Vacations Blog

Not one but two Saturdays in a row will find the Grove in Los Angeles transformed into a Polynesian paradise with free activities and entertainment to make you extra bummed out that you are not currently in Hawaii at that very moment.  Think hula lessons.  Fake pictures of yourself in island settings.  Food,  trinkets, and a handy travel specialist who can help you get from Los Angeles to the islands, easy peasey.  You can also enter a contest to win a trip for four to the Aloha State.

Even the “famous” singing fountain (a la the dancing waters at the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas) will be transformed into a Hawaii-themed attraction every half-hour.  Each special evening will feature a Hawaii themed movie as well.  The special event will start at 11:30 AM and run until 10:00 PM on Saturdays, September 12 and 19.

[photo:  rfirman on stock.xchng]

Hymn of Life:  Tulips (photo courtesy of Beverly Hills.org)

On July 11 For Your Art, a local art collective website, will host their first annual Public Art Party, which is a self-guided walking tour of Beverly Hills that takes you to installations of art by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.  Local businesses have joined the party – the map starts you off at the restaurant Porta Via so you can pick up a boxed lunch.  Then you’re on to Hymn of Life: Tulips at the junction of Santa Monica Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, where the party really gets started.  “Around the sculpture there will be face-painting and digital portraits taken– reading, knitting, hoola hooping and yoga are also encouraged.”

It’s LA, after all.

Other stops on the tour include short films at The Paley Center for Media and an exhibit of Kusama’s work at Gagosian Gallery.  To top it off, stop by CRUMBS for a special Kusama-inspired cupcake.

It’s not true that nobody walks in L.A.  Sure, the city is spread out over an area bigger than some small states, but best way to see it is to find a popular spot and get out of the car.  You can’t get the sounds, smells, and sense of a city from inside a metal box.  Luckily, you don’t have to go it alone, wandering the city aimlessly.  Several companies and organizations offer guided walking tours of notable places in Los Angeles.  If you take one of them, you’ll learn more than Joe Tourist cruising down Sunset in his rented Chrysler Sebring Convertible, inevitably stuck in traffic, watching as you stroll by.

Get right down to the source at El Pueblo De Los Angeles – the place where the city was founded in 1779.  Docents will take you on a free 50 minute tour in the heart of the city, close to Union Station and Walt Disney Concert Hall.  Tours run Tuesday through Saturday at 10AM and noon, a good way to kill time in between other sightseeing stops.

Founder’s Plaque [photo courtesy of El Pueblo de los Angeles]

So yeah, yeah, I know you’re not headed to Los Angeles just for the history, you’re headed to HOLLYWOOD, baby!  There’s a few walking tours for that too.

The Backpacker Behind the Scenes Walking Tour takes only 1 hour and 15 minutes, brings you inside some of the more iconic Hollywood sites like Grauman’s Chinese Theater and Hollywood and Highland (home of the Academy Awards ceremony and the American Idol finals), and features wireless headsets so you can hear the tour guide over the din of the masses and the inevitable traffic.  Tours operate several times daily and prices start at $21.99 for adults, less for children 9-15, and infants are free.

Hollywood & Highland [photo courtesy of The Backpacker]

Backpacker’s Rival, the Redline Tour, offers a similar “Behind the Scenes” tour with the same hot spots and wireless headsets, but this one touts “legendary gossip” and an adult price tag that is $2 cheaper.

Grauman’s Chinese Theater [photo courtesy of redlinetours.com]

For a closer look at modern Hollywood, the one that’s all about business, take the NBC Studios tour in Burbank.  This tour is just over an hour and takes you around the stages where the television shows are taped, and kids can see themselves flying in a Superman scene.  This website also tells you how to get tickets to an NBC show taping.

For an all-day immersive Hollywood experience splurge on the Sony Pictures Studios Hollywood Walking Tour With LA & Beverly Hills Movie Stars’ Homes Tour (Minibus/Walking) from All Los Angeles Tours.  That title must be why the price tag is so high.  Oh, and the fact that you are on this tour for 8 hours (bring snacks!) and you also get to rest on the bus.  Operates Monday through Friday with courtesy pickups from most major LA area hotels.  The tour includes a mozy around the Sony studio lot, a drive-by of major stars’ homes, an hour at Grauman’s Chinese Theater and a chance to grab some lunch (not included) and then the basic Hollywood walking tour as offered by the other vendors above.  I hope you get a good tour guide, because you’ll be spending all day with that person!  Tickets are $74.99 for adults, and this tour is not recommended for very young children.

