Los Angeles, November 13 - 20th
 

I'm going to be in LA for work from Friday the 13th through Friday the 20th. I will be staying near the LA Convention Center (Kawada Hotel). I need suggestions for food and interesting things to see and do. I may rent a car for Saturday and Sunday, so some suggestions for good places to head out to for a hike/run would be good too.

I don't really like clubs and bars (I don't drink) and I don't much care for the beach unless I'm going to run on it. I've done the theme parks, and they're not my cup of tea.

Getty Center. (Santa Monica Big Blue Bus will take you right to the door)

Huntington Gardens (about a 3 mile walk from a Gold Line metro station, if you're up for it)

There's a good restaurant inside the LA Live complex (right by your hotel) called Rock'n Fish.

Check out the Farmer's Market on Sunday morning.

The farmer's market looks amazing from the website. Not sure I'll be able to leave.

Thanks for the suggestions.

It's amazing, great food, great place to people-watch. I recommend picking up some lunch fixings from there, then heading up the hill to the Getty to enjoy a picnic on the huge veranda, looking out over the city. It's pretty spectacular, and if you catch a particularly clear day (a good chance you will in November), you can see all the way out across the water to the Channel Islands.

Will do.

Any idea where to go for hiking? I'm looking for spots that would be nice to crank out some trail runs.

I would rather not run through LA (and on roads) but I found a 22 mile out-and-back between my hotel and Runyan Canyon Park.

Angeles forest just had a bit of fire, you may have heard about it. Most of the great hiking trails are still closed.

Malibu canyon has some great trails, for hiking or running. Griffith Park, running up to the observatory (great cafe and coffee at the observatory).

Well. when I was out there on a business trip I had a free Saturday so I went down to Venice Beach. I noticed all of these people heading towards the beach around sundown. It turns out that there's a weekly drum circle.

Venice Beach is good cheap fun. Think of your normal beachfront with a wide promenade (not a boardwalk, but blacktop) lined with shops on one side and tables on the other staffed by refugees from Woodstock.

Here is a link I found to the inactive drum circle website - http://www.venicebeachdrumcircle.com/ . The calendar is set to 2006, but they state that the drum circle has been going on for 30 years, so it's probably still there. Here is a more recent article from July 2008 - http://laist.com/2008/07/28/slice_of...ce_drum_ci.php

Bring a blanket if you can.

Here are my pictures from the January 2007 drum circle I attended.

Wow. The drum circle looks cool.

I've wanted to live in California since my first trip there when I was 7 years old. I'm trying to convince my girlfriend that she wants to move there too. She's not buying it.

Which Farmer's Market are you talking about? This one doesn't look right... it looks like an everyday, somewhat generic thing. There are too many to choose from on this page.

The La Brea Tar Pits are pretty cool, and if you like old cars, the Petersen Auto Museum is also nearby.

I second the beach suggestions. The Santa Monica pier is a great place to people watch, and just down the road in Marina del Rey you'll find Killer Shrimp.

OHNOES!!!! Killer Shrimp has closed! ARGGGGH. *weeps*

Well, ok. Apparently, there's a place in Newport Beach called JackShrimp that serves a reasonable facsimile thereof...

... but... but...

I also heard that I need to go to Tommy's burgers. It looks like a chain though. Worth it anyway?

p.s. I don't like 5 Guys or In-n-Out (don't even mention McDonald's, etc.).

Ah yes, The The Tar Tar Pits. My favorite landmark.

Tommy's is pretty good (they put chili on EVERYTHING), but I kinda like Fatburger better.

More suggestions:

Joe Peeps If you like crazy loaded pizza, I highly recommend Joe Peeps in North Hollywood. Yes, it's a hole-in-the-wall take-out type place. Yes, delivery takes forever. Do not, however, underestimate the magnificence that is the 5,969 calorie house special pizza.

Tokyo Delves If you're in the mood to drink/party and you enjoy "performance" restaurants, you might like Delves. Crazy servers, loud music, dancing on chairs, sake bombs, fairly decent sushi, it's all good. (Although I don't think they do the "Lucky Lights" anymore - BOOO!)

Which would put Los Angeles ahead of San Francisco on your travel plans...