Southern California Recreation |
|
Amusement ParksDisney's California Adventure Immerse yourself in a magical festival of shows, parades and attractions celebrating California's storied past and exciting future. From the gold rush to Hollywood's golden era to the timeless allure of the beach, discover the vast and diverse Golden State. Go to Disney's California Adventure Disneyland From the charm of Main Street, U.S.A. to the whimsy of Mickey's Toontown, explore eight fantastic "lands" of nostalgia, color and delight. Let your imagination run free in a magic kingdom where life is a fairy tale and dreams really do come true. Go to Disneyland Knott's Berry Farm What was once an actual berry farm is now 160 acres of world class rides, unique family shows and one of a kind attractions. At America's favorite theme park, experience GhostRider the world's best wooden roller coaster, Supreme Scream, 30-stories up, 3 seconds down and the high-octane thrill of Xcelerator, rated the world's best launch coaster, sending riders 0-80 in 2.3 seconds. For a different type of thrill, stroll on over to Camp Snoopy, home to the beloved PEANUTS gang. Go to Knott's Knott's Soak City Orange County's newest and wildest water adventure park! Waterlogged acres packed with 21 of the most intense water rides imaginable--all themed to the surf woodies and longboards of the 1950's Southern California Coast! Go to Soak City Raging Waters With over 50 beautifully landscaped acres and 36 slides and attractions, plus a sand beach, there is outRAGEous fun for guests of all ages. Experience the Dragon's Den, Raging Waters newest attraction, twist down the 10-story High Extreme, float down the ¼ mile Amazon River or relax in the huge Wave Pool. Younger guests will never tire of Kids' Kingdom and Splash Island. Whether mild, wild or in-between, all ages always have a raging good time at Raging Waters San Dimas. Go to Raging Waters Six Flags Hurricane Harbor The Six Flags Hurricane Harbor attraction lineup features more than 23 slides and attractions including Tornado, the water park’s new thrill slide which debuted last summer to rave reviews; Black Snake Summit, with two of the tallest enclosed speed slides in Southern California; Lizard Lagoon, a 7,000 square-foot pool for teen and adult activities; Reptile Ridge high-speed body slide complex; Bamboo Racer, an exciting 45-foot-tall, six-lane racing attraction; plus Paradise Pavilion, a catering site for company and group events and much more. Go to Hurricane Harbor Six Flags Magic Mountain Located in Valencia, CA, Six Flags Magic Mountain, boasts over 40 rides and attractions with extreme roller coasters such as Goliath, towering 255-feet above earth, the massive steel superstructure has one of the world's tallest drops and at speeds of 85 miles per hour; X, plummeting riders 200 feet to the ground - head-first face down -- and racing at 76 miles-per-hour spinning head-over-heels and performing forward and backward acrobatics through the massive 3,600-foot twisting steel maze; Superman Escape, accelerating from 0-100mph in 7 seconds before shooting straight up the 41 story tower with an unprecedented 6.5 seconds of weightlessness; Scream!, with its unique floorless train design, racing at intense speeds with "flying chairs" through seven 360-degree inversions and numerous twists and turns that span 4,000 feet of track for a thrilling three-minute Xtreme rush; and Deja Vu, sending riders dangling face-down out of the station and up the first striking blue tower, then dropping into a complete vertical 20-story free-fall reaching speeds of 65 miles-per-hour before racing head-over-heels on the outside of a 102 foot-tall vertical loop followed by an enormous 110-foot-tall butterfly turn before rocketing up the second 200-foot-tall tower. Go to Magic Mountain Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood puts you so close you can hear the cameras rolling. Get an inside look at the sets and uncover the behind-the-scenes secrets of legendary films. Put yourself in big movie action. Face the rage of the world's first blockbuster roller coaster, Revenge of the Mummy – The Ride. Now open! Enter, if you dare, into the dark and supernatural world of 19th century Transylvania in Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula, now open! Escape into the thrilling worlds of Jurassic Park®, Terminator and other blockbuster movies. Immerse yourself in the movie action with pulse-pounding rides and full-sensory attractions. For a big Hollywood finish, visit Universal CityWalk®, for L.A.'s hottest entertainment, dining and shopping. Go to Universal Studios [Top] |
|
FairsLA County Fair While many Los Angeles County residents consider themselves among the most sophisticated folks in the country, the sprawling county has come together each September since 1922 to celebrate an old-fashioned county fair, complete with livestock, rides, exhibitions and competitions. Add a slate of diverse and well-known musical entertainment, a huge carnival with state-of-the-art rides, and an array of food vendors, and it's easy to see why the LA County Fair attracts more than 1.3 million visitors during its annual 17-day run in September. Averaging 80,000 visitors a day, the Fair matches Disneyland's busiest attendance levels. While the Pomona Fairplex hosts events throughout the year, the fair is the site's primary raison d'etre, with 200 of its 487 acres devoted to paved parking to accommodate 30,000 cars. The grounds also contain a full-scale horse racing track and grandstand where major entertainment events are held each evening during the fair. Go to Fairplex Orange County Fair Fun for the whole family! The Orange County Fair, just minutes from Huntington Beach in Costa Mesa, offers concerts, live animals, rides, great food, performing arts and art exhibits. Go to OC Fair San Fernando Valley Fair Created by an act of the California State Legislature in 1946, the 51st District Agricultural Association has dedicated itself to fulfilling its mission of "...producing an event preserving the agricultural heritage and enhancing corporate and technological advances, while promoting educational and competitive exhibits and providing wholesome family entertainment." Go to SF Valley Fair [Top] |
