First Road Trip to the West Coast

[Lolly90]

What We've Got Planned (Days 9 to 12) -

Day 9

This morning we have the Warner Bros Studio Tour at 9am, which I’m still so excited for. Then we’ll be off in search of a good view of the Hollywood Sign & Griffith Observatory. The rest of the morning will be spent having a little walk down the Walk of Fame, from what I’ve read we won’t be here for long.

After this, we’ll be on our way to Santa Monica for the afternoon. We’ll get some lunch either on the way or when we get there, as we won’t have had time for breakfast. I’d like to explore the pier & walk down towards Venice Beach. We’ll finish with some shopping at 3rd Street Promenade.

For dinner we have Baby Blues BBQ planned, which isn’t too far from our apartment & comes recommended by Mark’s sister.

Day 10

Today we have a more chilled out day planned; we’d like to get some rest in before Vegas. I’d like to head down to Orange County & spend the majority of the day on the beach. Newport Beach is first up. The O.C is my all time favourite show & even though it wasn’t actually filmed here, I still have to go. I’d like to have breakfast at Ruby’s Diner along the pier & we might get the ferry over to Balboa Island too, for a Balboa Bar.

Next is Laguna Beach. Again, this is another favourite show of mine, so another must do. I don’t have any specific plans; just want to have a wander round, visit the beach & Heisler Park. On the way back to L.A, if we have time, we might pop into Citadel Outlets.

Tonight we’re just going to have a chilled evening with a takeaway.

Day 11

Breakfast today will be another visit to IHOP then the day will be spent at Universal Studios. I’ve read the park isn’t as big as the ones in Florida, so I’m hoping we’ll get everything done in one day.

If we finish early, we’ll head over to either Westfield Century City or Beverly Centre for some shopping. I’d like to grab some drinks & snacks for the drive tomorrow too. We might head back to Universal Studios in the evening to CityWalk to have a look around & to grab dinner. There’s lots of choice here, so will just choose on the night where to go.

Day 12

The Griddle Cafe is our breakfast choice today; it’s close to the apartment & looks like it does huge pancakes. We’ll spend the rest of the morning exploring Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive area before the drive to Vegas. I’d like to leave L.A around 11am, arriving in Vegas at about half 3. We might stop at Primm on the way, just because it’s at the state line but we’ll see how we go.

After checking in to The Signature, we’ll be out again to start exploring. I’d like to head south of our hotel & look around Excalibur, Luxor & Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay if we have the time.

Dinner choice tonight is Wolfgang Puck as its right near the KA Theater. We’ll be watching the 7pm showing of KA then might head to The Mirage to watch the volcano before calling it a night.

[abiknox]

Fabulous plans again. I was a massive OC fan too, I used to have all the box sets We never made it to Newport beach though

Universal is quite small so you shouldn't struggle to get it done with some time spear in the afternoon.

Very jealous of KA too, such an amazing show.

[Lolly90]

What We've Got Planned (Days 13 to 16) -

Day 13

I’ve actually really struggled with timing in Vegas; I have no idea how long things are going to take. I have some sort of plan & we’ll just try and do as much of it as possible without rushing.

This morning we have our Scoot City tour of Red Rock Canyon, which starts at 8am. We should be back at our hotel for around half 12, so we’re going to head straight to the North Premium Outlets for some lunch & shopping.

After this, the plan is to head to the top of Stratosphere, enjoy the views & possibly brave a couple of rides. We might also pop into The Wynn & Fashion Show Mall on the drive back, depending on time.

Tonight our choice for dinner is Margaritaville, followed by a couple of cocktails & then we’ll be off to the Britney Spears concert, which starts at 9pm.

Day 14

We couldn’t go to Vegas & not try a buffet, so I have used some of our MyVegas coins to get a free buffet breakfast each at MGM Grand. This should set us for a day of exploring The Strip. First up is The Mirage, for Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden, which we also got free tickets for from MyVegas.

We’ll then pop in to another couple of hotel in the area. The Palazzo, Venetian & Caesar’s Palace for The Forum shops are all on my list, but we’ll see how we get on.

Dinner tonight will be at The Hard Rock Cafe, and then we’ll head across to The Cosmopolitan for a cocktail in The Chandelier Bar. We might have a little wander through Aria & Vdara to have a look, while we’re here.

Day 15

Last full day of the holiday The morning will be spent on our helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. Once back at the hotel we’ll head over to New York New York & to Shake Shack for lunch.

Next up will be The Bellagio, Paris & Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood. Then we’ll drive down to the South Premium Outlets.

For dinner on our last night we’d like to go somewhere a little nicer, so top of the list right now is Mon Ami Gabi Then we’ll finish the evening watching the fountains at The Bellagio.

Day 16

This morning I’d like to drive down to the Las Vegas sign, hopefully it will be quiet in the morning to get some good pictures. Then it will be off to IHOP for the 3rd & final time this holiday, for breakfast.

Our flight home is at 2pm, so we won’t have too much time to do anything else this morning. I’d like to grab some lunch from Earl of Sandwich to take the airport & then we’ll be on our way. We have a layover in Detroit & should arrive back into London for 11am.

So that’s all our plans, hopefully I haven’t crammed too much in. We are pretty much ready to go now, have all our holiday shopping done & bought some dollars. I’m waiting till next weekend to start packing properly but have started throwing things into the suitcase. The holiday has come round so quick this year; we have just 2 weeks to go now, so close to single digits

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Fabulous plans again. I was a massive OC fan too, I used to have all the box sets We never made it to Newport beach though

Universal is quite small so you shouldn't struggle to get it done with some time spear in the afternoon.

Very jealous of KA too, such an amazing show.

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I still have all the box sets

That sounds good. A lot of the Universal Hollywood tickets are 2 days for the price of 1, but from what I've read you definitely don't need 2 days.

I'm looking forward to the show now, it's not something I've really been interested in seeing before but everybody has said it's amazing

[abiknox]

Just to add too, if you change your mind on Wolfgang Pucks before KA, The Pub was a really good option. Great service, food, cocktails & a pretty reasonable price.

[Guest]

Go for it. As you know both myself and Darrin love the West Coast.Hope you both have a fabulous time.

[anji]

It all sounds amazing and I can't wait to read your reports Have a wonderful time