Lost in L.A. - help. :-)

[defcon]

Does anyone know of any VERY Romantic spots in Los Angeles...

restaurants ?
scenic locations ?
mountainous highspots overlooking the glitter of city lights ?
rooftop buildings ?

we are staying in some suburban area between Beverly Hills and Glendale ...
and since i have not been to L.A. before, I would prefer to keep the location somewhere simple and easy to get to... i.e. i don''t want to end up somewhere lost in Gabriel Mountains.

my girlfriend and I are visiting Los Angeles for xmas holidays - and I would like to propose on the first day - hopefully at nighttime !!

any suggestions would be very helful.

 

[defcon]

Ok - sorry - i know this is a VERY BROAD question.

let me be specific - does anyone have an idea that is out of the usual ?
i.e. other than the restaurant and beach scenic location ?
any cool ideas that are very specific to L.A. ?

for example, hiking up to the Hollywood sign !!!!
or maybe something related to Rodeo Drive - make her feel like ''Pretty Woman''.

do you have any L.A. specific suggestion ?
what do you think ?

thank you very much in advance for your input.

 

[WendyT]

Hi Defcon!

I live in L.A. and here are a few places that I wouldn''t mind being proposed to. Both places are gardens/parks and they are very romantic place to be when you''re alone. There is the Huntington Bontanical Gardens in Pasadena http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/HEHBotanicalHome.html. It''s beautiful there. Another place is Descanso Gardens in La Canada http://www.descanso.com/bloom.cfm. I''ve been there twice and this place has a lot of private romantic places off the trail they have for visitors. Maybe you can do the proposal here and then take her to a romantic restaurant later? Make a note that you do have to pay an admission charge to get in but it''s only a few bucks and well worth it. You can try going to www.citysearch.com and using los angeles, romantic restaurants in your search criteria. I''ve found this site very helpful and have planned evenings out through this site. My favorite restaurant is Yi Cuisine on Fairfax and Third in the Westside http://www.yicuisine.com/. My boyfriend took me there for my birthday and the food and atmosphere was great. I hope this helped you a bit in your planning. Good luck!!

-Wendy

 

[codex57]

You can't hike up directly to the Hollywood Sign. It's off limits. You can only get sorta close. However, there's this place called the Sunset Ranch. They do horseback riding. One option is to do that (and you can see the sign from the trail; they claim to lead you as close as legally allowed to the sign). Or, you can just walk along the trail and do it in one of the clearings. Only downside is the horse and doggie poop along the way.

My two plans that I'm debating are either the Getty Center (prolly in the middle of the garden or at that one spot that overlooks the city) or there's a hiking trail in Topanga Canyon that leads to a clearing overlooking the water.

 

[Superidealist]

Off Mulholland Drive (not too far from where you will be staying) is a series of tiny overlook parks where you can stop to admire the view. If you have time for only one, good news! The best (in my opinion) is closest to you. It has a great view of the city, Hollywood Bowl, and the Hollywood sign. The parks are open sunrise to sunset and you may have some company unless you bring along someone to run interference for you but I think they would be perfect.

 

[codex57]

Thank you so much SuperIdealist! I proposed at the Hollywood Bowl Outlook. Absolutely gorgeous view. It was such a clear day today. Unfortunately, she got home late so I missed sunset. But, the night view was absolutely stunning too. It''s like a 360 degree view too. I think you can see Thousand Oaks/Calabasas area (I think) behind that view.

 

[Superidealist]

Congratulations. May you have a long and happy life together.

 

[defcon]

Thank you everyone for your very helpful input.
Wish me good luck.
I''m off on the flight today !!

 

[codex57]

Good luck! I''m sure there''ll be good news to report when you get back.