Sober(ish) Bachelor Party in So Cal. I need help generating awesome ideas.

December 28, 2009 9:07 AM

Sober(ish) Bachelor Party in So Cal. I need help generating awesome ideas.

So I've been charged with the task of planning the Bachelor Party weekend for a great friend in late March/Early April 2010. He lives in San Diego, and most of the attendees will be coming from SD/Orange County/LA, and there will be 10-15 of us. Now let me throw in a little twist: the Groom does not drink, is a vegetarian, and doesn't want strippers. He doesn't mind if other attendees drink or eat meat, but those things shouldn't be central themes of the party. The weekend could be anywhere within a few hours drive of SoCal...so what should we do?

I'm looking for specific recommendations of places to go and things to do, beyond what has already been mentioned on MeFi. Let me seed the discussion with some of my general ideas:

* LA weekend: Laker Game, Golf, Other things
* Caravan to Mexico (I'm not sure about any of the details of this though. If you have any insights please share.)
* Rent a house boat somewhere for the weekend + Jet Skiing (Again, not sure about the details of this)

What are your ideas, MeFites? Feel free to work with the themes above, or totally different ones. I also wouldn't mind hearing general awesome bachelor party experiences...

posted by josh.ev9 to Travel & Transportation around California (5 answers total)

Pretend you're teenagers again, if you can't drink have fun like you used to before you drank. Go-Karts are a lot of fun, maybe you could find one of those family fun centers that have Go-Karts and actually rent time so that you guys are the only ones on
the track. If you look you might also find a place with laser tag.

Roller Coasters are another idea. Isn't there a Six Flags near L.A.?

I've been to Tijuana, and I don't recommend it if you don't drink. It was filthy dirty, there were no "sights" to see, it was mostly just bars and strip joints. From what I've been told you'd have to drive hours and hours into Mexico to find the nice stuff.
posted by TooFewShoes at 10:41 AM on December 28, 2009

my brother, who lives in san fran but used to live in laguna beach, has organized boy's weekends at the race track--as drivers, not as spectators. something like this. it's expensive, and won't fill up an entire weekend, but if your friends have a need for speed, this could be the bachelor party of a lifetime.
posted by msconduct at 10:49 AM on December 28, 2009

If you're planning a weekend in LA, then you should definitely go to Bazaar, Jose Andres' new restaurant in the SLS. It's awesome food, and sorta an event, especially if you do the chef's tasting room, which I'm pretty sure they can do vegetarian for some members of your party if you call ahead. It would be big and celebratory without being too booze focused.
posted by mercredi at 12:08 PM on December 28, 2009

I think the "teenagers" idea isn't too far off the mark. The following are San Diego ideas:

I haven't been, but coworkers love the Miramar Speed Circuit go kart track.

Dave and Buster's would be a great place to spend some time. It's the perfect place to have a few drinks while playing video games, while not at all requiring the drinking part. A grown-up video arcade.

As for golf, Torrey Pines is supposed to be a great course. If you like disc golf, there's a course at Morley Field.

I don't think I'd go to Mexico for the reasons mentioned above, and of course the recent violence. The touristy stuff is pretty much strippers and drinking in TJ at least. I have no doubt there are lots of other attractions--but I don't know what they are (except for surfing, which I assume you would have mentioned).

Some people like to go camping for their party; you might consider that.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 1:49 PM on December 28, 2009

Maybe an ethnic restaurant, like LA's Dar Magreb? Vegetarian food, and belly dancers, not strippers. Exotic, yummy, fun!

Or a Greek or Russian restaurant where they do all the crazy dancing?

The idea I suppose is to do something the man won't be able to do once he's married.... driving fast and crazy sounds great, spending time with the guys, doing guy sports...

Bungee? Parasailing? Surfsailing? Lion taming?
posted by Jinx of the 2nd Law at 8:32 PM on December 28, 2009