|
GardensDescanso Gardens Less than 20 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, an oasis of peace awaits. Descanso Gardens is a verdant gem nestled amid the California chaparral. The gardens are lovely at any time of year, and a revolving schedule of events promises fun for kids and their parents. You'll find summer concerts, guided birdwalks, nature hikes and gardening classes, as well as special festivals for the holidays. The 160-acre garden is perhaps best known for its enormous collection of camellias -- over 50,000 of these elegant, blooming trees provide a canopy of color and delight for visitors from all over the world. More than 80 acres of seasonal flowers are in bloom throughout the year. During the months of April and May, wander through the fragrant lilac glade, sampling the heady scent of a wide variety of these purple and white flowers. Fields of iris create a watercolorists dream of spring. An explosion of color and aroma welcomes the summer months, when over 4,000 antique and modern rosebushes blossom in the International Rosarium. Chrysanthemums and pumpkin patches set the stage for autumn. At any time of the year, serenity may be found in the Japanese garden and the meditation rock garden, with its wonderful collection of Bonsai trees. The Garden Café© offers visitors a chance to dine on simple sandwiches and salads beneath a canopy of wisteria. In the gift shop, you'll find numerous items for the home and garden, including rugs, nature books, planters and bird feeders. Descanso Gardens is a divine escape from the city and a wonderful reminder of the glory of nature. Go to Descanso Gardens The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens The Huntington is an oasis of art and culture set amidst 150 acres of breathtaking gardens. The Library features works from British and American history and literature, including an original Gutenberg Bible and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Three art galleries showcase 18th and 19th Century British and French masterpieces, including the "Blue Boy" and "Pinkie." Fifteen gardens feature 14,000 species of plants. Go to Huntington Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden The Arboretum is a 127-acre botanical garden and historical site jointly operated by the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. Spend your day in a lush garden or sit by a waterfall and watch peacocks unfold their colorful feathers! Visit the tropical greenhouse or take a tram ride through the 127-acre garden with plant and tree life from around the world! Popular activities also include bird watching, plant shows, and educational classes and lectures. There are historical buildings to visit and a cafe to relax in. The Arboretum is a place where the whole family can enjoy a little bit of Eden! Go to LA Arboretum [Top] |
|
MuseumsCalifornia Science Center Part of a larger Los Angeles museum complex near the USC campus in Exposition Park, the CSC is 245,000-square-feet of interactive fun for the whole family. The first thing that catches the eye is the spellbinding 50-foot "Hypar" kinetic sculpture in the main lobby. Daredevils in the clan can take a wobbly high-wire bicycle ride--it's like pedaling E.T. home after a night of partying with Robert Downey Jr. There is a chick hatchery and Tess, a 50-foot replica of the human body and its inner workings. If your brain starts to short-circuit, get lost in a screening at the IMAX theater, which has spellbinding giant-screen films on everything from monkeying around in Africa with Jane Goodall to a 2001 space-walking odyssey with NASA's finest. Go to CA Science Getty Center Perched high above the Sepulveda Pass as an unofficial northwest gateway into the city, this Los Angeles museum received most of its early publicity because of Richard Meier's stone and glass design. Ironically, from below, the Center actually looks more like a hospital or convention center than a world-class art museum. But it's about the art, stupid, and once in the womb of this creative mothership, the peaceful grounds, airy exhibition spaces, and extensive collection all makes for a breathtaking SoCal afternoon. Go to Getty The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens Tucked away in the Pasadena, this pristine oasis is a mystery to most Angelenos. The library and art collections at this Los Angeles museum are featured acts to be sure, but the gardens are the real star. Afternoon tea in the lush foliage is as nice an afternoon as can be found in L.A. This is where the Angels of the city come to frolic. Go to Huntington L.A. County George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits It is a known fact that people become obsessed with this place. They are transfixed by the stuffed, saber-tooth tiger whose flesh magically appears over its skeleton. They are mesmerized by the scientists in the glass-encased