Dunne's own goal said:
Sorry I was a bit unclear. We have seven or eight nights after we leave Vegas. That San Clemente doesn't sound like a bad idea tho!
LA is a place everyone wants to visit....until they get there and realize it is a bunch of shitty public beaches with cold water, the downtown area is dangerous after dark, and the only nice places are the fancy neighborhoods where the rich people live. San Diego is nicer, but only if you visit downtown and stay north of the city on the coast. There is a SeaWorld and a world class Zoo in SD, but it is a border town with Tijuana and has lost some of its luster from yesteryear. Again, a nice place to live for the weather in a nice neighborhood, but not a "beach vacation" location. Weather is the best in the country, though!
If you REALLY want to enjoy CA, take a quick flight from Vegas to SFO and drive down PCH, staying wherever the hell you please, whenever the hell you please. My missus and I did it years ago in a convertible and we still talk about it! We first took the Golden Gate Bridge up to Muir Woods for a morning hike in paradise, then headed back down the coast, past Half Moon Bay, the Monterrey Peninsula (incl. Carmel, the 12 mile drive around Pebble Beach Golf Course, etc...). We made stopovers in Pismo, Hearst Castle, various food and fruit stands, the occasional detour to places like Solvang (a Swiss Village in CA wine country!) and then before we hit LA proper, we headed out towards Joshua Tree and down towards Mexicali and around to San Diego, before heading up to Orange County (Laguna Niguel). It took a week, was the most beautiful weather imaginable (cool mornings, sunny & hot with the top down all day, cool evenings), stayed in Motel 6 and the like by the roadside when we felt we needed a shower and 8 hours on the pillow, and ate locally all the time. A lot of places included a Continental breakfast, or better, with almost all of them having a diner nearby for hot food, or a market for fresh fruit.
It was a TRUE "California" EXPERIENCE vacation. We only stayed in San Fran for a day, but you could easily home base out of there and spend a week out of there. My wife wants to do that next time. I have been there dozens of times and LOVE THE CITY! My favorite city in the USA! Lots to see and do, and an hour from paradise (North and South) and a few hours from the Sierras (east). In fact, I've even done a day trip up to Lake Tahoe from there (4 hr drive either direction), with the added bonus that you can pop over Donner Pass into Reno if you want to spend a cheap night on the tiles gambling and drinking!
FWIW, SF is ten times the city that LA is, because the "city" of LA really doesn't exist....it is just a bunch of downtown high rises office buildings surrounded on nearly all sides by places you don't want to wander!! IF you go to LA, head south down PCH until you hit at least Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach or Redondo Beach before even thinking about stopping and enjoying the seas/surf/town. Beyond Redondo, you hit Long Beach (false advertising, because it is not a long beach, but a huge container port!) and have to get south into Orange County and Newport Beach before hitting nice beachfront again.
Good luck out there! Enjoy Vegas!!!
P.S. Leave your spends in the safe and don't take it down to the casino! You wouldn't be the first vacationer to run out of money for the rest of your hold before ever leaving the Strip!!!