[photo courtesy of sony studios . com]

But you went on vacation to get away from the television, right?  The Los Angeles Conservancy offers a family-friendly walking tour of Union Station.  It is 45 minutes long and geared toward children 7-11, but does NOT include running amok on a train.  Rats.  Fourth Saturday of the month at 11:00 AM, tickets are $5 and $10.  The Conservancy also offers several other walking tours around downtown Los Angeles.

Union Station [photo courtesy of iNeTours.com]

If you’re getting familiar with downtown, check out this interactive guide to downtown Los Angeles by the University of Southern California.  Click on an area of the map and it gives you more detail with major landmarks, and click on one of those for a gorgeous photo.  Use this as a study guide before your trip and you’ll recognize the landmarks when you get there.

Walt Disney Concert Hall [photo courtesy of J. Mapes]

For the baseball fans, Dodgers Stadium offers an inside look for only $10 and $15.  The 90-minute tour takes you onto the field, into the Dodger dugout and The Dugout Club, the training center, and the press box.  This is something you wouldn’t get by just attending a baseball game.

[photo courtesy of dodgers.com]

Winter Wonderland at The Grove

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, shopping in L.A. is a more than a passing fancy- it is a way of life.  Shopping is the cause and cure of all that ails the City of Angels.  Well, shopping and the Lakers, but you get the idea.

When the holidays roll around it all goes into high gear.  A higher gear.  It’s a blur, really.

We talked earlier about The Americana at Brand and the seasonal delights it offers to locals and visitors alike.  It’s a great place.  However, The Grove is the original in that respective mold and it still the best.  Not only that, unlike The Americana, it is upscale but still affordable.

It’s a place to see and a place to be seen.  Celebrities are everywhere.

The seasonal decor is very festive.  There is a musical water show in the fountain, live bands and a very quaint cottage in which Santa spends his days gathering Christmas wishes from children, starlets and even canines.  It snows twice nightly.

One of my favorite things about The Grove is that it is adjacent to a Farmer’s Market that houses some of the best food in the area, from crepes to BBQ.  It is in this market that you will find a little bar that serves Anchor Steam’s Xmas Ale on tap, and that is the greatest gift of all.

The Grove is holiday shopping at its best, and it represents L.A. pretty well, too.

If you’re planning a trip, check out Los Angeles flight deals.

All photos by Tricia Honea

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

It’s time for another Thursday Thirteen! I was driving around the other day, thinking about how much I love this city. Of course, that was before that lousy driver cut me off on the 405 Freeway and totally harshed my mellow, but that’s a blog post for another day. For now, here a few of my favorite things:

1. Pink’s Hot Dogs – To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what makes Pink’s Hot Dogs so popular, but for some reason I just feel better knowing it’s there.

2. Guy who sells maps to the stars’ homes on Sunset Blvd. near Doheny – I’ve never actually bought one of these maps, but it’s nice to know that if I ever act on my urge to start stalking Will Smith, there’s somebody who can tell me how to find him.

3. Giant Chair Statue at Pacific Design Center – I love this humongous 30-foot chair, not only for its aesthetics but because we have a running joke: whenever I drive by it with my husband and kids, we always talk about how we’re going to somehow hoist the 10-year old up there and take a picture of her perched on its edge. It’s going to happen, I promise.

4. La Brea Tar Pits – Besides being a great place to take my kids, this place reminds me of my childhood. Also, I have friends who live in the area and have stories of (prehistoric!) tar bubbling up through cracks in their street, which is way more exciting than anything that ever happens on the block where I live.

5. Grauman’s Chinese Theater – Totally overrun with tourists, but where else can you get a close-up look at celebrities’ handprints? Nah, sneaking a look at Shia LeBeouf’s fingerprints at the LAPD isn’t the same.

6. Capitol Records Building – Because it was designed to look like a stack of records! Also, because they’re one of the first buildings every year to put up their Christmas tree made out of lights.

7. Book Soup – Absolutely the coolest book store in the city. Although it makes me sad to go there now, because the legendary Tower Records across the street on Sunset is no longer there.

8. Hollywood and Vine – This famous intersection provides some of the best people-watching in the city. Stopping at that traffic light for thirty seconds always makes me feel like I’ve stepped into a David Lynch movie.

9. Angelyne – I don’t really like Angelyne but she’s my favorite in more of a ‘fascinatingly hideous’ sort of way. Talk to ten different people, and you’ll get ten different Angelyne stories. I once saw her buying clothes at the drug store. She bought some pants, hopped into her pink Corvette and drove away.

10. Watt’s Towers –I urge everyone to get over your fear of driving into this area, and check out these amazing works of art, at least once. Personally, I think your life may be in more danger while trying to shop at Costco during the Christmas rush.

