Vacations Blog

And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?

With all apologies to the Talking Heads we know where said highway goes – wherever we want.  Eat that train tracks!

I put out a call to our Vacations staff for photos of summer and all that it entails.  The following are their contributions.

Don’t worry, if your favorite writer didn’t submit a photo as they’ve probably got their own story brewing, or they’re just lazy, but probably the story thing.

Ed:

Hatteras, NC

What I did on my summer vacation (in 53 words or less). Read More »

When people come to Southern California, they think Disney, the beach, Universal Studios, and Hollywood.  That’s four good solid days or more of stuff to do, but you’ll be exhausted and broke afterwards.  If you still have time to kill and little ones to entertain, there are educational and fun options that won’t break the bank.  Kidspace Children’s Museum is one of those options.

Located near the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Kidspace is hot with the 10 and under set (and kids over 10 will pretend it’s not “cool” but will secretly love a visit).  The outdoor facilities have climbing features, water play, a special playground for little ones under 4, a trike track (must wear helmet to ride, but you ride!), and beautiful gardens to explore.

Trike track: no pants required!

Indoors, you are greeted by the cool kaleidescope entry tunnel which gives way to numerous interactive exhibits.

Safari

Discovering fossils

Earthquake exhibit

Learning how to earthquake-proof the house

During the summer the museum is open 7 days a week. A non-profit entity, the museum has been there for 30 years, and enjoys substantial support from local organizations.  It opened in its current location in 2004, which means all of its facilities are new and fresh, including the Wolfgang Puck Nestle Cafe and the cool little gift store.  Admission is only $9 per person for anyone over 1 year old, so you can still have some leftover dough for snacks and souvenirs.

Hot dog by Wolfgang Puck

This is also the perfect place to send your children with visiting relatives.  My parents took our son to visit when he was 3.5, and now that he is 4 he is begging to be taken back.  Here is a quick grandparent’s review of Kidspace:

• Friendly staff
• Inside is very clean (there was a worker actually wiping down a climbing structure)
• Staff is there for arts & crafts
• Trike tracks – fun for kids. Try to get kids to follow the arrows on the road and stop at the STOP sign! They have a smaller easier version for toddlers
• Ant hole – great fun in the dark, but make sure the parent knows the exit is on the next level (our kid entered, never came out.  Yikes!  They found him upstairs)
  
• Good science learning experience with a working computer
• Our boy loved the earthquake shaker, the “safari” vehicle, ant hole, not so much climbing stuff, I think he was just too engaged with “brain” stuff.
• Food was good! and affordable!  (Wolfgang Puck, no less)

Looking for a kid in an anthole

Kid in the anthole

Find the kid upstairs!

Pacific Park photo by Carrie Tracy

1.  Indulge your playful side and go on some rides at Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier.  Open until midnight on Valentine’s Day.

2.  Take a gondola ride in Huntington Harbor.

Queen Mary by Sfoskett, Wikimedia

3.  Enjoy a special Valentine dinner at one of the restaurants on the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor.

4.  On a budget?  Grab a blanket, a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, and sit on the beach staring up at the stars with your beloved.  Loaf of bread not required.

5.  If you’re really lucky, have someone watch the kids overnight and make a weekend escape to a luxurious downtown Los Angeles hotel like the Biltmore, which is running two “specials” right now.  (Babysitter bribe might cost as much as the hotel, so this one is not for the budget conscious.)

Standard Hotel Rooftop Bar courtesy of standardhotels.com

6.  Don’t have enough time for that?  Skip out for the evening and have a drink at the rooftop poolside bar at the Standard Hotel in Hollywood.  Breathtaking views, beautiful people, crappy parking options.

7.  Do something different.  See a show at the Pasadena Playhouse .  “Stormy Weather” based on a biography of Lena Horne is now playing.  Tickets cost $63-$78 each.

8.  Get kinky.  Go shopping together at Frederick’s of Hollywood (locations all over Los Angeles) or The Pleasure Chest on Santa Monica Blvd.

9.  Or you can do what we will probably do.  Visit the local Blockbuster and just watch a regular movie before passing out on the couch after we wrestle the children into bed.  Happy Valentine’s Day.

10.  This list originally had only nine items but then I saw this post and figured I’d better include Disneyland.  Duh, happiest place on earth.

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

Are the triple-digit temperatures getting you down? How about immersing yourself in a vat of bubbling hot water? Believe it or not, it can be a refreshing experience, as long as you’re in a Jacuzzi at a nice spa. In other words, don’t try this at home.

