(Jim Cooke/Los Angeles Times; Photos via Getty Images)
25 ways to ease your election anxiety in L.A.
We’re in the homestretch of the most consequential national election in recent history — and it’s too close for comfort, no matter where you stand. Not to mention there’s a looming threat of post election violence, to boot. If you’re anything like me, there’s a lot of tossing and turning happening in your bed at night. This is a high stakes election, and my nervous system is on overdrive.
The election polls don’t offer much solace, seeing how tight the race is. And you can only check the polls so many times before you’re simply doomscrolling in an echo chamber of anguish. It’s … a lot. So we’ve put together a few creative ways to self-soothe during the lead-up to the election and while we wait for its results.
As election season nerves kick into overdrive, a psychologist shares research-backed ways to ease your mind.
We’re not suggesting you disengage. Stay on top of the news, donate to your cause of choice if you have the means, volunteer and, above all else, vote. These are all great ways to put anxiety into action. But make no mistake, we all need a break sometimes.
Fortunately, Los Angeles is brimming with especially unique (OK, weird) ways to calm your central nervous system. Maybe that’s a sharp right turn into Griffith Park for a nature fix, a soothing sound bath led by a singing bowl artist or a luxurious head spa massage. Maybe stoned yoga does it for you, or even a plant meditation.
Regardless, we hope this list of nature escapes, art happenings, self-care experiences (and, yes, the occasional labyrinth) offers some relief as we wait to see what the future holds.
Showing Places
( Florian Holzherr )
Study the sky at a James Turrell Skyspace
Claremont Arts
Lie beneath one of artist James Turrell’s ethereal, immersive light installations and time becomes fluid and malleable, slowing and expanding at once. The so-called architectural Skyspaces contain hidden LED lights that shift in color and intensity with the movement of the sun at both dawn and dusk so that a swath of the sky — as seen through a cutout in the canopy of the structure — appears to change color by contrast.
Watch it turn green, pink and lavender, then fade to aquamarine, deep cobalt and black. Wait as it slowly lightens to luminescent gold. The effect is sublime.
There are only a handful of publicly accessible Turrell Skyspaces worldwide. And one of them — the only one open to the public in Southern California — is on the Pomona College campus in Claremont. Turrell graduated from Pomona College in 1965, and the architectural installation, “Dividing the Light,” opened there in 2007. The work is part of the Benton Museum of Art’s collection, but it’s situated in the college’s Draper Courtyard at 6th Street and College Way and reservations are not required.
The lights go on daily 100 minutes before sunrise and 25 minutes before sunset, and they stay on for about an hour afterward.
The evening I visited, the open-air pavilion was populated by a professor giving a talk about color theory and about 20 college students, who lay sprawled out on the ground by a shallow pool of water mirroring the sky.
It’s an awe-inspiring setting. And the experience, which is season-, time- and weather-dependent, is never exactly the same.
But then again, neither are you.
Price: Free.
Watch it turn green, pink and lavender, then fade to aquamarine, deep cobalt and black. Wait as it slowly lightens to luminescent gold. The effect is sublime.
There are only a handful of publicly accessible Turrell Skyspaces worldwide. And one of them — the only one open to the public in Southern California — is on the Pomona College campus in Claremont. Turrell graduated from Pomona College in 1965, and the architectural installation, “Dividing the Light,” opened there in 2007. The work is part of the Benton Museum of Art’s collection, but it’s situated in the college’s Draper Courtyard at 6th Street and College Way and reservations are not required.
The lights go on daily 100 minutes before sunrise and 25 minutes before sunset, and they stay on for about an hour afterward.
The evening I visited, the open-air pavilion was populated by a professor giving a talk about color theory and about 20 college students, who lay sprawled out on the ground by a shallow pool of water mirroring the sky.
It’s an awe-inspiring setting. And the experience, which is season-, time- and weather-dependent, is never exactly the same.
But then again, neither are you.
Price: Free.
