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Escape the Winter Blues with a Trip to L.A.

Most of the time, I love living in a part of the country that has four distinct weather seasons. But when winter’s grip is deep and strong, as it is now, I find myself longing for a warm respite. Oh, to be in Los Angeles, where February’s average temperatures range from 49 degrees F to 69 degrees F… where fresh produce still graces farmers markets … where amusement parks still flicker with lights… where you can walk about without the added poundage of winter attire… Let’s go!

Street-walking…the good kind!

Thanks to former (and current) Governor Jerry Brown, who signed a law in 1978 establishing Certified Farmers’ Markets, California’s agricultural bounty is readily available. In Santa Monica, the original downtown market is one of the largest growers-only markets in the country. Additional markets are hosted Saturday (all-organic, and the Pico Farmers Market in Virginia Avenue Park) and Sunday (Main Street). Also on Sundays, kid-friendly markets in Hollywood and Beverly Hills offer balloons and a Kid Zone (complete with pony rides and petting zoo), respectively.

Once you’ve eaten, you can walk off that meal in a variety of distinctive locales. Beverly Hills showcases luxury shopping on world-renowned Rodeo Drive. Start at Santa Monica Boulevard with an imaginary dollar amount of your choosing and work your way toward Wilshire. As you go, you can pick up a beautiful scarf at Hermès, a tailored suit at Giorgio Armani, a luscious leather bag at Prada, stilettos at Chanel, and the perfect bangle at Van Cleef and Arpels. Finish your tour with a refreshing beverage on the outdoor patio at The Blvd restaurant, one of the eateries in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, featured prominently in the 1991 movie “Pretty Woman.”

Venice Beach Walking Tours
Photo credit: http://www.venicebeachwalkingtours.com

If you want a guided tour with true insider’s information, head to Venice Beach, where longtime resident Jeffrey Solomon will craft a 2-3 hour tour to suit specific interests at Venice Beach Walking Tours. Famous for its street performers, basketball courts, and Muscle Beach (where the bodybuilding craze took hold), Venice Beach has much history as well, including canals and the famous boardwalk.

For more behind-the-scenes access, Red Line Tours in Hollywood take visitors inside landmarks not generally open to the public, including Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater, where the Academy Awards ceremony is held. You can also see some of the most famous stars along the Hollywood Walk of Fame as you traverse two full blocks of Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Stop and sniff awhile

Perhaps one of the best ways to spend a winter afternoon is to stop and smell the flowers. You can in California, even in midwinter. The Huntington Botanical Gardens spread over 207 acres (84 hectares) and boast 14,000 different plant varieties in specialized gardens, including Rose, Shakespeare, Jungle, Palm and Chinese. Best of all, the gardens are open weekday afternoons in the off-season. The Virginia Robinson Gardens, which surround the first luxury estate built in Beverly Hills by owners of the Robinson department store chain, were bequeathed to Los Angeles County following the death of its namesake. Though advance reservations are required, those who make the effort are rewarded with a walk through the mansion plus an Australian King Palm Forest, the Rose Garden, and Italian Terrace Garden.

Located in Arcadia, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden encompasses a rich variety of plant life as well as outdoor historical landmarks significant to California history. The Queen Anne Cottage is an 1885 Victorian dwelling that invites visitors to peer insider the windows; the Hugo Reid Adobe is a structure built in 1840 and reconstructed using original materials and methods. Visitors also enjoy the soothing sounds of the Meyberg Waterfall and seasonal blooms. For a different experience, the Arboretum offers Yoga in the Garden: an outdoor Hatha yoga class that begins with a brief walk through the gardens.

Even sunny Southern California can have a day without sun. When clouds roll in, locals know to head to the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, voted the “best thing to do on a rainy day” by Los Angeles Magazine. Plants, like the animals, are gathered according to region, so when you’re visiting the Campo Gorilla Reserve, you’ll see plants indigenous to the gorillas’ West Central Africa habitat, including palms, bamboo, pomegranates and ferns. Babies arrive regularly at the zoo; two of the newest are Sumatran tiger cubs, who made their debut in December in Tiger Plaza.

Ferris Wheel at Santa Monica Pier
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/number2son/6717754529/in/photostream

Taking a spin

Even amusement parks stay open year-round in California. Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier has carnival games and a historic carousel. Take a spin on the Pacific Wheel, which towers more than 130 feet (40 meters) above the ground and is the only Ferris wheel in the U.S. that runs on solar power. You can enjoy the view of the ocean without worrying about your carbon footprint! An added bonus is that unlike most other amusement parks, Pacific Park’s rides are á la carte, meaning you can ride just one or two, if that’s all you’re in the mood for.

