iapetus

I'm pleasantly surprised that someone took one of my recommendations ... and didn't curse my name for having done so! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Playboy

Thanks. I'll PM you bc I want also hike Point Mugu State Park or Runyon Canyon, but I'll PM you. 2 more weeks before I'm finally there. YES!

Calcifer

Good call--this is where we took our moms for the "meeting of the moms" lunch before our wedding a few weeks ago. They both loved it, and are about the same age as your mother. I'd recommend trying to get a seat on the patio, I find it more pleasant (and not as noisy) as inside. I also highly recommend that you NOT get an entree size salad; luncheon-size is more than enough.

Mmm, zucchini bread....

And it's on Opentable.

Playboy

Everyone, thanks for your recommendations. We had a wonderful time in the LA area. The Warner Bros VIP tour was fun. Capo in Santa Monica is a good restaurant. We've loved Green Street Restaurant in Pasadena. Whomever posted the LA Times story on Joan's on Third thank you so much. I had lunch there on Thursday with my Mom and it was a great atmosphere and the food was very good. While we were there I saw Amanda Seyfried and Josh Hartnett having lunch; pretty cool. That 3rd street area seems like a fun area.

The Ray Miller hiking trail in Point Mugu Park in Malibu was a great hike but there wasn't much foot traffic as opposed to the Griffith Park trails, which were also great. The drive up PCH from Santa Monica in Malibu was beautiful.

Each area had it's own vibe. Old town Pasadena was busy on Saturday afternoon and it was neat to walk around and just hang out after having lunch. Burbank was nice and so was Hollywood. Inglewood was different but we have relatives there so we went there for a couple of hours and had dinner. I had a lot of fun on Santa Monica Beach and Venice. Venice is wacky and weird but in a good way. Downtown LA had more condos and apartments than I originally thought. We stayed at the Westin in downtown.

Our only gripe was the traffic. We knew that the traffic would be bad and we were prepared for that and I was able to navigate it pretty well with the GPS. But we weren't prepared for traffic at 11am on the 101 going into Hollywood on a Friday morning or Sat afternoon or backups on the 110 heading in from Inglewood at 11:30pm on Friday night. That was just weird.

All in all it was good trip and I definitely want to do it again. I have to say that the women are unreal. It's like they come at you in waves which is great for a single guy like myself. A single guy can get into a lot of trouble out there. ^

Thanks again everyone.