Expert: Steve Summers - 4/1/2011

Question
QUESTION: My flight arrives at LAX at about 4:15 p.m. and I will be heading to San Diego.  Should I stay in LA and have dinner etc and then head to San Diego later that evening about 7:00 p.m. to avoid the traffic.  or should I just drive straight to San Diego and how long will it take about tow hours?  Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Tory,

By the time you get out of the airport, you will be right in the middle of evening rush. Traffic, especially on the 405, is miserable.

My advice would be to wait it out in Marina Del Rey, which is close by. You can find a nice restaurant there using yelp.com, and relax. It's about 140 miles, which will take 2.5 hours if you are lucky. Take your time, and check sigalert.com before you leave to go south.

If you just want a little fast food, turn left on Sepulveda Blvd and look for In N Out Burger. It's right under the flight path of the planes, so you can have a burger and watch planes land.

Have fun!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your help.  Is there an Olive Garden and a Trader Joe's near by?  We are from Hawaii and love Olive Garden and Trader Joe's.  But the in and out burger sounds really good too.

Answer
Hi Tory,

The neares Olive Garden is in Manhattan Beach, about 3 miles south of the airport. It's in the Manhattan Village Shopping Center, on the corner of Marine and Sepulveda. Just turn right (south) on Sepulveda when exiting the airport, and it's on the left side. There's also a California Pizza Kitchen there, too.

The nearest TJ's is also in the area. Not sure of their hours, so you might want to go there first. Go south on Sepulveda Blvd, then turn left on Rosecrans (right at the beginning of the Manhattan Village Shopping Center. Go about a mile, and Trader Joe's is on the right, 1800 Rosecrans Ave. It's in a shopping center, but you can't miss it because it's right out front.

Quickest way back to Olive Garden is to go right on Rosecrans, right on Aviation, then right on Marine. Three right turns is a lot easier than 3 left turns, especially in this part of town.

There are a lot of good restaurants here, such as PF Chang's, Fleming's Steakhouse, Romano's Macaroni Grill. That may be the hardest part of your trip: Deciding where to eat!

Enjoy!