Fossil Laboratory, as they sift through recently excavated debris--one of the most unique living exhibit found anywhere. And, of course, they cannot get enough of the tar pits themselves: gooey, bubbling, pools of black ooze which after capturing a plethora of 40,000 year-old ancient mammals and birds, now provides us clues into the past. Go to Page Museum Los Angeles County Museum of Art A defeat of a recent bond measure unfortunately scrapped an ambitious plan to completely renovate this deserving L.A. museum. Even though most Angelenos bash (or simply ignore) Los Angeles' primary art museum, the rest of the globe continues to consider it fit enough to send its world-class art exhibits. Added features at LACMA include free Friday night jazz concerts in the courtyard and Friday and Saturday night screenings in a great classic-film series. Go to LACMA Museum of the American West The Museum of the American West is a world-class center devoted to preserving and interpreting the rich history and traditions of the American West. With one of the most comprehensive collections of Western history and art, its seven permanent galleries and special exhibitions offer material gathered from the many cultures and events that have shaped the legacy of this vast region. Go to Autry Museum Museum of Contemporary Art Even though most locals probably have no idea this oasis of modern art exists in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, it is a major force in contemporary art in this country. Case in point: In the summer of 2002, the first major Andy Warhol exhibit in more than a decade made LACMA its only North American stop. The museum's permanent collection, covering work after 1940, is nothing to scoff at, with major pieces by de Kooning, Hockney, Lichtenstein, Pollock, and Rauschenberg. Go to MOCA Museum of Jurassic Technology This obscure LA attraction is to museums what the Blue Man Group is to theater. It is the offspring of a collision between science and the ridiculous, and its unusual, offbeat exhibits are nothing if not unique. What other museum features exhibits on the Stink Ant of the Cameroon and Selected Collections from Los Angeles Area Mobile Homes and Trailer Parks? Go to MJT Museum of Tolerance The Simon Wiesenthal Center sponsors this high tech, hands-on experiential L.A museum that has a dual purpose: to focus on the dynamics of racism and prejudice in America and to continue to shed light on the history of the Holocaust. Along the way, visitors encounter moving, creative exhibits that force them to reflect on their own humanity. With more than 100,000 children visiting every year, its mission is surely making a difference. A truly unique experience. Go to MOT Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Okay, so the faded and dusty stuffed beasts, fowl, and varmints in this Los Angeles Museum's distressed dioramas should be a clue that it has seen better days. There is a kitschy quirkiness, however, to this largely ignored part of Exposition Park. Don't miss the Megamouth shark encased in glass in one of the lobbies that was captured off the coast decades ago... spooooky. And you won't miss Sue - the largest T-Rex ever found towers over visitors. Go to NHM Norton Simon Museum of Art Norton Simon was one rich dude. We know this because the Botticellis, Rembrandts, Van Goghs and Matisses we all have in our houses are on calendars, in cheap frames, and on cards in our Masterpiece board game, Mr. Simon's are originals. Throw in 2,000 years of Asian sculpture and this guy was to art collectors what Basquiat was to taggers. A 1999 Frank Gehry renovation has made this Los Angeles museum even more accessible. Go to Norton Simon Petersen Automotive Museum Honk, if you love this L.A. museum. This popular attraction features the best things found on four wheels, from the Caped Crusader's Batmobile to Austin Powers' "Shaguar." Its SoCal history of the automobile is groovy, baby, offering the lowdown on everything from lowriders to high-end luxury rides. Go to Petersen [Top] |
|
MusicThe Greek Theatre In Griffith Park, molded into a canyon, the open-air Greek Theatre shows live music under the stars and against a backdrop of desert-green trees. Performance art means music at this Los Angles theatre. Go to Greek Theatre Hollywood Bowl Known as the world's largest natural amphitheater, the Hollywood Bowl features some of the finest classical, pops, jazz, opera, and ballet performances. The summer season includes spectacular fireworks, classical, jazz, Latin salsa, and modern new age concerts. The Bowl also features a museum, children's festivals and picnic areas. For over 75 years the Hollywood Bowl has kept the public entertained with great music at affordable prices! Go to Hollywood Bowl Walt Disney Concert Hall Walt Disney Concert Hall, the dazzling residence of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the fourth in its history, is the centerpiece of a 3.6-acre complex that includes two outdoor amphitheaters, a separate multi-use theater and art gallery, and an expansive public garden. The aim was to design a hall whose acoustics would rival or surpass that of the best concert halls in the world. WDCH is the official home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Go to WDCH [Top] |
|
Sports[Top] |
 |