The Balboa Fun Zone, located on the Balboa Peninsula, has a host of family-friendly rides and the distinction of being one of the oldest amusement parks in southern California. Try your hand at one of the classic arcade games or grab a corndog (or other treat) at a nearby food vendor. If you’d rather be closer to the water, the Balboa Island Ferry whisks passengers back and forth from Balboa Island to Balboa Peninsula for a mere $1 a ride. Or consider a more personal experience, via Jet Ski rentals or an afternoon of sport fishing.

If you can't make it to sunny California this winter, remember that even on a cold day, if the sun is shining, you'll feel a real boost when you head outdoors, start to move, and feel the rays on your face. Just remember your sunscreen!

Hollywood: Making Movies & Dreams Come True for 125 Years

The world-famous Hollywood sign.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34065722@N00/1151601662

Bright lights, big premieres, beautiful stars. Hollywood and the movies – one would likely not exist without the other.

Hollywood, Calif., may not be the actual birthplace of the movies (the East Coast holds that particular distinction), but Hollywood is definitely where the movies became legendary, and the movies helped make Hollywood the land of dreams it is today.

On February 1, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will honor the 125th Birthday of Hollywood with a celebration at the Hollywood & Highland Courtyard. To honor the special relationship between the land of stars and the world of movies, we present a brief history of some of Hollywood’s highlights, along with the film world’s biggest moments.

Hollywood Feb. 1, 1887: Harvey Wilcox, a transplant from Kansas, officially registers Hollywood with the Los Angeles County recorder’s office after his wife Daeida meets a woman on a train who speaks of her summer home called Hollywood. She convinces her husband to name their new community "Hollywood." 1903: The community is incorporated as Hollywood. Wilcox, a prohibitionist, bans the sale of alcohol in the community except by pharmacists. 1910: Hollywood officially becomes a part of Los Angeles in order to benefit from the water and sewage systems. 1911: David Horsley purchases the Blondeau Tavern on Sunset Boulevard and turns it into the Nestor Film Company, Hollywood's first film studio. 1917: The Charlie Chaplin Studios are built just south of Sunset. Charlie Chaplin Studios 1923: The Hollywood sign, which reads "Hollywoodland," is put up as an advertisement for a Hollywood Hills housing development. After the advertisement is over, the sign remains. 1927: Grauman's Chinese Theatre has its Grand Opening. The film shown is Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings. A riot breaks out as onlookers try to see the stars entering the theater. 1929: The first Academy Awards ceremony and banquet takes place in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. 1935: Max Factor opens his beauty salon to the stars. It is now the home of The Hollywood Museum. 1949: The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce takes charge of the Hollywood sign, removing the "land" and repairing the letters that now spell simply "Hollywood." 1960: The first star is placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The celebrity honored is Joanne Woodward. 1968: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is declared a historical and cultural landmark. Grauman's Chinese Theatre 1980: Los Angeles population rises to 3,005,072, surpassing Chicago as second in the nation. 1998: The American Film Institute announces its list of the top 100 films of all time. Citizen Kane tops the list. 2000: A section of East Hollywood is designated as America’s first and only Thai Town. So many ethnic Thais live in Los Angeles (roughly 80,000) that the city is sometimes referred to as Thailand’s 77th province. 2001: The Kodak Theatre opens on Hollywood Boulevard in the location of the old Hollywood Hotel. 2009: Madame Tussauds opens in Hollywood. Feb.1, 2012: Hollywood celebrates its 125th birthday!

The Movies 1889: William K. Dickson, commissioned by Thomas Alva Edison, builds the first motion-picture camera and names it the Kinetograph. 1903: Edison Corporation mechanic Edwin S. Porter turns cameraman, director and producer to make the first film: The Great Train Robbery. It is also the first Western. 1909: The New York Times publishes the first movie review, a report on D. W. Griffith's Pippa Passes. 1910: Thomas Edison introduces his kinetophone, which makes "talkies" (talking motion pictures) a reality. 1914: In his second big-screen appearance, Charlie Chaplin plays the Little Tramp, his most famous character. Charlie Chapman as the Little Tramp 1919: Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford establish United Artists in an attempt to control their own work. 1923: German Shepherd Rin Tin Tin becomes film's first canine star. 1927: Al Jolson astounds audiences with his nightclub act in The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length talkie. 1939: Gone with the Wind premieres and will go on to gross $192 million, making it one of the most profitable films of all time. It's also one of the longest films, clocking in at 231 minutes. Screenshot of the title page from the trailer for the film Gone with the Wind 1953: To counteract the threat of television, Hollywood develops wide-screen processes such as CinemaScope, first seen in The Robe. 1968: The motion picture rating system debuts with G, PG, R and X. 1975: Jaws, a film by a young director named Steven Spielberg, inaugurates the age of the modern blockbuster. Hollywood. 1980: Sherry Lansing, 36, was named president of production at 20th Century Fox, becoming the first female to hold this position and head a major studio. 1999: The 71st annual Academy Awards show was the longest Oscars awards ceremony ever held at 4 hours and 2 minutes. 2000: The national average ticket price for theatre admission was $5.39, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. 2008: A back-lot fire at Universal Studios destroyed iconic sets including the clock tower from Back to the Future and the King Kong exhibit on the studio tour. 2010: Johnny Depp was the highest-paid actor of the year ($75 million).

