Okay, so Jason & I are moving to San Diego at the end of the summer & I want to do a lot of fun & unique things here that only LA has to offer before we're not around it every day. We've been to places like the Museum of Jurassic Technology & have gone to a movie premiere (Snakes on a Plane - help me), I've eaten at Musso & Frank's (squab - probably came fresh from Hollywood Blvd itself!), the Magic Castle (thanks MaryBeth!), Canter's Deli, La Brea Tar Pits, we've already ate at Cliftons and we've seen the Bradbury building.
Any suggestions on what goodies to check out before hitching out? I'm going to post a list here of things we're doing & if you already know one of us personally & will be in town sometime before Sept., come & join us on LA fun time.
So far, here's what I've got:
~I'd like to get any pictures in front of what's left of any LA fantasy architecture. Anyone know of fantasy buildings?
~See the camera obscura in SM
~If anybody wants to go the Banana Museum by Altadena, let's go! ($5 + by appt. only.)
~Maybe see Catalina Island ($$). The plan is a 2 day/1 night trip. Ferry over in the morning to Avalon, and set up camp. There are some beautiful campgrounds that are isolated around Catalina, but I think I'd like to stay at the one in Avalon, Hermit Gulch. They have showers & flush toilets, so it's not exactly roughing it & you can do bonfires. Then a very long hike across the island to see the roaming buffalo they have there. That night, catch a film at the famous & very beautiful art deco theatre, the Avalon. (Not the most creative name.) There's also a casino above it. The next day, trek to Wrigley Botanical Garden that has hundreds of plants, some of which are only native to Catalina Island. Then probably bum on the beach until it's time for the ferry home. There's also shopping & spa stuff for people interested in that. My estimate is between the ferry, camping, movie, garden entry & food, it'll be just a bit over $200 for a couple. Not a bad price, but we'll probably have to wait until the summer of 2008. Oh! And there's now a ferry that leaves Marina del Rey, so you don't have to drive all the way to Long Beach or San Pedro.
Planned Days! (listed in order of occurance)
~Hollywood Forever Cemetary
Some of you know they show movies there in the spring to fall & they're showing, Harold & Maude on Sat., June 9th. Well, now it's Rebel w/o a Cause on Sat., June 16. Okay, really I'm not a flake. We WILL make it to a Hollywood Forever movie showing. But I have TWO different friends bands playing at the Blue Star Cafe on Sat. & it's a total of 8 bands, free show, $2 beers & BBQ. Who can pass that up? But there's a movie at HF cemetary every Sat. night for the rest of the summer, so we'll make one. ($10 donation, gates open at 7:30pm, but from experience, get there at least a half hour early.) Bring a picnic & your own bottle opener & blanket. Blah blah blah. Go to the Cinespia website for more info, dearies.
~Griffith Park Day!
Okay, I have a whole day planned around Sat., June 23rd in Griffith Park.
First a morning hike to the Hollywood sign. We're not talking 6am, shmaybe 9am. From what I've read about this hike, it's fairly easy & short. About 3 miles round trip. Then either a drive or hike (this would be a longer, but only easy/moderate hike) to Forest Lawn Memorial Park. (The one in Glendale, not the one in the Hollywood Hills). This is a giant cemetary w/ over 1500 statues including many remakes of famous artworks. Then down the road for lunch & to the Museum of the Southwest. ($9) Then from the zoo, we're going to catch a shuttle to the Griffith Park Observatory. ($8) The cool thing is that once a month they do a Public Stars Party, which is a day where from 2pm - 10pm they have a bunch a telescopes that the public can use. This is that day!! Reservations required. We're going to make ours for taking the shuttle from the zoo at about 5pm. Anyone is welcomed to join us for part of this day or the whole day.
~Exploring, Mason, & Mulholland Dr. Day
Maybe on June 30th. This includes a hike at Stoney Point in Topanga Cyn., then a visit to the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple & American Heritage Masonic Museum & then driving Muholland Dr. and night photography.
~South Bay to Downtown Day!
This is another day planned around Sat., July 7th. The day starts off, maybe around 8am, at the South Coast Botanical Gardens. ($7) What's amazing about this place is a 100 years ago is was an open mine and then it became a dump. Now it's an 87 acre garden w/ over 2000 types of plants, located at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd, in Palos Verdes. Then we're going to Inglewood to get a late breakfast at Randy's Donuts, 805 W. Manchester Ave. This is one of the remaining fantasy architecture buildings, as it's the shape of a giant donut. Fixed up on sugar, the next stop is Watts Tower at 1765 E 107th St. So the Museum of Neon Art is currently closed while it tries to find a new home. They do these great 3 hour double-decker bus tours showcasing the remaining fabulous neon structures of LA every Sat. night, but it's $45 a pop and $90 for the pair of us isn't quite doable right now. So instead, we're going to see the show they curated at the California Science Center. After that we're going to Angels Flight (no apostrophe) in downtown, located on Hill St, between 3rd & 4th. It's supposed to re-open this summer, but who knows when. I definitely won't be one of the first to ride it. Still, it's graced the city for about 106 years now, so it's something neat and kind of freaky to see. After that it's the Pacific Dining Car in downtown. This is a POSH restaurant where a four course dinner for one w/ wine can easily run $150. We'll do just desert & coffee, thank you. What makes this place different from other fancy schmancy restaurants is it's located in an old train box car, in the middle of a parking lot on 6th St. (@Witmer) in downtown, is open 24 hours a day every day of the year and it's been around since 1921.
~Parade of the Chariots - Sun., Aug. 5th starts at 10am at the Santa Monica Civic auditorium and then parades down to Venice ocean walk. Free food & entertainment.
This is do-able in 3 months, right? Stuff will be taken off the list as it's done & other stuff will be added as suggested if we're interested.
PS. The book that I'm reading is quite good - I bought in in San Francisco, before we moved to LA. But if you get it, beware - some of the establishments & such in it have closed since it's publication. : (
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