TheatersActor's Gang Theatre Los Angeles' Actor's Gang Theatre, co-founded by Tim Robbins, harks back to the raw roots of theatre, renovates the classics and showcases new works, all in a newly renovated Hollywood theatre known for community involvement and important theatre. Go to Actor's Gang Ahmanson Theatre Part of the Los Angeles Center Theatre Group, along with the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre is a 2,000-seat marble complex in downtown Los Angeles that shows the big-bucks productions like the Phantom of the Opera and more. Go to Ahmanson Theatre ArcLight Cinemas One of Hollywood's most beautiful architectural landmarks has undergone an extensive renovation, and is finally ready for a new generation of film fans to check out one of LA's finest theater experiences. The Cinerama Dome, with its legendary curved screen and ability to screen those few films actually created in the "Cinerama" process (a '50s phenomenon with three projectors positioned side by side to create a nearly wrap-around effect), has upgraded both the sound system and the screen so as to accommodate nearly any type of film. Adjacent to it is the Arclight Theaters, complete with 14 screens, reserved seats (all of which have extra arm and leg room), food and drink selections that put the typical theater to shame and, of course, state-of-the-art audio and visual technology. Other special offerings include various exhibits throughout the complex dedicated to entertainment history, a cafe bar and a special guest-speakers series featuring important films and lecturers discussing the art of cinema. Go to ArcLight Cinemas Audiences Unlimited 100 Universal City Plaza, Bldg. 153, Los Angeles CA; Tel. 818.753.3470 Coronet Theatre Fifty years old, the Los Angeles' grandmaternal Coronet Theatre has produced over 300 plays and is a landmark of Los Angeles theatre. The Coronet's Writer's Lab offers free readings of new plays by established actors. Go to Coronet Theatre El Capitan Theatre One of three theme theatres actualized by Sid Grauman and Charles Toberman, the El Capitan Theatre was Hollywood's first home for "Spoken Drama" (opened in 1926) and the Los Angeles theatre to premier Orson Welles' Citizen Kane in 1941. Disney captured the exotic East Indian-styled theatre and now showcases mostly Disney premiers. Go to El Capitan Geffen Playhouse Palm trees and a Mediterranean feel characterize Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse, a Los Angeles theatre (affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles) where actors like Brendan Fraser and Annette Bening flex their stage muscles and new productions aim to leave audiences "breathless." Go to Geffen Grauman's Chinese Theatre This infamous Los Angeles theatre, opened over seventy years ago in 1927, is one of Los Angeles' most famous theatres, especially for the impressions-in-concrete left by Hollywood's brightest stars out front. Marilyn Monroe dotted the "i" in her name with a rhinestone, which, of course, did not stand the test of a tourist's zeal while Whoopi Goldberg shed a dread for immortality. Aside from all the Hollywood history, Grauman's shows first-run movies. Go to Grauman's Chinese Theater John Anson Ford Amphitheatre A small Los Angeles theatre with an awe-inspiring entrance plucked from Mediterranean history books, the Ford Amphitheatre is an open-air performance art venue (one of the oldest in Los Angeles) set on 45-acres in the rustic Cahuenga Pass and showing dance, music and plays. Go to Ford Amphitheater Kodak Theatre The new home of the Academy Awards, Hollywood's modern and technologically-advanced Kodak Theatre shows large-scale ballet, dance, and musical productions, including the Full Monty and Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Go to Kodak Theatre Mark Taper Forum A small theatre located in the Performing Arts Center in downtown Los Angeles, the Mark Taper Forum has a community-conscience, working to involve youth, and funding programs for African-American, Asian-American and Latino playwrights. A distinguished Los Angeles theatre, two of the Mark Taper's productions have received Pulitzer Prizes for Drama, an honor historical reserved for New York theatre. Go to Mark Taper Pantages Theatre Once home to vaudeville and Oscars, the Pantages Theatre is an Art Deco masterpiece with an eye for high-profile productions and musicals. Go to Pantages [Top] |
|
Zoos/AquariumsLong Beach Aquarium of the Pacific The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific is home to more than 12,500 ocean animals, representing nearly 1,000 species. The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific offers three main galleries highlighting the three major regions of the Pacific Ocean. There are 19 major habitats and 32 focus exhibits that explore the waters of Southern California and Baja, the Northern Pacific, and the Tropical Pacific. Go to Aquarium of the Pacific Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens More than 100 acres of mammals, reptiles and amphibians draw city dwellers to this Griffith Park attraction for a taste of the wild life. The Animal Encounters program allows visitors to interact with animals ranging from pythons to bunnies. During the school year, the zoo is often mobbed by busloads of excited kids on field trips. Mornings and late afternoons are the best times to visit, when the sun is less intense. The zoo's animals are grouped by geographic origin. From the imposing elephants to the sleek Sumatran tigers, the residents here are well-cared for. Mahali Mountain, the chimpanzee habitat, and World of Birds, a show highlighting the zoo's extensive bird collection, are especially popular with the tykes. Stands hawking snacks flank the entrance. The zoo also has a couple of full-service restaurants for feeding hungry humans. Go to LA Zoo [Top] |
|
