Wanderlust Traveler: Los Angeles (Sightseeing)

Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier.

Over the last two years I have traveled to Los Angeles on three separate occasions. The first visit was for Shyawn's cousin's wedding in October 2011, the second was a girls trip with my mom and sister in July 2012, and the most recent was a trip that Shyawn and I took together in May 2013. Shyawn has several family members that live throughout Los Angeles so I know it is a place that we will visit frequently throughout our lifetime. Over the course of these three trips I have visited many wonderful sights, all of which will be described below:

Santa Monica
Griffith Observatory
Getty Center
Venice Beach
Hollywood Farmer's Market
Hollywood
Mulholland Drive
La Brea Tar Pits
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Pasadena
The Gamble House
Huntington Beach
Disneyland
Six Flags Magic Mountain

Additionally, I also have an entry on the many restaurants I've eaten at in Los Angeles here.

Santa Monica:
The lovely town of Santa Monica is one of my favorite cities in Los Angeles. It is clean, walkable, alluring, charming, offers plenty of choices for restaurants, and is located close to the ocean. I love how its streets are filled with a seamless mixture of old and new architecture. In addition to its quaint downtown area, which holds a great farmer's market on both Wednesday and Saturday mornings, Santa Monica also offers visitors a beautiful beach and the ever-popular Santa Monica Pier. The 3.5 miles of wide and expansive beaches in Santa Monica are some of the best in the area for both visitors and locals alike and offers tons of activities including biking, volleyball, surfing, fishing, as well as the obvious swimming. The Santa Monica Pier should be on every visitor's itinerary as it offers something for nearly everyone: an amusement park, shopping, eating, drinking, and great opportunities for people watching.

Santa Monica

Santa Monica Pier

View of the beach from Santa Monica Pier.

Santa Monica Pier

Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier.

Santa Monica Pier

Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier.

My mom enjoying Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier.

Pacific Park on Santa Monica Pier.

Santa Monica Beach as viewed from Santa Monica Pier.

Santa Monica

Santa Monica Beach

Griffith Observatory:
One of the most famous landmarks in LA, the Griffith Observatory, was completed in 1935 and is located on a hillside of Griffith Park. From the rooftop deck visitors are provided with some of the most amazing sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and even the Pacific Ocean. We arrived in the late afternoon specifically so we could avoid the crowds that tend to visit earlier in the day. After enjoying the beautiful views we headed inside the observatory and checked out a few of their science and space-related exhibits, including the Foucault pendulum. On a future visit I would love to come back to photograph the views during sunset.

Griffith Observatory

Visitors admiring the Foucault pendulum at the Griffith Observatory.

Griffith Observatory

Shyawn enjoying the views from Griffith Observatory.

Griffith Observatory

View of Los Angeles from the Griffith Observatory.

Getty Center:
An impressive combination of a stellar museum, gorgeous gardens, dramatic architecture, and incredible views, the Getty Center should be on every visitor's must see list on even the shortest trip to Los Angeles. Founded by oilman J. Paul Getty, the center was completed in 1997 at a whopping cost of 1.3 billion dollars. Although the museum's permanent collection contains art ranging from the 17th to 20th centuries, what I found most impressive was the magnificent central garden. We had limited time at the Getty Center during our visit so we quickly breezed through the exhibits before making our way outside where we spent the majority of our time. Although I had read numerous raving reviews for the Getty Center, even I was quite shocked with how amazing the gardens, views, and architecture were. Even more surprising was the fact that there is no entrance fee and visitors are only required to pay for parking.

Getty Center

Art gallery at the Getty Center.

Getty Center

View from the Getty Center.

Getty Center

Venice Beach:
One of the most popular beaches in Los Angeles, Venice is famous for its boardwalk and muscle beach where visitors can watch body builders work out. The beach and neighboring boardwalk have a very laid back but funky vibe with constant action and interesting characters that one could spend hours watching. The beach here is pretty but no where near as nice as it is up in Santa Monica or down at Huntington Beach. I'd recommend coming here specifically for the people watching, the action, and shopping opportunities along the boardwalk but not necessarily to spend a day lying around its beach.

Venice Beach

Hollywood Farmer's Market:
While visiting LA with my mom and sister, we planned on visiting the farmer's market in Santa Monica. Unfortunately, horrible traffic prevented us from arriving prior to closing so instead we decided to check out the Hollywood Farmer's Market the following day. This massive outdoor market is open every Sunday from 8 AM to 1 PM and offers shoppers fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, baked goods, juices, cheeses, meats, honey, etc as well as clothes, jewelry and other gifts. We were all extremely impressed with not only the number of vendors, but the quality of products that they were selling. I've been to many farmer's markets over the years, but this one is definitely one of the best I've ever been to.

