Saturday, July 2, 2011

Any ideas for a local weekend getaway in Southern California? -

I live in Santa Ana,CA and im looking to take my girlfriend on a small weekend getaway. Were both 22 and are college students so nothing too expensive Do you have any ideas? Thanks

Take your woman on a romantic trip up Pacific Coast Highway. Take 17th Street on Santa Ana west. 17th becomes Westminster Blvd. Westminster becomes 2nd Street in Long Beach. Make a right turn on Pacific Coast highway (Sepulveda in Manhattan Beach and El Segundo), reLAX pass the airport and follow the 1 by going onto Lincoln blvd, pass LMU and turn left on get on the 1 north, then go through the McClure tunnel and the beach is on your left. Take the 47 mile drive to Port Huemene and work your way to the 101N and exit at Telephone Road and turn left and a right into the Ventura Marina. Stop at Andria s for the world best fish and chips. Then take Telephone road north and turn right onto Wells Road (SR118 East.) Left onto Los Angeles Avenue. Ge on to the 23N to the 118E and visit the Reagan Library and board the real Air Force One. Then take the 118E to 5S and exit at Los Feliz and turn right and make a beeline to the Griffith Park Observatory and then vist the Autry Museum and have a romantic dinner for two along the Sunset strip.

I can think of several good places to visit. Catalina Island, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and Palm Springs are some great places for fun. If you go to Catalina Island, take the Inland Island Tour and The Glass Bottom Boat Tour. You ll get to see free-roaming buffalo on the inland island tour. You can do that for the day, then explore Long Beach at night and the next day. Visit the Queen Mary, which is very interesting. Santa Barbara has the zoo, botanical gardens, and whale watching. You also have the beautiful beaches. Carpenteria Beach, just south of Santa Barbara, has some spectacular sunsets. The Motel 6 in Carpinteria South (on Carpinteria Ave) has good rates and clean rooms.Palm Springs has the Aerial Tram and Joshua National Park. You can get inexpensive lodging right outside of Joshua Tree, in nearby Twentynine Palms. The Motel 6 is where I stayed when I was visiting Palm Springs. It has a pool and you can get a refrigerator and microwave in your room.

How about a weekend in the mountains? You can see REAL snow.I don t think that the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway is a good option this weekend. At least on Saturday, when it s supposed to snow again. Normally, that s a great trip.Catalina, the ride over is going to be REAL choppy, with the storms.Palm Springs shouldn t be too bad. Why not run down to Costco and pick up some of those discounted gift cards for the Rancho Las Palmas resort? However, it may still be cold there, especially at night.I still think your best deal is to rent a cabin in the mountains or a condo, then hunker down and watch the snow. Go out and play in it for awhile, but then go inside and stay warm.

Right now the Horton Grand Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego is offering good prices at $108 per night for two people, queen bed and fireplace. I ve stayed here before and it is a nice hotel. It s in the middle of all the nightlife in downtown San Diego. No need to drive or pay for cabs here.The horse and carriage tours stop at the front door of the Horton Grand. Get on board and snuggle up. Heck, go bar hopping this way. The area is well patrolled and very safe. Walk any where you want on the main streets. After you ve had your fill go back to your room and crank up the fireplace.All the harbor tours and bay excursions are within walking distance to occupy your daytime hours, unless you have other ideas.Enjoy yourselves!http://www.hotelclub.com/SearchResults.a��http://www.hortongrand.com/

How about San Diego? There are cheap motels there, and you can see the Zoo and Sea World.