Here are some spa retreats that you might want to check out for a cooling, calming break from the summer heat. Don’t forget to hydrate!

A popular destination for spa-loving Angelenos, Burke Williams is a chain so there’s probably one close to where you are. Definitely in the upscale realm of spas, they offer a standard menu of massages, facial treatments and spa facilities in lush surroundings. I’ve been to the Pasadena and Santa Monica locations, and while I got a decent massage at both, I found the experience unremarkable considering the steep price: $125 for only a 50 minute session, much more than what I’ve paid at other spas. Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have a rich friend (or husband) who will gift you with the $790 all day spa experience, titled ‘A Day Beyond’ (apparently they left out the words, ‘My Budget.’)

For a more down-to-earth experience why not try the Beverly Hot Springs, located in Koreatown. This no-frills spa boasts L.A.’s only pure-alkaline mineral water spa, and also a celebrity clientele. I tried to impress at a party once by telling them how I had seen Brooke Shields in the lobby, but was quickly trumped by someone else who had seen Madonna, naked, in the boiling-hot spring pool. Their prices are reasonable – $30 will get you the use of the hot springs and for another $60 you can have my favorite, the Body Care treatment, which consists of a 50-minute massage and skin conditioning session using milk, oil and cucumber. Besides feeling great, you come out of there smelling like a nice salad.

If you’re really feeling crazy on one of those sweltering days, why not drive for two hours to the blazing hot desert to Two Bunch Palms. Located on what was once Al Capone’s hideout in Desert Hot Springs, this resort is also a celeb favorite – Meryl Streep and Bette Midler have been known to escape to this ultra luxurious resort. Known for theier mineral springs, they also offer a full menu of spa and pampering services ranging from a standard Swedish massage (a fairly reasonable $115 for 60 minutes) to something called Watsu, which has you “cradled in the water in the amrs of your therapist” while your receive a shiatsu treatment. Sounds a little freaky to me, but whatever floats your boat, er, body.

From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

I’m familiar with the reactions: the sad eyes, the whining, the frantic efforts to hide in the laundry room. No, I’m not talking about your cat when faced with a vet visit, but your children when you mention that you’ll be taking them to ‘somewhere educational.’

Sure, you’ll get more cheers for Chuck E. Cheese’s, but sometimes it’s nice to take the kids somewhere that teaches them more than how quickly a roll of quarters can disappear when you’re mesmerized by a large waltzing mouse. Here are some of my favorite ‘smart’ destinations in Los Angeles. I’ll bet they’ll forget all about that dancing rodent.

We just went to the newly revamped Griffith Observatory and can’t wait to go back. It had been closed for almost five years for renovations, and was well worth the wait. The new Planetarium Show is amazing and had our kids captivated – you would have thought it was a SpongeBob marathon. The displays are beautiful – a large room with huge planet models overhead and a screen showing a live feed from the space station was my favorite. I have to mention their amazing Café at the End of the Universe – my husband pointed out that I saved my most enthusiastic response for the snack-break portion of our visit. But the Peets coffee, croissants and a killer view made me as happy as seeing a ten-foot glowing model of Mars.

One of my favorite locations is also one of the oldest: The Museum of Natural History in Exposition Park that opened its doors in 1913. I’ve been going there since I was a child, and have been taking my kids there since they were toddlers. Sometimes we take a break from wandering around the animal dioramas, grab a snack and wander the famous Rose Garden for awhile. Next door is the amazing California Science Center, which has free admission and is home to the popular BodyWorks exhibit centered around Tess, a fifty-foot body simulator. Oh, and there’s a McDonalds downstairs, in case the whining starts up and needs to be quieted by a bag of french fries.

Then there’s the KidSpace Museum in Pasadena, which is popular with younger children. I took my 9 and 11-year-olds there recently and found that they had outgrown most of it, although they did still enjoy the regularly scheduled nature shows and hiking around the outdoor gardens. The little ones will love the whimsical hands-on exhibits.

Last but not least I have to mention the beach. Because there’s not one single location in the city that I feel has taught my kids as much. They’ve learned about marine life, birds and the properties of water. It’s led to discussions about homelessness and compassion when we’ve given money to a man asking for help, and the meaning of war when we came upon a memorial to fallen soldiers erected in the sand in Santa Monica. With nothing to distract us we’ve sat on our towels and talked about everything from school bullies to Michelangelo to why we love Jack Black. And the best part? The kids had no idea they’d been ‘learning’ all day long.

What are your favorite ‘smart’ destinations in your city?

[photo: GriffithObservatory.org]