Hollywood Farmer's Market

Delicious Blood Orange Pound Cake from Valerie Confections at Hollywood Farmer's Market

Hollywood Boulevard and the Walk of Fame:
One of the most famous neighborhoods in all of LA, Hollywood is a fun place for visitors to spend a few hours exploring. Everyone should make sure to walk down Hollywood Boulevard, where one will find hundreds of the pink marble stars along the sidewalk. Other popular sites to visit include Grauman's Chinese Theatre and its famous celebrity hand and footprints as well as the Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre), home to the Academy Awards. The interior of both of the theaters can be visited via a guided tour which I would like to take advantage of on a future visit to LA.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Pink marble star along Hollywood Boulevard.

Mulholland Drive:
This famous 24 mile road curves through the eastern portion of the Santa Monica Mountains providing amazing panoramic views of Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles, and the San Fernando Valley. Along the way visitors will find hundreds of mansions, many of which belong to celebrities. During our drive we stopped in at Runyon Canyon, a very popular 130 acre park for locals to go running and hiking. We drove the road ourselves though it seemed as the majority of visitors see Mulholland drive from the seat of a tour bus. In hindsight, we too wished that we had done the same as it would have enabled us to take in the sights at a more leisurely pace plus I am sure we would have learned quite a bit about the area. My only other regret was that we completed the drive in the early afternoon when the light was quite harsh and wished that we had instead gone during the early morning or late afternoon hours when the light was softer.

Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive as viewed from Runyon Canyon.

A view of the Hollywood sign from Mulholland Drive.

La Brea Tar Pits:
Located in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles, this group of tar pits is quite unique and one of the most famous fossil localities in the world. From these pits scientists have unearthed some of the largest collections of extinct ice age animal skeletons and plant species. Tar has been seeping up from the ground in this area of LA for tens of thousands of years, trapping thousands of animals for preservation. Some of these pits are still being excavated today and visitors can stop by and see the action in progress. Additionally, the neighboring Page Museum offers comprehensive information about the history of the tar pits, as well as some of the skeletons from the animals that have been excavated. I found the museum to be quite informative and interesting but thought the tar pits were a bit too smelly. My favorite part of the museum was the peaceful and lushly green Atrium, which is located in the center courtyard of the museum.

Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Atrium at the Page Museum.

Rooftop of the Atrium at the Page Museum.

La Brea Tar Pits

The beautiful grounds of the La Brea Tar Pits.

Excavation in progress at the La Brea Tar Pits.

La Brea Tar Pits

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens:
Located in the town of San Marino adjacent to Pasadena, The Huntington was founded by Henry E. Huntington in 1919 as an education and research institution that focuses on three main areas: Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens. My main motivation for visiting the Huntington was to experience its renowned 120 acres of gardens, which I had heard about for years. The gardens showcase plants and flowers from around the world and are divided into more than a dozen different sections including the Desert Garden, Japanese Garden, Lilly Ponds, and Chinese Garden, just to name a few. As you can imagine, the grounds are incredibly massive and truly deserve a minimum of one full day, if not more. Unfortunately we only had 1/2 of a day to visit, so we were rather rushed and didn't get to see everything. Please note: I found the gardens to be immensely photogenic so there are quite a large number of photos displayed below.

The Huntington Library

Entrance to The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

The Huntington Botanical Gardens.

My mom., sister and I at The Huntington Botanical Gardens.

The Huntington Botanical Gardens.

The Huntington Art Collections.

The Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Pasadena:
A pleasant city located northeast of downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena is a wonderful place to simply stroll its quaint and beautifully restored downtown area or to visit one of its many museums or historical homes, including the Gamble House which will be described next. Downtown Pasadena has plenty of shopping opportunities to keep oneself occupied for quite some time. It reminded me very much of the downtown area of Santa Monica.

Downtown Pasadena

The Gamble House:
Located in the city of Pasadena, this historic home is a Historic National Landmark and was completed in 1908 for David B. Gamble, of the Procter and Gamble Company. The bungalow style home was designed by the brothers of the Greene and Greene architectural firm and is considered by many to be a masterpiece of the Arts and Crafts architecture. Some may recognize the home from the movie Back to the Future as it was the mansion of Dr. Emmett Brown. Tours of the interior of the home must be booked in advance as they are limited and often sell out. Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the interior of the home but I can assure you that it was quite beautiful and unique, with lots of gorgeous wood used on nearly every surface including teak, maple, mahogany, cedar, and oak.

The Gamble House

Shyawn enjoying the views from The Gamble House.

