USA/Caribbean Trip Part 1: VA BNE-LAX (Photos)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Where are the SXM photos/video?

All the photos from SXM will be in the next part. I will try to have that up on Monday. I haven't uploaded any videos yet, I will get around to that next week.

Heard girls drink free at the bar for being topless

Yep that's right, noticed a few whilst I was there

LA has a lot to do part from the tourist stuff, been recently doing the hike up to the Griffith Observatory then on further up Hollywood mountain. Great place for a sunset, but rather dangerous coming back down at night. Have spotted the odd rattle snake and coyote, but they seem harmless.

We mainly just did the touristy stuff and of course lots of plane spotting. Universal Studios was good. Didn't really like Disney California Adventure, nothing that interested me. Theme parks aren't really my thing.

We did a tour of LA. It took us to Venice Beach, Beverley Hills, Farmers Market and Hollywood. Venice Beach was pretty s***, not a nice place at all in my opinion. Beverley Hills was very nice, very fancy and very expensive. Lots of expensive cars too. The Farmers market was good, didn't look around much though.

Hollywood was pretty disappointing, very crowded and people on the streets constantly coming up to you and trying to get you to take CDs. We were warned by the tour guide that they would try and get you take them making you think they are free and as soon as you do they will ask for money.

Would've liked to have gone to Santa Monica and Malibu.

[Tom Lohdan]

Originally Posted by Brandon Giacomin

We mainly just did the touristy stuff and of course lots of plane spotting. Universal Studios was good. Didn't really like Disney California Adventure, nothing that interested me. Theme parks aren't really my thing.

Same here, done Universal so many times, I now only go for events like Halloween Horror Nights. Get the FOL tickets when they go on sale, works out almost the same price as general admission by the time they ramp up prices closer to the date. The designer is on Twitter and does special meet/greet/give aways too

Originally Posted by Brandon Giacomin

We did a tour of LA. It took us to Venice Beach, Beverley Hills, Farmers Market and Hollywood. Venice Beach was pretty s***, not a nice place at all in my opinion. Beverley Hills was very nice, very fancy and very expensive. Lots of expensive cars too. The Farmers market was good, didn't look around much though.

Venice/SM is not nice and rather dangerous with the homeless, not a place I go after dark, hence I stay South Bay past Del Ray Marina, it's almost like a boarder

Originally Posted by Brandon Giacomin

Hollywood was pretty disappointing, very crowded and people on the streets constantly coming up to you and trying to get you to take CDs. We were warned by the tour guide that they would try and get you take them making you think they are free and as soon as you do they will ask for money.

The Walk of Fame AKA Hollywood is more than just Hollywood/Highland, it goes for about 2.5km. Very interesting walk when you see the old names/stars and how the area was a high point, now abandon and shuttered.

LA takes a couple of visits to get use to, took me about 5 visits until it sank in, stay away from tourist area's, hence I split LA into 3 parts, South Bay, Hollywood & The Valley, all are different depending on what you want to do.

These days I just spend my time South Bay, go north (Hollywood) for hikes, stay away from the tourist traps and enjoy LA like a local.

Next time you visit will be better, you have done the bucket list, time to explore the city most tourist never see

[Sarah C]

Great report Brandon

The only downside to the In n Out is the constant Southwest 737s - even the special liveries don't excite me. All I can think to myself when the are approaching is 'Boring' (like Homer Simpson)

[Brandon Giacomin]

Thanks Sarah. Yes the constant Southwest 737 arrivals got very boring! The CRJs and ERJs of Delta, United and American Eagle got pretty boring too! But there were lots of good international movements to make up for it.

[Joe Frampton]

Great report there. I'm a Brisbane local, now living in Portland Oregon for a year or two. LA is an ok place to visit, but after going a few times, yes, there are much nicer places to visit in the US. We go up to Seattle all the time, so Paine Field is becoming a local haunt for me, which is kind of lucky I suppose, although you can spend hours there with hardly a Boeing movement, as you discovered. And your pics of the Air Museum are great, I was kind of shocked how small the seats on the Concorde were, man, that actually didn't look like a comfortable experience. Nice report, it kind of summed up a lot of my time here so far, you did all the right stuff!

[Matthew Chisholm]

Anyone had one of the In n Out burgers? Any good?

[Justin L]

Great, simple, true old school style American burgers. Kind of a cult following among fast food burgers here in the West.

[Brandon Giacomin]

The burgers at In-N-Out were nice, but nothing special.