Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA — it was 86 degrees today. Beat that!

This post is part of UpTake’s Wordless Wednesday Series. If you would like to see your photo featured here please contact us via the link in the sidebar using subject line: WW.

Photo: Whit Honea

“What’s out there?” one brother asked the other.

“Dolphins,” he said. “Wild dolphins.”

There was a seal, too.  It bobbed its head in an effort to ward off a pelican; it was a fight to the fish. We saw boats and surfers and the filming of a McDonald’s commercial, complete with fake palm trees stuck in the sand. The dolphins swam parallel to our path, and they, as the boy said, were wild.

It was a family walk along the shore of Point Dume in Malibu, CA.  To the north the waves bent to humor Zuma, and the south stretched somewhere past Santa Monica. The ocean went on forever.

That’s how we spend a weekday afternoon in Southern California. You should try it.

This post is part of the UpTake Friday Family Series.

Photo: W. Honea

The J. Paul Getty Museum, according to its own website, “seeks to further knowledge of the visual arts and to nurture critical seeing by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting works of art of the highest quality.”

That means it has neat stuff for you to look at.

The museum is located in Los Angeles at the Getty Center, atop a hill overlooking the parking lot that is the 405 freeway (museum access is via Sepulveda Blvd). Drive by during rush hour and you’ll have plenty of time to stare at its wonder and watch the tram shuttle people up its steep hill.

Inside the museum you will find paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photographs from Europe and America.

There is a smaller J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa in Malibu, just off the Pacific Coast Highway and directly across from the beach. This one wins the battle of location.

However, the real winner is you, the art-loving public, because admission to both Getty Museums is free (however, the Getty Villa requires an advance, timed ticket for occupancy reasons).

Visit L.A., and add a free day of culture to your vacation. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

This post is part of the UpTake Monday Museums & Monuments Series.

Photo: Allan Ferguson via Flickr

This is Zuma Beach, which is located just north of Malibu in sunny California. It is, as you might imagine, awesome.

This is a Wordless Wednesday post (hence my usual ramblings), but today I’m going to give you something special! Instead of one(1) photo I will share more than one(1) photo! Actual number of photos will vary depending on my attention span. Read More »