The Gamble House

View from the top floor of The Gamble House.

View from the top floor of the Gamble House.

The Gamble House

Huntington Beach:
Located in Orange County, Huntington Beach is one of my all time favorite beaches in Southern California. It epitomizes what one imagines when they think of a California beach: gorgeous golden hued sand covering a wide and expansive beach, beautiful blue ocean waters offering great surfing opportunities, great beach culture, all backed by tall palm trees and bright sunny blue skies. The beach here is clean, great for families, and makes a perfect day-trip for those staying in or near Anaheim.

Huntington Beach

Disneyland:
The quintessential stop for any first time visitor to Los Angeles, Disneyland is a great place to spend a day or even several days, depending on your love of amusement parks and of the Disney brand. I've been to Disneyland on several occasions throughout my life and while I definitely find it to be the best theme park I've ever visited, it's not a place I'd enjoy spending more than just a day at. As most of you probably know, Disneyland is located south of Los Angeles in the town of Anaheim in Orange County. Due to its distance from Los Angeles, if you are planning on spending at least a full day in the park I highly recommend that you stay overnight at a hotel in Anaheim. Everyone has opinions on what their favorite rides or lands are within the park, but my personal favorites inside Disneyland Park include New Orleans Square, Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Indian Jones Adventure ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride, and Main Street USA. Within Disney California Adventure Park, I enjoy Radiator Springs Racers ride, Soarin' Over California ride, Grizzly River Run ride, and Buena Vista Street.

Colin, my mom, my sister Kimberly, and I at Disneyland.

Disneyland

Yummy Dole Pineapple Whip from the Tiki Juice Bar at Disneyland.

Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland.

Splash Mountain at Disneyland.

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

Mark Twain Riverboat at Disneyland.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disneyland.

Main Street, U.S.A at Disneyland.

Disney California Adventure Park.

Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure Park.

Pacific Wharf at Disney California Adventure Park.

Frozen treat from Ghiradelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop at Disney California Adventure Park.

Pacific Wharf at Disney California Adventure Theme Park.

Disney California Adventure Theme Park

Our friend Colin's brick at Disneyland.

Disneyland

Main Street, U.S.A at Disneyland.

New Orleans Square at Disneyland.

During our visit we ate dinner at Cafe Orleans, located in New Orleans Square. We made reservations in advance and had outdoor seating, which I would recommend if the weather is nice as we had a wonderful view of the square. For appetizers, we ordered the French Onion Soup as well as the Pommes Frites. The soup was good, but definitely nothing spectacular. The fries were better, but certainly not the best fries I have ever eaten. For our main entrees two of us ordered the Mardis Gras Chicken Sandwich while the other two ordered the famous Three-Cheese Monte Cristo Sandwich. The chicken sandwich was OK but not something I would order again. However, we all enjoyed the monte cristo sandwich which was more than enough food for two people to split. I had wanted to save enough room to order some of the Mickey-shaped Beignets for dessert but unfortunately I was too full once dinner was over.

Cafe Orleans Restaurant in New Orleans Square at Disneyland.

French Onion Soup at Cafe Orleans in Disneyland.

Pommes Frites at Cafe Orleans in Disneyland.

Mardi Gras Chicken Sandwich at Cafe Orleans in Disneyland.

Three-Cheese Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans in Disneyland.

Six Flags Magic Mountain:
Much unlike myself, Shyawn loves amusement parks, more specifically crazy roller coasters. As a result, he insisted that we visit Six Flags Magic Mountain, located in Valencia which is north of Los Angeles. While I am not necessarily the biggest fan of Disneyland, I know that I am physically able to experience any of the rides at the park and not suffer from motion sickness. Unfortunately, knowing that Six Flags Magic Mountain is famous for holding the title of amusement park with the most roller coasters in the world (17 but soon to be 18) I was quite nervous for our visit. We arrived about 30 minutes after opening on a Saturday morning and thankfully it was surprisingly quiet in the park. I had taken all necessary precautions to prevent my motion sickness from occurring by taking Dramamine prior to our arrival. Shyawn took us immediately to a roller coaster called Goliath, which takes you up 26 stories and then plunges nearly straight down at 85 MPH. The ride was fun but I ended up walking off feeling absolutely sick to my stomach. It didn't seem to matter how much Sprite I drank the rest of the day; I just felt terrible. As a result, I wasn't able to go on anymore of the crazy roller coasters. However, I did enjoy SUPERMAN: Escape from Krypton, Ninja, Gold Rusher, and Apocalypse. Six Flags Magic Mountain is the perfect place for thrill seekers to go, but I don't think I will be running back anytime soon.