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(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Take a scenic (and strenuous) staircase walk along the Rustic Canyon Loop
Pacific Palisades Urban Trail
I love, love love this walk, even though it took me past a parade of hard bodies charging up and down the infamous 4th Street Stairs multiple times before I could huff and puff my way to the top just once.
So yes, expect some labored breathing, but it also takes you through some serene and majestically green neighborhoods, great ocean views and — quite unexpectedly — a tiny stream during our dry-as-dust summer. There are lots of stairs — at 976 steps, it’s one of the most stair-intensive — but the sights are so transporting it’s easy to forget you’re near a city center, and that makes all the effort worthwhile.
1. Park alongside the beach at Will Rogers Parking Lot No. 1, where Entrada Drive spills into Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Parking here is $9, and it’s safest to bring cash, since the machines don’t reliably accept debit cards.
2. Walk north a half block along PCH to where Chautauqua Boulevard and West Channel Road merge into PCH in one massive snarl of traffic. There are no crosswalks here, so don’t try to cross PCH aboveground. Instead, find the entrance to the Little Tunnel, descend the 17 steps and safely cross under PCH to the other side, walking up 17 steps and emerging into the sun on the south side of Channel Road.
3. Walk south on PCH, past Patrick’s Roadhouse and a gas station, along the sidewalk until you come to your first set of stairs, a colorful set of 48 steps that climb to Ocean Way. A note here: The start of this walk wasn’t nice. The traffic is thick on PCH, the sidewalk is narrow and there was a glassy-eyed man smoking a small pipe as we slipped past him on the stairs. But it gets better, I promise.
4. At the top, head left, down the hill, until Ocean Way merges with Entrada. Walk up Entrada just past 278, a tall, white modern structure with a corner so sharp it has a surreal M.C. Escher feel. Look right to find your second set of stairs. These start as a path through sprays of bougainvillea, towering eucalyptus and tropical greens to a stair that climbs 79 steps to Mabery Road.
5. Turn left on Mabery and follow the road down to East Ocean Avenue (also known as Ocean Avenue Ext. on Google Maps). Cross carefully to the other side of Ocean and head left, downhill, to the base of the 4th Street Stairs. (Note: There is a smaller set of stairs on the right just before the 4th Street Stairs, which you should ignore. The 4th Street Stairs are just past 358 Ocean, and are pretty easy to recognize since they zig and zag 189 steps to the top and have a fair number of panting, dripping athletic types running up and down them.
6. Luckily, the 4th Street Stairs have several landings along the way where you can catch your breath, enjoy the gorgeous views behind you and, in my case anyway, try to ignore the fact that the same runner has passed you three times already up and down and up again. Just be careful to hug the rails as you climb these stairs because these runners aren’t shy about asking you to move.
7. At the top, past the water bottles left by the runners as they exercise, you emerge at the corner of 4th Street and Adelaide Drive. Here are some truly breathtaking views of the ocean, Rustic Canyon and many gorgeous homes, with plaintive signs asking people to please refrain from doing calisthenics in view of their windows.
8. Turn left on Adelaide, walking uphill, and savor the views until you reach 526. There on the left are the Santa Monica Stairs, 166 weathered wooden steps, thankfully heading down. You’ll soon understand that this is a continuation of the workout regime, with some runners charging up the 4th Street Stairs and then down the Santa Monica Stairs again and again in a sweaty circle. Anyway, be sure to stay right so they can speed past (unless you are fit enough to join their ranks).
9. At the bottom of the stairs, you’re back on Entrada, where you should cross the street and turn right, heading uphill a short distance, past 525 and a tall jagged concrete wall to find your next stairs on the left, about 25 steps down to the cul-de-sac end of Attilla Road.
10. Walk straight on Attilla past Dryad Road to East Channel Road, where you turn left. This is a serenely beautiful neighborhood, full of majestic trees, quiet birdsong and children playing safely in the street.
