There are several pictures of the "park" in this post in the "LAX Meetup: In-N-Out - Saturday, June 4, 2022" thread

fyi, when I had a similar kind of layover at LAX, I caught a hotel shuttle (no fee) to the Marriott Manhattan Beach (think it’s still a Marriott but have not checked recently). Had a light lunch outdoors in a well known restaurant around the corner, walked around the Marriott property (on a golf course), visited local stores, and shuttled back to the terminal. Worked out really well. Time evaporated.

In thinking about it, a cheap car rental for a minimum rental period could be cheaper than 2 Ubers if you head to Manhattan Beach. I have stayed at the Doubletree El Segundo and in those days they covered the taxi if the shuttle wasn’t available. Several years ago and well before Covid, a one way ride to the airport was more than $20 when tip was included. Manhattan Beach is further down the road.

Whatever you end up doing, enjoy and I hope the weather is with you.

Thank you all for the ideas and insight.

Once we check out the walk to the Homewood Suites, we'll decide if we want to keep walking to the In-N-Out viewing area, or use a ride-share to Proud Bird or Manhattan Beach. It really depends on what the rest of the family is up to at that time.

The weather looks to be gorgeous, and I'm sure we'll hit the airside lounges on arrival and before our departing flight leaves, so I'd rather avoid renting a car in favor of some fresh air and stretching the legs a bit.

Couple of suggestions:

1. If you are staying at Homewood Suite on Century and do not want to deal with hotel shuttles, I suggest you take the LAX-It shuttle from T4 to the Rideshare lot next to Sepulveda Blvd. From there, you can walk to Homewood Suite which is no more than 5 minutes. Homewood Suite is the 2nd hotel after the Hyatt which is across the street from Rideshare, so basically 2 blocks walk. LAX-It shuttle is easy to use and fast. They come frequently (the last couple of times I was at LAX, the shuttle was waiting for me), and use dedicated bus lane so it is very reliable way to get from TBIT or T4 to Sepulveda Blvd.

2. You can easily walk from Homewood Suite to In-N-Out. It will take about 15 minutes and the sidewalk on the east side of Sepulveda is quite wide with landscaped grass area. See the map below - select more options and then select walking direction from Google Maps.


3. If you want to visit Proud Bird, you can take a city bus from near Homewood Suite. There is a bus stop in front of Proud Bird so it's pretty straight forward if you know how to take a bus. Culver City Bus 6 from 98th street is your best bet. Select the transit option from Google Maps.


But if you walk a block to the City Bus Center on 96th street, you can catch several different buses to Proud Bird (take the first one that comes: Santa Monica Bus 3, Metro Bus 109, Culver City Bus 6)


4. With regard to Manhattan Beach vs. Venice Beach, I think it is about expectations. Unlike some here, I don't have any issue Venice Beach safety per se... crime stats for Venice Beach is not appreciably different than the rest of LA. I would recommend any visitors to visit the beach and boardwalk during the day but probably stick with the restaurant area and the pier on Washington Blvd at night. The rough around the edges thing is part of Venice Beach experience since forever, and not a new thing. The things that may concern you is actually the pot smoking and drinking on the boardwalk, as well as the occasional prostitute. Your 14 years old will be able to handle it but you have more explaining to do for the 9 years old. I live nearby and I have been taking my son to Venice Beach since he was a toddler but we are used to this living nearby. Venice Beach is not a curated museum... real people live there and I do mean live right on the beach in tents - homelessness is problem and I don't want to sugarcoat it but nor should we exaggerate it. You will be fine as a visitor to the area but if you are not prepared to use some of what you see as an education opportunity for your 9 years old, head to Manhattan Beach and you will have a great time window shopping and walk down the pier with the family.

bzcat Incredibly helpful, thank you!

Actually Manhattan Avenue is full of shops and restaurants and it is one block in from the Strand. So you can walk the strand along the beach and then go up to Manhattan Ave and walk around the "business area" of downtown MB and shop/eat/drink. I think an Uber to MB will run at least $25 one way so I don't know if that is cheaper than a car rental or not but it is probably faster plus parking in MB can be a challenge on weekends. Or go a bit further south to Hermosa Beach.

The Strand in Manhattan Beach is a better walkway than here in Hermosa because the pedestrian path is separated from the bike path (made more troublesome by the illegal use of electric bikes) and is elevated for a great view of the ocean waves. That said, the nightlife in Hermosa cannot be beat. Often multiple live music venues on the pedestrian foot of Pier Avenue, including the historic Lighthouse Café:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_Caf%C3%A9

And for entertainment, the famous Comedy Magic Club:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comedy_%26_Magic_Club

Hermosa is definitely better place to hang out at night than Manhattan. The only place that opens late in Manhattan is The Kettle, which is a 24-hour cafe.

But both are fine for day trips with family. Hermosa is a longer trek from LAX of course.

Since the poster mentioned between the hours of 10:30-6:30 and having kids along, I didn't think that he would be looking for nightlife!

Thank you all for the advice. We had a great time plane spotting this morning across from the In-N-Out, which was an easy 10 minute walk from the LAX-It lot. No one was up for anything else, but we'll be passing through again in a couple of weeks, and may check out Manhattan Beach.

So glad it worked out for you.

Just did a similar walk on the other side of Sepulveda towards In-N-Out a few weeks ago (coming from the Hyatt Regency). It was the first time doing that walk in a few years and was the same as I always remember it, with cars buzzing by and hint of exhaust fumes in the air.

Although this time I had the added benefit of almost being run over multiple times by people riding electric scooters on the sidewalk!

And now, what to do for approximately 3 to 4 hours on Christmas Day, with luggage, on a WN to LA connection. We won't be able to check bags until approximately 3 hours prior to the connecting flight. Lounges are out, as we'll need to get our WN luggage and can't stay airside, and can't return to airside until LA check-in.

Suggestions?

I googled luggage storage and a few came up...like this one. https://laxluggagestorage.com/
I have no idea which is best.
Middle of the day on Xmas? And I assume you are looking to uber somewhere for a couple hours. You could go hang out at https://thepointsb.com/ although I don't know what will be open.

I believe that's where we went a few years back with a similar connection (but not on xmas day), although family picked us up and we went for lunch (not likely happening this time). It was a nightmarish 45 minute ride back for the 4 miles. Perhaps a hotel shuttle, leave bags with the bell desk, and have lunch at the hotel might be the best bet (including a restaurant that's actually open).