collapse

* Navigation

* User Info

 
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

* Who's Online

Author Topic: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?  (Read 3158 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline goddessofpeep

  • Trade Count: (+26)
  • Lil Sweetcake Sister Pony
  • ****
  • Posts: 1137
    • View Profile
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #15 on: July 11, 2018, 06:11:28 AM »
Flea markets and swap meets have a lot of overlap, but they can be different.  Swap meets can have a mix of types of sellers, but you'll see more cheap junk store kind of sellers at a swap meet.  Things like you'd see in the downtown area stores - cheap stuff from China, Mexico, or wherever, often knock off products or low quality items.  Swap meets can also be located in abandoned stores/malls, and they can be open multiple days a week.  You can see flea market sellers at swap meets as a lot of flea market sellers also hit swap meets, and you'll see swap meet sellers at flea markets.  There's usually a higher percentage of interesting sellers at a flea market, and you'll get a lot more small "I'm cleaning out my garage/attic/whatever" sellers at a flea market.  Generally speaking, I have found ponies(including G1s) at both flea markets and swap meets out here, but the hunting is better at your average flea market.  Outdoor swap meets produce better results - the indoor ones tend to be STUFFED full of junk sellers. 

You will sometimes see "Swap Meet Daily!" signs on some buildings in some of the less savory parts of town.  If I'm pony hunting, I just pass those by.  If I'm just in the mood for looking at junk and seeing if I find something really funky looking, I'll check it out.  Swap meets are a great place to go if you like weird, knock off, and bootleg items.

Offline PrincessTiffy

  • Trade Count: (+233)
  • Lil Cupcake Sister Pony
  • ****
  • Posts: 905
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2018, 08:12:55 PM »
Nice, you’ll love the kayak trip :)

Koby’s is an outdoor swap meet with a lot of different sellers. Old stuff, new stuff, produce. It’s a big mixture. You have the sellers who buy loads of stuff from storage lockers or what have you and resell it. People selling the cheap toys from Mexico and China. People who sell just clothes or toys, furniture. People selling plants, I get all my succulents there. People cleaning out their garage. Summer is here so the next couple months are the largest layouts. I’ve had luck over the years. I think it’s a good mixture for old and new depending on the season. But after going here my whole life it is getting annoying in the “new” section of how many sellers there are for promoting their business and trying to get sales. Like I’m not buying insurance or windows or cable and internet. That’s not what I’m here for. So I hardly ever go on the newer section. There’s 2 more I go too, but if your staying near the water they are more east in the county and probably out of your way.

If your down by the water and like sweets I recommend The Baked Bear in Pacific Beach. Make your choice of ice cream sandwiches. They make all the cookies, brownies, donuts, and ice cream :)
« Last Edit: July 11, 2018, 08:16:02 PM by PrincessTiffy »

Offline BlackCurtains

  • Mad Scientist
  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+69)
  • MIB Licensing Show Pinkie Pie
  • ***
  • Posts: 10734
  • Orange ponies are the best.
    • View Profile
    • BlackCurtains Crafts
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #17 on: July 12, 2018, 05:47:08 PM »
We're having an algae crisis at the moment. Hopefully by the time you get down here it'll be over. If you still want to go kayaking somewhere around the Gulf coast or on any rivers, double check that it isn't in an affected area.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Instagram | Facebook
Commissions are Closed
Avatar and sig by Mione (offsite)

Offline Noasar

  • Armour Plated Pony
  • Trade Count: (+34)
  • Mommy & Baby Pony
  • ****
  • Posts: 1545
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • Little Starglow Ponies
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #18 on: July 15, 2018, 03:15:14 AM »
We're having an algae crisis at the moment. Hopefully by the time you get down here it'll be over. If you still want to go kayaking somewhere around the Gulf coast or on any rivers, double check that it isn't in an affected area.

Oh no way that’s just my luck! I’ll check it out before we go. We’re not flying from CA to Florida until the 13th August so maybe it will clear up by then? How persistent is this algae stuff?

Thanks for the info about the swap meet! I’m glad I actually know what one is now! If we are in the area I will definitely check it out.

These travel recommendations are so helpful guys thanks so much!

Offline CactusBloom

  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Prom Queen Sweetheart Sister Pony
  • ***
  • Posts: 241
  • Gender: Male
  • Formerly leafcascade
    • View Profile
    • My Pony Blog - rileyspones
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #19 on: August 05, 2018, 08:36:19 PM »
I live south of LA, I don't like the city but I do love Santa Monica! The pier there is really cool, though a little amusement-park-ish. There's also the Promenade and the mall there that's good for shopping! The whole area is just nicer than downtown LA or Hollywood, in my opinion.

Near the city, however, is the Getty Center, which is a great art museum, if either of you like that kind of thing.

I hope you have a great trip!
Formerly known as leafcascade
Hope you have a wonderful day!