11. Self Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine – I know it sounds all new age-y and touchy-feely, but you should really check this place out. And don’t worry – you don’t have to have a religious bone in your body to appreciate it. A couple of walks around the serene path that winds around the lake and you’ll feel like a new person. If not, at least make yourself useful by feeding the ducks.

12. First Street, Little Tokyo – There’s nowhere else in the city that can say it’s home to my favorite spa, my favorite restaurant and my favorite coffee shop. I’d tell you about all these secret places, but then I’d have to kill you.

13. The Beverly Center – Yeah, it’s just a mall to most people, but it takes me back to my Sex And The City days, when I’d spend hours trolling the stores just to find a perfect dress to wear on a dinner date. Who has that kind of time anymore?

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

Okay, so maybe Los Angeles doesn’t come to mind when you’re thinking of planning a romantic getaway. Freeways, smog, Paris Hilton – I admit none of these inspire an enchanting escape with that special someone. But take a look at these hotels – you might just change your mind. And if not, well – there’s always Paris.

Though I’ve never stayed here, I’ve heard people say that the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills is an ideal romantic retreat. Done in a fifties retro-style, the rooms feature Eames cabinets and Noguchi furniture, which may not seem romantic to you but really gets furniture designers hot. But here’s why this place intrigues me: My husband and I used to live around the corner when the hotel was the run-down Beverly Carlton. We visited once when we were considering putting up some friends there, but changed our minds when the place had the vibe of a Motel 6 infested with crack dealers. (Although, this being Beverly Hills, those would be filthy rich, Gucci-clad crack dealers.) But they’ve done an amazing transformation with the hotel – it’s now a hangout for hipsters and celebrities who like to lounge around their swanky pool.

For a more classically romantic feel, you can’t go wrong with the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown L.A. The hotel is currently celebrating it’s 85th anniversary, and has a rich history – besides hosting many celebrities and presidents, the hotel was the site of the Academy Awards back in the 30’s and 40’s. In honor of their birthday, the hotel is offering a special 85th Anniversary Celebration package that includes a deluxe room, a nice bottle of champagne and dinner for two at their acclaimed restaurant. Round out your romantic stay by indulging in their daily Traditional Afternoon Tea – just like a Royal couple! (Are any of them still together?)

One of my most memorable romantic getaways was at the Mondrian Hotel on the Sunset Strip. My husband surprised me with an anniversary weekend here, and it was amazing. Make sure you get one of their packages that includes a reservation at their famous Asia de Cuba restaurant and admission to the unbearably hip Skybar (opened by Cindy Crawford’s husband). This place features more celebrities per square foot than any other location in L.A. besides the cosmetic surgery ward at Cedars Sinai Hospital. Kick back with your amour in the stunning Seabar, have one of their unbelievable watermelon martinis and do what I do – try to figure out a way to make off with all their designer furniture. Now that’s romantic.

Photo: Mondrian Hotel

This is a post written by Lois from the Home Exchange blog. A family is seeking to a home near Cedar Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills because the mother needs treatment for leukemia for a two month period. Lois has asked us to spread the word in the blogosphere and try to help the family.

“This is a special appeal to anyone, Home Base Holidays members, members or agents from other home exchange clubs, or anyone who lives near Cedars Sinai Hospital, Beverly Hills, who might be able to either do a non-simultaneous exchange or offer accommodation close to the hospital, to please get in touch. Here’s the story behind this appeal and I hope that through spreading the word as widely as possible, we can draw on the resources of the whole home exchange community and find someone able to offer help:

Dear Lois,

I am writing because I was just diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia a week ago and I’m 25 weeks pregnant with a girl. (We already have a 3 year old boy, Daxton, so we’re very excited). The best treatment I can get in the area is at Cedars Sinai in Beverly Hills, but that is about an hour’s drive away without traffic and can be 2 or more hours….plus I have to go there every couple of days for treatment.

I thought I might find someone who lives close to Cedars who would be willing to let us use their home for a couple of months during my treatment, but haven’t had any luck so far. I just wanted to see if you know of any members in the Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, West LA, Brentwood, or any of the surrounding areas close to Cedars Sinai Hospital? Or if you know anyone personally or have any ideas for me. I realize you may not know how to help me, but I thought it was worth the inquiry.

Thanks so much and I hope you are well. By the way – my Leukemia is treatable and curable, I just need to get the baby out first and then I can start treatment! I also may have a surgery next week to remove my spleen.

Best,

Leslie”

If you can help, please contact me or Lois and we will put you in touch with Leslie.

Thanks,

Pat Jenkins