Timeline information courtesy TWOOP timelines, Discover Los Angeles and Infoplease.com.

Exploring and Enjoying Santa Monica

Downtown Santa Monica as seem from the Santa Monica pier. Photo credit: Derek KT W beyondphotography.net.tc

As the second largest city in the United States, the Los Angeles area has a lot to offer visitors. The reality is that you could spend years in L.A. without seeing all that there is to see. From Hollywood to Anaheim and Ventura to Long Beach, the possibilities are endless. Making a weekend trip is even more daunting, especially if it’s your first time to the area. A good strategy is to pick one area to focus on when visiting, rather than trying to do too much. With that in mind, I’ll focus on Santa Monica, which is one of Los Angeles’ more enchanting communities.

Part of the fun of any city is exploring for yourself, so it’s highly recommended that you take some time to just wander the streets of Santa Monica. Of course, you’ll also want to check out the Santa Monica Pier. The pier is over 100 years old, and features restaurants, beautiful ocean views, and sport fishing.

Another great attraction in downtown Santa Monica is the Promenade, which has some of the best shopping in LA. If you’re looking for some new threads, check out the stores there by Seven, American Apparel, Burberry, and Hugo Boss. They also have some excellent dining, including Xino Modern Chinese, and a variety of street performers that will keep the little ones entertained.

There are a lot of great hotels to stay at in Santa Monica, but most of them are fairly expensive. The best value you will find is the Holiday Inn at the Santa Monica Pier. Rates are a little over $100 a night during the week, and around $160 on the weekends, and they offer unparalleled access to downtown Santa Monica. For added savings, try using a Travelocity promo code to save 10% or more on your stay.

A nighttime view of Pacific Park at the Santa Monica pier.

The great thing about staying right by the pier is that you’re only a few blocks from downtown Santa Monica, which is filled with unique restaurants and bars. For breakfast, try Le Pain Quotidien. This charming little bakery offers wonderful organic meals made with fresh local ingredients. Their entrees are particularly excellent, especially the Roasted Asparagus and Goat Cheese Omelet.

If you enjoy drinking wine, a great spot for dinner is Upstairs 2, also located near downtown. This restaurant is a wine drinker’s Mecca, and they organize their menu selections based on the type of wine you want to drink. Some can’t miss items here are the Cold Cucumber Soup, the Monkfish Croquettes, and the King Crab Ravioli. If you find any wines that you particularly enjoy, you can purchase them in the giant wine store located downstairs.

Santa Monica has an endless supply of nightlife, so you’re bound to find something that’s right up your alley. If you want a glass of wine, Pourtal is an excellent place to start your night. They have over one hundred wines, including many from unique regions such as Germany, Israel and Slovenia, and they also feature a light menu.

If you’re looking for a more rowdy experience, check out Busby’s. This bar has a very authentic west coast vibe, and is filled with beautiful people and reasonably priced drinks. They also have pool tables, arcade games, and a great dance floor.

Third Street Promenade decorated for the holidays.

For those who desire a slightly more upscale experience, try checking out Copa d’ Oro. The ambiance and service there are excellent, but the highlight is definitely their cocktails. If you need convincing, just take a look at the Mestizio. This potent masterpiece contains Chinaco Blanco Tequila, Crème de Ginger, Basil Ruby Red Grapefruit, and Organic Agave Nectar. It’s not just a drink, it’s a work of art!

You can make a hundred trips to Santa Monica without experiencing everything the area has to offer. The key here is to not get overwhelmed, but rather to be open to adventure. The recommendations here are all great points of departure, but don’t be afraid to explore on your own.

Santa Monica is one of Stefan Georgi’s favorite areas of LA. He highly recommends using a Travelocity promo code when booking a hotel near the pier.