Offline goddessofpeep

  • Trade Count: (+26)
  • Lil Sweetcake Sister Pony
  • ****
  • Posts: 1137
    • View Profile
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #20 on: August 06, 2018, 06:10:25 PM »
I'd recommend Redondo Beach Pier.  There's a public beach there that's pretty nice, a sea food market where you can buy live crabs, lobsters, and shellfish and they'll steam it for you right there.  They'll rent you a hammer for $1 too.  There are a lot of little tourist stores, and some other food options there too.  There's this insane old school, and frankly fairly creepy, arcade there.  If you ever wanted to see a working Pong machine, now's your chance!  Redondo isn't the biggest, newest, or the best seaside area, but it is one of the last sort of seaside village/pier places left, and it's scheduled to be "developed" into another soulless high end hotel next year, so this is your one chance to see it before it's gone.

I also recommend Santa Monica Pier, and it's not *too* far from Venice Beach which is a fun walk.  You can technically walk along the shore from Venice Beach to get to the pier, but it can be a bit of a hike.  If you're in town for a few days, and you want to do something really "Hollywood", they often pass out tickets along Venice beach to get into screenings of still in production movies, or to be audience members for talk shows.  They're not there every day, but they are there often.

If you find yourself in the actual Downtown LA area, make sure you check out Clifton's Cafeteria for lunch(the cafeteria is only open Fri-Sun sadly).  It's got several night clubs/bars in the evenings as well.  It's worth the trip for the decor alone!  Make sure you wander around as much as you can(don't miss the upstairs!) if you go.  And there's a crazy bookstore down there called The Last Bookstore that's totally worth a look:
http://lastbookstorela.com/
Just don't wander around downtown too much.  There is an actual Skid Row in LA, and it's not all that far from either of these places.

If you like museums, the following museums are awesome:
La Brea Tar Pits Museum:
https://tarpits.org/
A nice small museum featuring fossils found in the tar pits, surrounded by the actual tar pits.
Also shares a park with the Los Angeles Art Museum:
http://www.lacma.org/

Los Angeles Natural History Museum:
https://nhm.org/site/
A nice museum if you like dinosaurs and stuff from the natural world! 
Shares a space with the California Science Center:
https://californiasciencecenter.org/
This place has a lot of interactive exhibits, and it has an actual space shuttle! 

The Museum of Jurassic Technology:
http://mjt.org/
This one is freaking weird.  If you're looking for something you've just never seen before, this is where you want to go.  I've been a couple of times, and I still can't tell you what it's about. 

Offline Noasar

  • Armour Plated Pony
  • Trade Count: (+34)
  • Mommy & Baby Pony
  • ****
  • Posts: 1545
  • Gender: Female
    • View Profile
    • Little Starglow Ponies
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #21 on: August 17, 2018, 09:30:26 AM »
Well we are coming to the end of our trip and we fly home from Orlando tomorrow :( we have had the most amazing time. Very sad to be coming home but we are returning much browner/blonder than when we left! I could get used to this sunshine thing...

I did the manatee swim today which was unbelievable - so amazing to see them up close and our guide was great and made sure everybody was respectful of them and their environment. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is up this way in Florida! I can try and share a video when I get home.

We did some snorkelling and swimming in Key Largo that was great - but no swimming on the gulf coast as every beach we have been to has been affected by red tide. But we’ve still had a great time.

We have done so much this holiday - La Jolla cove was great, thanks for the recommendations PrincessTiff! We did make it to Balboa Park in SD too which was stunning!

Not eaten gator but did eat conch and lots of fish. The food has been awesome...you guys in America sure know how to cook!
 

Offline BlackCurtains

  • Mad Scientist
  • Moderator
  • Trade Count: (+69)
  • MIB Licensing Show Pinkie Pie
  • ***
  • Posts: 10734
  • Orange ponies are the best.
    • View Profile
    • BlackCurtains Crafts
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #22 on: August 17, 2018, 10:30:47 AM »
Yeah, the red tide is awful :(

Glad you could find things to do though! Manatees are so peaceful to watch ^.^
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Instagram | Facebook
Commissions are Closed
Avatar and sig by Mione (offsite)

Offline Haruna

  • Ninja Pony
  • Trade Count: (+64)
  • Sweet Scoops Pony w/Charm
  • *****
  • Posts: 2387
  • Gender: Female
  • Many thanks to Nence for my beautiful avatar!
    • View Profile
Re: Travel recommendations for LA, San Diego and Florida?
« Reply #23 on: August 17, 2018, 12:02:58 PM »
So glad you had an awesome trip! It’s a shame the red tide coincided with your trip but it sounds like you had a good time anyway. It’s great that you got to swim with the manatees like you wanted to! It’s always nice when vacation plans work out. Hope your trip back is good!

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal