.
Cali is a big place and would take forever to see it all.
The city's are massive, crowed and confusing. Find some back roads and get out to the country (ish) towns. People were super friendly and more relaxed.
I'm jealous as.

 

[argon]

No matter what anyone says... Go down to Anaheim and go to Disneyland. You can get beers and eats at California adventures... Stay away from all the kiddie places to eat in Disneyland proper.

I've advised many people to go there with many of them scoffing me. They all return and say it's the most memorable part of their trip... Do it.

 

[OzMemphis]

100% Disneyland will bring you back to your childhood
We drove the whole way.
Also, don't forget to bribe!!! Seriously!

We downgraded our rooms in the Bellagio @ Vegas to the base ones and we ended up in Vegas on Memorial Long Weekend! While checking in, we put a $50 in the passport id page, when she looked at it I asked if there were any upgrades available. Yep it works, we went from looking over the desert to 24 floors up and facing the water

Also worked for the hire car, we had a F350 Van and slipped the $50 in the passport. Was upgraded to a Surburban

I love america!

 

[Zizzle]

San Diego is great for breweries. You'll definitely need to hire a car. And tasting hours are all towards Friday/Saturday arvos to plan ahead for tasting hours. You can run around and hit 5 or 6 awesome breweries in an arvo/evening if you do it right.

Pizza Ports are great. There are few, visit them all. See Stone it's well worth it. Greenflash can be good. Coronado brewing is good. Lost Abbey, Iron Fist, Firehouse, AleSmith, BallastPoint, are all worth a visit. Alpine Brewery is worth the drive out if you have the time.

There are few nano-breweries out there like Mother Earth and Hess.

The beaches are interesting compared to the Goldy, so go out to sunset cliffs for a sunset.

If you are in South LA/Orange county/Anaheim we liked The Bruery and Bootleggers. Tustin was ok... nice copper gear behind the bar, but lots of loud big screen TVs with crappy yank sports.

A few years ago, me and some mates hired some Harleys from eagle rider in LA for 8 days. They are very foreigner friendly there (lots of Euro tourists straight from the plane - no hassle with Aussie licenses). We rode the coast road Highway 1 up to near Monteray. Big Sur and the coast was good to see. Then we cut across the Yosemite. That was awesome. Nothing like it in Aus. Then we went back down via Mamoth lakes and the Sierra Nevadas. Great scenery.

San Fran and the bay area is worth a visit. Some good beer pubs there. Go to golden gate park, hire a tandem bike and ride across the golden gate bridge with the missus. Traffic and the roads suck there for getting around.

I have never been up to north Cali, but I have some friend who love Sacramento. Plus you would get to hit Sierra Nevada brewery on the way.

 

[eamonnfoley]

If your anywhere near Disneyland/Anaheim, head out to "The Bruery". I've never seen so many barrels in a brewery. Great Belgian style beers, they have a tasting room, just check the opening hours. And they have an awesome food truck that pulls up that cooks food with beer (awesome concept). Looking at the setup they have there - rolladoor entrance to tasting room where they sell tap beer, no seating - you just stand around and yarn, gourmet food truck outside (i.e. no kitchen, restaurant), its a dream.

The sort of thing I would dearly love to see (or even start up) here - the epitomy of modern beer culture. Somehow I think our beloved liquor licensing nazis would have an opinion on this kind of setup.....

 

[user 10246]

Sweet, thanks for the info guys.

We have hired a Mustang to trek around in, so hope to get to a few funky places & have some good beer & food (in that order)

Not sure of any itinerary at this stage, but I want to get some waves there too, will see how it goes.