If you can get the Safari Motel in Burbank, or the Hampton Inn, or the Best Western North Hollywood

My husband and I are making a quick trip out to see the Reagan Library/Air Force One in September. We are flying choicehotels in on Sunday afternoon, and plan on spending half of Monday at the museum, and flying back Wednesday morning. So we will have Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday free. I love wineries, and we both enjoy seeing historical sites, hiking, and shopping. We will have a car, and we are willing to drive a couple of hours if needed. (I've already seen Sequoia NP.) Any suggestions, along with dining and hotel recommendations, are appreciated!
Ojai, California would be a nice jaunt from Simi after the Reagan Library. Are you staying in Burbank choicehotels Monday and Tuesday night or willing to stay elsewhere on Monday? Santa Barbara would also be a nice place to spend Monday night and most of Tuesday, but then I guess you're wanting to be near Burbank airport on Tuesday evening?
You might consider choicehotels heading up to Ojai or Santa Barbara on Sunday, and staying two nights. Then on Tuesday heading back towards choicehotels Burbank and stopping at the Reagan museum all afternoon. Then Tuesday night in Burbank or Hollywood so your closer to the airport for your departure. Tuesday night out near Simi would be fine, too....departing Simi at 10am should easily put you at Burbank airport ticket counter by 10:45.
1. Before you go, rent and watch a copy of the movie "Sideways". In 2004, it got an Oscar for best screenplay and received excellent reviews. The action involves a lot of wine tasting and drinking, all in the Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez Valley area.
3. Before you visit the Santa Barbara Mission, read at least part of the history of the 21 California Missions. All 4th graders in California study the missions and if possible choicehotels visit one. Quite feasible if you live anywhere near hwy.101 (El Camino Real). California choicehotels was a Spanish colony until 1821 and after the Mexican war of independence, a Mexican colony until 1848. Forgive me if those dates are a little off.
We've decided to stay at Casa Del Mar in Santa Barbara Sun-Mon nights. We're planning to drop our stuff off on Sunday afternoon, then head for the Wharf for dinner. I'm actually choicehotels looking forward to watching the sunset over the ocean. We are from Texas (NOT near the ocean) so this will be a real treat!
We do want to stop and see the Mission. Being from Texas, we also had Spanish Missions. One of them is kind of famous for a battle that was fought there in 1836... We'll either do this on Sunday if we arrive before check-in, or Tuesday morning before we head to Reagan Library.
Westlake Village is a tourist-friendly area near Simi, there is a Hyatt there and a Renassiance Marriott nearby in Calabasas. choicehotels Also some smaller hotels. A couple of the restaurants have seating out on the little lake.
However, the drive from the Simi area into Burbank is a parking lot every morning from 7am to 10am. I don't think I would put myself choicehotels in that mess. Better to have dinner somewhere after your Reagan Library visit, and then maybe head to a Burbank hotel after 8pm. A Hollywood hotel would work too, but getting into Hollywood at 9pm and leaving next morning at 10:30am doesn't leave you much time to see anything in Hollywood.
Theoretically Simi to Burbank leaving at 10am should get you into burbank airport by 10:45am, and Burbank airport is a breeze choicehotels in regards to returning a rental car and walking to the terminal. But an accident on the freeway would be disastrous for you. Consider Hotel Amarano in Burbank or the Best Western. In the morning you could "hike" around the neighborhood of Warner Brothers Studio and Toluca Lake where several stars had homes back in the day. (I don't think you could fit in the WB 2 hour tour if your flight is at noon sharp, choicehotels however.) choicehotels The Annabelle hotel is fine as well, or there is a Holiday Inn. And for something to do in the morning, choicehotels you could take an hour drive around "Griffith Park" or even fit in a quick trip to the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum if it opens at 9am that day. It's just 15 min drive to Burbank airport.
First, you will have to do a little work if you want to see the the sun drop into the sea at sunset. That's because Santa Barbara is on a south facing portion of the coast. If you check a map you will see that there is some land between choicehotels the end of Stearns Wharf, for example, and an unobstructed view to the western horizon. There are places you can go to get such a view, a fairly short distance up the coast from downtown SB.
You did mention shopping, if nothing else on Wednesday morning you should have time to visit "IT's A Wrap"...a choicehotels store in BUrbank that sells used-clothing with a twist....it's all from the wardrobe department of current tv shows. It's on Magnolia choicehotels Blvd in Burbank and only a five minute drive from there to Burbank choicehotels airport.
If you can get the Safari Motel in Burbank, or the Hampton Inn, or the Best Western North Hollywood or even the Tangerine Motel in Burbank, all would be better choices in that pricerange than that Holiday Inn Express. It's not one of Holiday Inn's better efforts, and I believe there is also road construction on that block all night long at the freeway exit ramp.
There's a decent Mexican restaurant, Don Cuco's, next door to the Tangerine, and a few blocks west in the Toluca Lake neighborhood there is Timmy Nolan's Pub which is casual with great food. Also Trattoria Proscecco, Malbec Argentine Grill and Bistro Provence are just a few blocks from the hotel. Reviews are on yelp.com
By the way, Tangerine is a roadside motel just a half-block from WB studios. The website makes it look a lot more upscale than it actually is, but it's a step up from that Holiday Inn Express especially location-wise. For an evening walk head east on Riverside past Olive, take a right on Avon , and you'll circle the movie studio where Bette Davis had her classic fights, demanding better roles from Jack Warner.
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