I am not a lover of museums, but had to go out somewhere on the weekend.

I had heard from friends about the Getty Center. This was about 30 miles south from our place. By God’s grace, the weather was excellent and the traffic was very favorable. We reached Getty Center in about 30 mins.

The only charge you will pay when you visit, is the parking that is $8. Admission was FREE.  After parking, a tram takes you to the center. This is an inclined tram and you will be able to get a good view of the I-405 interstate highway.

As soon as we arrived, we went to a Garden tour where a guide would take a group around the garden in the Getty Center. This was my favorite part as we could enjoy the flowers, plants, - the beauty of the garden. By the end of the tour, we were hungry and had food from the restaurant. None of us enjoyed the food here. And as is the case with such locations, there is not much option and we had to eat this paying much more than its worth. After this, we visited the museum for photography, paintings etc. This was fun too. But I did not spend much time here. We took many photos and video shots from the Getty center.

Some suggestions if you want to visit:

• Choose a day when the weather is good and sky is clear.
• Dont take a tripod as it is not allowed inside the museum.
• Take food with you (check their website to see if its allowed).
• There are umbrellas available in bins at several locations that can be used for your visit.
• Plan about 4-5 hours or even more if you love art work, sculptures and photography.

Here is their website:

http://www.getty.edu/visit/

1 - Pulicat Lake

This is a very large water body at the border of Tamil Nadu and Andhra. Its off NH-5 (highway from Chennai-Nellore-Kolkota). We visited there once and it was a beautiful experience. The highway is very well laid and you can travel in speeds of 90-100Km/hr easily. There are very good scenic views on the journey (like good greenery, paddy fields etc). We reached a fishing village which lived on the banks of this huge lake. People there were simple and friendly. We paid about Rs.100 to a fisher man and he took us around the lake (ofcourse we did not cover the whole lake, its huge).

People in chennai - this is a good place to visit - definitely a change from the usual Spencers, Besant Nagar etc.

For more information see the Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulicat_Lake

2 - Muttukadu

This is a scenic stretch of backwaters on the road from Chennai to Pondicherry (on the East Coast Road) about 90Kms from Chennai. The drive is very pleasant as they ECR (East Coast Road) is very smooth.

There are boating rides available - speed boats and usual motor boats. We tried the speed boat and it was excellent. Its a little costly (I guess around Rs.250). Its a short ride, but they do all kinds of tricks with the boat and you will enjoy the ride. They asked us if we wanted to go to the sea for an additional Rs.100, we didnt opt for that. Its a decent place to relax around Chennai.

The below link from Hindu had more details:
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/07/24/stories/2004072400240100.htm
(dont know when this link will expire)