Wish List: What to do in SoCal?

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I’ll be traveling to Southern California this weekend for work. Since I have a red eye home, I hope to be able to go to Got Kosher on Sunday and get some more of the pretzel challah that didn’t survive the trip to San Diego last time. Yet, I still haven’t decided either I’ll stay in LA or Anaheim (I have reservations at hotels in both cities.)

The majority of time working will be in Anaheim and to get an affordable flight, I’m taking United/Continental in and out of John Wayne Airport. The Airport is an hour from the LA hotel, in good traffic. The event, a reception and game, is at the Honda Center, but the tickets for the game are up in Westwood. Once I am finished with my responsibilities, will the convenience of being close to the work event be outweighed by the ease of being close to downtown LA?
Gamble House in Pasadena, CA
So I googled “LA travel blog” to help me decide. I found The Los Angeles Consortium for Online Travel on Christopher Elliott's The 11 best new travel blogs of 2011. Christopher calls this site “easily the best new regional travel blogs to come along in a long time. It’s from a consortium of well-known LA area travel writers, including Jennifer Miner. You can tell that these folks love LA!”

I jumped into reading some of the entries and read Noah Albert’s entry about Art Deco Buildings in Los Angeles. From the 20’s to the 40’s the population of Los Angeles tripled and to match this growth in population new buildings were erected in the Art Deco style. Albert continues his entry focusing on two specific Art Deco structures, the Eastern Columbia and The Wiltern. these are two places that are his favorites, and one of the reason why is “when the light is right, the turquoise terra cotta covering both these structures looks just like blue-green magic.”
The Sunset Tower, West Hollywood, CA
Ah, architecture! The LA area is known for its art deco style, as well as its earlier arts and crafts movement, which is a personal favorite. I will take in the wonders. I think I’ve just decided that I’ll stay in LA.

Hopefully, I can sneak a peek and head out to the Gamble House in Pasadena, California on Friday. This outstanding example of American Arts and Crafts style architecture is also a favorite location of my dear friend, Rosie. Designed by Charles and Henry Greene in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company, the house is a National Historic Landmark.
The Edward Alexander Kelley Hackett House, Los Angeles, CA.

Inspired by Hollywood and Albert’s entry, I think that I’ll go check out the Sunset Tower. This hotel, is which has host many an Oscar and Golden Globes party, is located on the Sunset Strip. Architect Leland A. Bryant designed the building in 1929 and it opened in 1931. Also on the National Registry, the Sunset Tower is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the Los Angeles area.

Also in my searches, I found the Edward Alexander Kelley Hackett House is a historic Craftsman-style house in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Built in 1901, the house is known for its well-preserved Craftsman architecture. After viewing the house, I can stay in the Pico-Union area, a Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigrant community, and get something tasty for lunch.

Any other suggestions for great architecture in Los Angeles?

Images courtesy of Wikipedia.

Comments

Elizabeth said…
Check out the Bradbury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradbury_Building) and then go grab a french dip and some cocktails at Cole's (http://213nightlife.com/colesfrenchdip)
17:48
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