Vacations Blog

A Harlem brownstone

Dig into an enticing array of gastric delights during the Taste of Harlem Food and Cultural tour.  There’s no more memorable way to experience New York than to eat your way through it and this tour provides a detailed exploration of Harlem eateries.  The three hour tour features six restaurants, a historic bed and breakfast, shops and landmarks that reflect Harlem’s storied history. The tour kicks off at Amy Ruth’s, the legendary southern-style restaurant where guests are treated to fluffy biscuits and buttermilk-battered chicken wings while classic R&B music plays in the background. Read More »

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 just a cute place for a romantic encounter, a la “The Truth About Cats and Dogs.“  The canals of Venice Beach , California are eye candy for anyone, especially architecture or  style enthusiasts who just love to ogle a uniquely designed home.

View of Venice, CA canals

At one time the city of Venice, CA consisted of a network of canals created by the developer Abbott Kinney as a tribute to the Italian city.  Over the years many of them were filled in and paved, but a small enclave of the original grid was allowed to remain and eventually took its place among the priciest real estate in the area.  The canals are best viewed on foot.

The Truth About Canals and Babies

Located a few blocks inland from the beach between Washington Blvd. and Venice Blvd, the canals can be reached by parking on Ocean or Dell Street, but pay attention to the signs, because with Los Angeles’ budget deficit reaching up to $1 billion, every nickel and dime the parking attendants can squeeze out of your error counts.

Great place to take a baby

Walking through the canal neighborhood you might forget that you are in Los Angeles at all.  The noise and bustle of the crowds at the boardwalk seem worlds away from this tranquil and colorful area.

Foot bridge over Venice canal

It takes a special kind of person to live in a thin, tall house whose front yard is a sidewalk and a duck-filled waterway, and that kind of person also often has a quirky eye for design.  A stroll through the canals at sunset allows you to peer into the front windows and see what they live like inside.  During the holidays the residents dress up their little boats and canoes for a holiday boat parade.

Funky homes line the canals

When you are hungry head to a restaurant instead

If you work up an appetite some good local spots to visit are House of Teriyaki Too on Ocean if you are gritty and sweaty or if you clean up a bit they might let you into Hal’s Bar and Grill on Abbott Kinney.

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]