This lens is about cool places that I like in and around Los Angeles. I am a native of Los Angeles and have lived here for almost all of my 40 something years. You probably won't find all of the places that you would find in a travel or visitors guide and you might find places that won't appear in a visitors guide. It's just the places I like. Maybe you will too.
I will also point out a few places that are good for spotting celebrities.
A beautiful outdoor shopping mall/entertainment center. It has movie theaters, restaurants, a variety of mostly upscale shops, a Nordstrom Department Store, live outdoor music performances, and a fountain with musical water shows. It's a good place for an occasional celebrity spotting. I saw David Spade there at the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. X17 Online has a video of Paris Hilton shopping at The Grove.
Also, the Grove has a trolly that runs on tracks throughout the shopping center.
During the holidays they have Santa Claus, a huge Christmas tree and snow every evening. Yes, I said snow!
Home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Sparks basketball teams, as well as the Los Angeles Kings Hockey team. Location of many great concerts (I saw Prince there). It has several nice restaurants, a large and very nice sports memorabilia shop, and a store that sells sports and entertainment art.
If you want to see celebrities, check out a Lakers game at Staples Center.
Congratulations to the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers!
Kobe and the Lakers on Jimmy Kimmel Live
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L.A. LIVE is a brand new sports and entertainment district adjacent to STAPLES Center and Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. It features sports and music venues, night clubs, restaurants, a bowling alley, museum and movie theaters.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Yes, we do have culture in L.A. According to the LACMA website, LACMA has more than 100,000 works of art, and is the largest encyclopedic museum west of Chicago.
Even more culture for you. Walt Disney Concert Hall, is the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry and, according the website, is "designed to be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for an unparalleled musical experience." It's a beautiful place. I saw Sting perform there as part of his Songs from the Labyrinth tour of lute music.
Recently re-opened, after being closed for 4 years for renovation, the Griffith Observatory planetarium is once again open to the public for a beautiful view of the stars, the sky, and the city below. A number of movies were filmed at the observatory, including "Rebel Without a Cause" and "The Terminator".
The Hollywood Bowl is a great outdoor amphitheater. It's probably the best place in Southern California for summer concerts. It's the location of the annual Playboy Jazz Festival and many other great concerts. I saw Sting and the Police there on their reunion tour (twice!).
The Hollywood Bowl is also the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The Beverly Center is a large enclosed upscale shopping mall just on the edge of Beverly Hills. It's another good place for celebrity spotting. It has a 13 screen movie theater and several nice restaurants. If you go, check out the Grand Lux Cafe restaurant.
Universal CityWalkA large outdoor shopping and entertainment center adjacent to the Universal Studios tour. It has a multi-screen movie theater and lots of interesting shops and restaurants, including a Hard Rock Cafe, and a Wolfgang Puck Cafe.
Located in South Los Angeles, Exposition Park is a cultural center which includes the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California Science Center & IMAX Theatre, Exposition Park Rose Garden, and the California African-American Museum.
La Brea Tar PitsRight in the middle of the city, at the La Brea Tar Pits you can see what L.A. was like between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, when saber-toothed cats and mammoths roamed the area. According to the website, it is one of the world's most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world.
New! Los Angeles, Portrait of a City
The book documents the explosive growth by which a few palm trees and haciendas mushroomed into a traffic-clogged, smog- ridden mega-conurbation -- or, if you are a fan, became a place as architecturally and socially unique as Venice (and, for some tastes, more fun). The striking images include film noir-like shots of crime scenes, sound stages pullulating with Busby Berkeley-type bathing beauties, beaches, cars, and the L.A. art and jazz worlds snapped by William Claxton and Dennis Hopper. (From Bloomberg)
Third Street PromenadeAnother great outdoor shopping/entertainment area in downtown Santa Monica. It spans several blocks and can get very crowded on summer weekends. A great place to people watch but it's a little bit less controlled than the Grove. It has lots of good shops and restaurants, and street performers are common.
Malibu County Mart A nice small outdoor shopping center in Malibu. It has a variety of upscale shops and restaurants and a nice little playground area where you may see Pierce Brosnan playing with his kids. Many celebrities are known to shop there.
- The Promenade at Howard Hughes Center
- And yet another outdoor shopping/entertainment area (we have a lot of these with the nice weather you know) on the southwest side of the city, just a few miles north of the airport. Home of the Bridge Cinema De Lux movie theater.
- Montana Avenue
- An upscale shopping district in Santa Monica, just blocks from the beach. A nice place to take a stroll and window shop, if you don't have big bucks to spend. It's another place for occasional celebrity spotting. I recently saw Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver shopping there.
- Kodak Theatre
- The Kodak Theatre, located in the Hollywood & Highland Center in historic Hollywood, is the permanent home of the Academy Awards. It's a very nice theater with great sound and beautiful architecture. I recently went there to attend an all-star jazz concert in honor of Herbie Hancock. However, if you visit, keep in mind that, although the Kodak Theatre and the Hollywood & Highland Center are very nice, that part of Hollywood is a bit seedy.
- Bergamot Station
- Arts complex in Santa Monica located at what once was a station for the Red Car trolley line. Bergamot Station is now home to the Santa Monica Museum of Art and more than two dozen art galleries. There is also a cafe and a bookstore.
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More Los Angeles Links
- LACity.org
- The Official Web Site of The City of Los Angeles.
- DiscoverLosangeles.com
- Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.
- ExperienceLA
- Information on Los Angeles destinations and events including maps, itineraries, and public transit. A partnership of public and private sponsors and over 2,000 actively contributing arts and cultural organizations.
- CalendarLive.com
- Entertainment news, reviews, events and things to do in Southern California, from the Los Angeles Times.
- LA.com
- A Los Angeles city guide with information about nightlife, restaurants, shopping, etc.
- LosAngeles.com
- A guide to the city of Los Angeles, its arts and culture, travel and tourism, hotels, theater, arts and entertainment, restaurants, dining, music, people.
You may also want to take a look at...
- Seeing Stars in Hollywood
- They describe themselves as "The Ultimate Guide to Celebrities & Hollywood." The site includes information about where celebrities dine, shop, play, pray, and much more.
- Top 10 Hip Hotels Los Angeles
- A list of the top 10 hip hotels in Los Angeles from Gayot.com.
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by Roxanne
Hi. I live in Los Angeles. I like music and art. I am a big fan of Sting and Pierce Brosnan. I hope you enjoy my lenses. ... (more)
