Activities and Attractions

The Greater Los Angeles Area

The first and last thing you need to understand about the greater Los Angeles area, of which Long Beach is a part, is that it is a cultural wasteland, and there is not a World Heritage site for miles around. They don’t call it Tinseltown for nothing. Hollywood stars are occasionally holed up in one or another otherwise impossible-to-get-into restaurants, clubs and watering holes, but most often they’re out of town. Not on location for a shoot, just away to avoid the tour buses and their incessant bullhorns. Rodeo Drive is perhaps a better reflection of conspicuous consumption and crass commercialization than Fifth Avenue in New York but you won’t find any stars there, just wannabes with more money than sense (or taste). Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is every bit as phony and tacky as you would expect. Small wonder that the city boasts a tar pit as a major cultural/historical landmark… a tar pit for crying out loud!

The environment of the LA Basin will take your breath away… literally. The climate would be great if the air quality didn’t eat the skin off your face, and God knows what it’s doing to your lungs. About the nicest thing that can be said of the water quality at the beaches is that it hasn’t caught fire (yet). The Los Angeles “River” is an environmental train wreck, an enormous paved ditch through town that is bone dry most of the year. Even if there were things to see and do in town, getting around on the freeways is famously impossible… they’re twelve-lane parking lots most of the day and well into the night.

And in lasting testimony to the tyranny of American popular culture, the f@#$ing mouse is everywhere.

Okay, that was fun. Truthfully, the area really does have a lot to offer, whatever your interests are. The following are suggested on your afternoon off during the meeting, or time before or afterwards.

Griffith Observatory

Sitting atop Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, the observatory offers spectacular views over the LA Basin, Pacific Ocean and even the iconic Hollywood sign. A Works Progress Administration project during the Great Depression, it opened in 1935 and underwent an extensive renovation in 2006 that expanded and upgraded its exhibit space, planetarium and iconic dome.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

LACMA is the largest museum in the western US, with over 150,000 works. Major collections focus on Asian, American and Latin American, Spanish Colonial and Pre-Columbian, as well as excellent examples from Greek/Roman//Etruscan, Islamic and each of the major European art periods. Degas’s bronze Little Dancer, her chin defiantly uplifted, is a favorite.

The Getty Center

Located on a hilltop in the Brentwood neighborhood of LA, the Getty is well known for its architecture, gardens and spectacular views over the LA Basin and Pacific Ocean. The collection in the museum focuses on pre-20th Century European art including, famously, Vincent van Gogh’s Irises.

Venice Beach

The beach in the Venice neighborhood of LA, just south of Santa Monica and its Pier, is known for its wide variety of street performers. An equally wide variety of bohemian local characters makes for excellent people-watching on a fine summer afternoon.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall

Comparable in its architecture, acoustics and programming to the Sydney Opera House, Frank Gehry’s masterpiece met and exceeded the expectations of the Disney Family. It is home to the LA Phil, under the direction of rock star maestro Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Master Chorale and a magnificent concert organ, featuring a façade designed by Gehry.

Aquarium of the Pacific

Located in Long Beach, the aquarium‘s collection features over 11,000 animals (from 500+ species) in exhibits ranging from 5,000 to 350,000 gallons in size. Permanent galleries focus on Southern and Baja California, North Pacific and Tropical Pacific, each with specific educational and conservation information.

Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens

Sited in San Marino, just south of Pasadena, the Library (former home of the eponymous benefactor) is nice but the botanical gardens are spectacular. Covering over 120 acres, the gardens are divided into over a dozen themes, including Australian, Desert, Japanese, Chinese and Subtropical/Jungle, as well as Palm, Rose, Herb and Children’s gardens.

Santa Catalina Island

This 76 sq.mi. part of the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California features a diverse landscape of hills, canyons, coastal cliffs and sandy beaches. Equally diverse ecosystems include coastal scrub, chapparal, oak woodlands, grasslands and coastal marine, making for abundant opportunities to observe a variety of wildlife on day hikes. The total island population is ~5,000, the largest town being Avalon.

And, oh yes, the La Brea Tar Pits.

This active paleontological research site is just down the street from LACMA. Formed as crude oil seeps up and eventually harden to form small mounds of asphalt that over the past 30-50,000 years have been thick enough to entrap animals, penetrating and preserving the carcasses of everything from rodents to mastodons, and the latter’s infamous predator, the saber-toothed cat.

In addition, don’t forget that LA is one of the world’s great food towns, from Michelin-starred sushi bars to taco trucks and everything in between. If you’re a serious (or even casual) foodie I strongly recommend that you do some on-line homework before coming.

And there is also plenty to see and do in Long Beach. The Long Beach Museum of Art (MOLAA) is very nice, as are the beaches near Palos Verdes and Redondo Beach.