Southern California: See It All Again for the First Time

Southern California. Living here, it’s easy to forget that Los Angeles is the City of Dreams. That Huntington Beach is the Surf City. That we have Disneyland. Today, we’re going to talk about some of the best spots you may overlook every day but that visitors love. Tourist traps, if you will. But just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s bad. Read on to hear why you should visit some of the places you would normally ignore or revisit old family favorites.

Hollywood Sign

Is there any site that screams “Southern California” more than the actual Hollywood Sign? Originally built in 1923 as “Hollywoodland” to highlight upscale real estate, the sign with its 30’ wide, 43’ high letters were never intended to be a permanent feature. But what a feature it is, and part of its reconstruction and enlargement in the 1970s was thanks to Hugh Heffner. Now located squarely on Griffith Park land, you can access it from the famous Griffith Observatory – a great place to visit on its own – or from the Bronson Canyon park entrance. Another popular nearby trail includes the Lake Hollywood Reservoir.

Walk of Fame

In 1953, E.M. Stuart, volunteer president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, proposed a Walk of Fame as “a means to ‘maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world.” It took several years for the first star to be laid, that of director and producer Stanley Kramer, in March of 1960, but it wasn’t until spring of 1961 that the project and its first 1,558 stars were officially accepted by the Board of Public Works. After that, the whole process for adding new stars took several more years to adopt, and the next star, that of producer Richard D. Zanuck – who went on to do films like JAWS and Driving Miss Daisy – was added in late 1968.

These days, an average of two stars are added a month. Stars are not just assigned arbitrarily. It’s worth noting that you’ll find more stars of Oscar winners near the Dolby Theatre – the site of the Oscars presentation. Some stars are assigned ironically, like Ed O’Neill’s outside of a shoe store, since his Married With Children character was a shoe salesman, and Mike Myers’s outside of the International Love Boutique – Austin Powers would be so proud. Other stars have chosen their locations based on highlights of their careers, like George Carlin and KDAY radio and Lin-Manuel Miranda near the site of early productions of In the Heights and Hamilton. When visiting the Walk of Fame, take the time to appreciate some science history by hitting all of the monuments to the Apollo 11 moon mission, located at the four corners of Hollywood and Vine.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

While stars are represented via tiles in the Walk of Fame sidewalk, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, aka TCL Chinese Theatre, brings the stars to you in cement at life-size. Since “it” couple Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks planted their hands and feet in the cement outside Grauman’s in 1927, over 200 prints have been made here, including the hooves of Roy Rogers’ mount Trigger, Jackie Chan’s nose, and Whoopi Goldberg’s deadlocks.

During its creation, the U.S. government had to go through lots of red tape to import Chinese artifacts, including temple bells, pagodas, and the stone Heaven Dogs still seen around the theatre today. The forecourt features 40’ curved exterior walls and copper-topped turrets with 10’ lotus-shaped fountains before rising 90’ into the southern California sky, held in place by two red columns separated by a 30’ high stone dragon. While Grauman’s is the site of many a major motion picture premieres, you can still watch publicly shown movies on non-premiere nights or get a 30-minute walking tour of the classic red velvet and gold space seven days a week. Besides standard first-run films, the on-site IMAX is one of the largest movie screens on the continent, seating 932 people.

Come on Down!

If you’re looking to see some filming in action, consider taking a day to watch one of your favorite game shows being taped. JEOPARDY! and Wheel of Fortune are both filmed at the Sony Studios in Culver City. JEOPARDY! is a bigger taping deal and releases tickets on the first day of the month. There may be a few tickets available for that month, but more likely, you’ll be looking ahead at the next. For Wheel of Fortune, you can have luck looking just a few days ahead of time.

Whichever classic game show you choose, you can request online up to four tickets a few days or weeks in advance; if you’d like to bring a larger group, you’ll have to call to set that up. Don’t forget to call back to verify you’ll be attending! The Price is Right films at CBS’ studios in Television City, which is in the Fairfax District of L.A. Tickets are usually released anywhere between a month and six weeks out and can be requested online. Groups of up 15 – 25 can be accommodated with a call. Who knows, you could even get that big call up to the stage! Fun fact: those running for office are not eligible to be contestants.

Santa Monica Pier

When was the last time you visited the Santa Monica Pier? From its aquarium run by a non-profit dedicated to saving the Santa Monica Bay to the vintage carousel, a trip to the pier is fun in the sun for the whole family. The Santa Monica Pier is actually two piers, the first of which was built in 1909 as a way to cover a tunnel funneling sewage into the ocean. Glamorous. Don’t worry; they stopped doing that about a century ago.

The southern Pleasure Pier opened in 1916 to compete with amusement parks on other nearby piers. Over the ensuing decades, both piers saw a lot of changes. These days, Pacific Park features 12 rides, including the Pacific Wheel – the first solar-powered Ferris wheel. You’ll also find classic fair food, a whole host of other restaurants, and midway games, along with an arcade. Fitness classes and trapeze school will get your blood pumping if roller coasters aren’t your thing. And, of course, there’s always enjoying the ocean, from sunbathing to fishing to boogie boarding.

La Brea Tar Pits

The La Brea Tar Pits are the only place in the world where you can find active, ongoing studies of the Ice Age right in the middle of a city. You can watch fossils pulled from the asphalt seeps and inside the museum, see these same fossils cleaned, repaired, and identified. Many specimens found in the pits are on display, as well, and they include tiny microfossils to mammoths.

You’ll also go back in time with hands-on interactive exhibits, a 3D movie, and live shows using life-size puppets to bring dinosaurs and the Ice Age to life. Outside at Hancock Park, you can wander paths around the excavations, get the little ones’ energy out on the playground, and find the Pleistocene Garden, which has carefully curated samples of the prehistoric plants originally native to the area. TIME for Kids named La Brea one of the coolest 50 places in the world for kids to visit, but you’ll find it a good time no matter what your age.

The Stars, the Surf, the Fossils

Living in a beautiful place like Costa Mesa, we are literally surrounded by all kinds of fun and games. Whether you take in a Dodgers doubleheader or head east to get away from it all in Joshua Tree, Southern California has zero shortage of entertainment. So sometimes, it’s best to get back to basics. Visit all the things that make L.A., well L.A. Reconnect with your roots and watch some science at the La Brea Tar Pits, put your hands in Marilyn Monroe’s prints, take in a movie on a historical screen, and hike up to the Hollywood sign to see it all again, for the first time.