Good People of California! - Page 2

Sorry. Your state is home to the Bush clan. I hold the entire population of the state responsible for all the Bush-shit I've had to endure over the years.

I live in Costa Mesa, but I went to high school in Santa Maria, that was 20 years ago. My brother still live up there, if they were interested in which steakhouse are the best right now I was planning on asking the bro. It a shame that rich guy bought up so many of the classic restaurants, and ran them in to the grown. When I was in high school I use to love McLintock's breakfast their oatmeal was to die for.

It a shame about the seafood. Although you will not turn green from the seafood on the central cost. There are probably only about 10 places in the world that have seafood on the whole as good as the central cost. Turning green is why I am very picky about what seafood I eat.

Actually, I ate the same seafood she had and was fine (actually, I had quite a bit more of it - she just inadvertently had some soup and sauce made with seafood stock, while I had those plus a bunch of sushi). We're pretty sure she has some sort of allergy or intolerance to seafood.

ETA: Beaten to the punch...

Iodine? I instinctively never ate seafood and so never realized I was allergic. Was in the ER for stomach issues and they decided to run a CAT scan...which has an iodine drip. All I remember is the feel of the iodine hitting my veins and then me sitting up and hitting my head. I heard that I got violently ill and passed out. Not the most pleasant of allergies.

While in SF you may wish to visit the Crepe House. I've only eaten there twice (at the Polk Street establishment) but was very happy with my meal both times.

If you're interested in specialty bookshops (in this case science fiction, horror, and fantasy) you'll definitely want to stop by Borderlands Books. A genre fan can easily lose a few hours perusing their shelves, and founder Alan Beatts is a pretty cool guy.

That really sucks, but on the bright side with all the warm weather we been having the strawberry crop should be pretty good this year. Just find some stands and maybe check out some of the local farmer market on your trip.

There is also a lot of great Asian food to be had. When in LA stop off in little bangkok, and find some good green carry Thai green curry. There are also some really good Chinese and Japanese on the central cost, and not all of it is seafood. Little Saigon is in the OC and both LA and SF have Korean, Japanese, and china towns.

Great point. We can get what I consider decent Thai and Chinese food here, but I suspect the stuff available in CA will probably ruin it for us.

However, do NOT go to Chinatown if you're looking for good Chinese. Go to Hacienda Heights/San Gabriel Valley, which is pretty much a stone's throw from downtown. I've had some of the best dim sum in my life and other stuff from there.

My wife knows a good vegetarian Vietnamese place in Oakland, if you're interested.

If you get over to Berkeley, hit Long Life Veggie House for the best in imitation meat dishes.

In San Francisco, Yank Sing is phenomenal dim sum.

(edit) 4000th post. Yikes.

You know I never gone to china town much I just usually go to Korea town. When I want good Chinese I just go down the street to Little Saigon, which also has some really good Chinese food. I just kind of assumed that China town would have good Chinese food.

LA styles itself as as a mecca for contemporary art, so you can't go wrong with visits to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and/or the Temporary Musem of Contemporary Art (The Temporary Contemporary). They're both terrific!

Miss Zooey, In-N-Out has vegetarian options.

Will you have time to stop in Napa and to visit one of the vineyards?

Miss Zooey, there are tons of amazing vegan places in and around LA, like Cru, California Vegan, Vegan House. It is an embarrassment of riches. Do some googling - every one I've been to has been great. There's an amazing Vietnamese cafe in Silverlake called Gingergrass that has vegetarian food.

In terms of sight-seeing, I second the Griffith Park Observatory. You have to park at the LA Zoo or Chinese Theater and then take the shuttle up there, but if you have a clear night, the view is breathtaking, the renovations are really incredible, and the structure itself is historic (watch Rebel Without a Cause before you go).

I love LA's museums - MOCA, LACMA, the Natural History Museum, the Getty. Little Tokyo is a fun tiny pocket of the city and one of the MOCAs is there, along with the Japanese-American Museum.

On your leg up north, you should consider spending a night in Ojai (my home town). It's pretty artsy, but also out in the country and there are lots of hiking trails, swimming holes, etc.

I agree about Monterrey Aquarium. If you're up north and you're a fan of Carpenter's "The Fog," you should drive about an hour north of San Fran to Inverness and Point Reyes, where it was filmed.

If for no other reason, you should go there 'cause it's the Bionic Woman's home town.

Ongoing thanks for the recommendations, everyone. We're still working out details, but committed to making the trip in June.

I'm not clear on where you're headed but if you go to San Fransisco, eat at D'Anjou. Its got absolutely heavenly food. Not the cheapest place but it's extremely good for the price ($20-30/head plus alcohol).

I think we've decided that, to make the most of the trip up the coast, we're not aiming quite as far north as San Francisco this time around, and we'll cover it and the surrounding areas sometime in the future.

The only thing worse then driving through Oxnard and Ventura to get to Ojai is the decision to go to Ojai in the first place.

Also, stay out of Glendale unless you want to be bro'd into submission by the Armenians in their leased BMWs.

I was about to say that Glendale's not that bad, but...no, you're pretty much right. Ditto the 'nard, though Ventura isn't as terrible. I prefer Santa Barbara to either, though.