California.....
 

Im in California for the next little while, Visiting the following cities,
San Fran
San Diego
Catalina
Santa Barbara
Any recommendations or stops one should make?
The kids are with my mom and dad, so anything is fair game.
I have never been to any of these cities before, so please, any of you that have been, let me know what is a must see.....
Thanks,
Bob

I assume your talking fish related?

Long Beach http://www.aquariumofpacific.org
San Diego http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld...s?from=Top_Nav

Sure, or whatever. Im not a spring chicken anymore, so anything relaxing is cool.
I was looking at San Diego sea world, $78 just to get through the gates though.
Have you been? is it worth the cash?

I love San Diego! Both sea world and the zoo are worth it! We spent an hour just watching the penguins at sea world! Check out old town as well, cool little market!

Venice beach is a must see if you've never been.

San Fran, pier 49, golden gate bridge and china town are a must. if you are driving and have time, take the coast highway from la to San Fran! It is an amazingly scary beautiful drive with tons of places to stop, red woods, whale watching, elephant seals and tidal pools. Give yourself a day tho, it'll take you at least 10 hours, winding highway over coastal mountains!

I haven't been to Santa Barbara since I was a kid.....

We took our kids to california almost 6 years ago and all our fave parts were not the theme parks except as noted, but 6 flags magic mountain I would hit in a heartbeat!

As far a fish stuff Birch aquarium is amazing. It a little north of San Diego in La Jolla. I love sea world, the zoo is great and the the safari park. There is also the sea life park at Lego land.
If you like rides Knotts berry farm has great rides and six flags magic mountain is wicked for coasters. There is so much to see there. I know socal almost as good as e-town.

I've never been to Monterey Bay aquarium but it's on my bucket list.

Thanks, have a bit planned here already, golden gate for sure as well as Alcatraz. I know its totally falling apart, but I've always wanted to see it.
Thats the problem, to much to see, and so little time.

Ill be giving you a shout it I find myself wondering what to do next. Its the first trip in 18 years with no kids or plans. Its always been a conference or work or something. I may just find a nice corner pub and relax for the day........
At any rate, Ill post some pics of where I went and what went down.

I haven't been but I would love to see the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco. I think there's more than just an aquarium as well. http://www.calacademy.org/academy/exhibits/aquarium/

They were able to lure Delbeek away from the Waikiki Aquarium to work there instead, anything that can pull a Canadian working at an aquarium in Hawaii has to be pretty impressive. Of course, I base that only on what it would be if it were me. Maybe the dude got tired of living in Hawaii. ("Oh! These mangoes are entirely too sweet. And don't get me started on the guava juice. And if I have to look at one more palm tree .... I swear I'll .....") ... Anyhow. I digress. Moving on.

San Fran strikes me a place you could probably spend a week just looking at things. I've never been. Need to change that. Well, not technically true, I have been, but just passing through on my way to Monterey Bay. In 2004 on a whim we just went to Monterey Bay because they had a great white shark on display. How cool is that!

Monterey Bay Aquarium in .. wouldn't you know it .. Monterey Bay, just south of San Fran, is IMO def worth a visit. Pretty area too. Pebble Beach golf course is nearby if you're into that sort of thing. We just drove by and said "Oh, so that's Pebble Beach golf course. How interesting").

In Long Beach (L.A. area) is the Long Beach Aquarium. Maybe the nicest aquarium I've ever been to. However it bears mentioning I haven't been there in a long time so maybe things have changed. I can't see it getting less nice, mind you.

Another thing I'd love to try one day is the Getty Museum (L.A. area).

La Brea Tar Pits are worth a visit if you're into dinosaur bones and stuff. Neat neat stuff. And the tar is still oozing out of the ground in places. And people think the oilsands are dirty.

Catalina ... oh, I would love to see Catalina. Jealous..

Are you guys driving down or flying in and then doing some driving? How much time do you have down there?

For just relaxing, San Fran and the area has wicked food. Nothing beats being on a holiday, just chilling out, drinking a beer and having good food. The list of good places to go is way to long to list but google some of the hidden/hole in the wall places and give them a go. You won't be disappointed. My favorite place was Tartine.

In San Fran, Fishermans Wharf is a must, the Presidio is cool as well.