11. East Channel Road dead-ends, becoming impassable for cars, but we foot travelers can continue forward following a path through a wide gate on the right of the road to the other end of East Channel Road. Keep walking straight, past Amalfi Drive and Canyon Elementary School, until you see a crosswalk and a pedestrian bridge crossing the Santa Monica Canyon Creek bed on your right.
12. Across the bridge you emerge on Sage Lane, where you should walk straight until Sage bends left and you spot your next stairs on the right, rising 14 steps and then turning right up another 64 steps through what appears to be a tall grove of bamboo.
13. At the top, you’ll emerge onto Amalfi Drive. Turn left, and stay left when Amalfi runs into Sumac Lane.
14. Follow Sumac about a block, until it curves to the right. On your left, at 323 Sumac, you’ll find another set of steep stairs, 124 steps climbing straight up to Amalfi again, where you turn left, past just one house, and take a semihidden set of stairs along a steel fence that plunge you down again — without handrails — a very steep 124 steps to Mesa Road.
15. Turn right on Mesa, heading uphill to 475, a stark, hyper-modern-looking home built in 1937 by Harwell H. Harris for John Entenza, editor of Art & Architecture magazine. This 850-square-foot house looks like a circle attached to a square with some very cool (and private) steps leading to a rooftop patio. We must, however, carry on to our public stairs just beyond 491 Mesa, a few doors down on the left.
16. Be careful as you descend because the 61 steps are uneven and broken in places. At the bottom, you’ll emerge onto West Rustic Road, my favorite part of this walk. It’s so quiet, green and yes, rustic, it feels magical, especially when you cross the bridge in front of you, over Rustic Creek (which actually has a small trickle of water) and follow West Rustic Road to the left.
17. At the first corner, turn right on Hillside Lane and follow the narrow street as it bends left, so quiet it feels like a deserted movie set of tall, lovely homes. Just as Hillside bends left again, look straight ahead for your final set of stairs, 85 steep, narrow steps that climb up through green shady yards to Vance Road at the top.
18. Turn left on Vance, walking downhill past the magnificent mosaic of a guitarist and dancer at 390, straight and then right, as the road curves back, alas, to civilization. Along the way, there are some fine views of Santa Monica and Rustic Canyon, a small consolation. Suddenly, far too soon, you’re back in the real world amid the jarring traffic of Chautauqua Boulevard.
19. Turn left on Chautauqua and follow the road down to where it converges with West Channel Road at PCH. The traffic is fierce here, so use the crosswalks from Chautauqua to the south side of Channel to get back to the tunnel that will take you down 17 steps to cross under PCH and then back up 17 steps to your car.
So yes, expect some labored breathing, but it also takes you through some serene and majestically green neighborhoods, great ocean views and — quite unexpectedly — a tiny stream during our dry-as-dust summer. There are lots of stairs — at 976 steps, it’s one of the most stair-intensive — but the sights are so transporting it’s easy to forget you’re near a city center, and that makes all the effort worthwhile.
1. Park alongside the beach at Will Rogers Parking Lot No. 1, where Entrada Drive spills into Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Parking here is $9, and it’s safest to bring cash, since the machines don’t reliably accept debit cards.
2. Walk north a half block along PCH to where Chautauqua Boulevard and West Channel Road merge into PCH in one massive snarl of traffic. There are no crosswalks here, so don’t try to cross PCH aboveground. Instead, find the entrance to the Little Tunnel, descend the 17 steps and safely cross under PCH to the other side, walking up 17 steps and emerging into the sun on the south side of Channel Road.
3. Walk south on PCH, past Patrick’s Roadhouse and a gas station, along the sidewalk until you come to your first set of stairs, a colorful set of 48 steps that climb to Ocean Way. A note here: The start of this walk wasn’t nice. The traffic is thick on PCH, the sidewalk is narrow and there was a glassy-eyed man smoking a small pipe as we slipped past him on the stairs. But it gets better, I promise.
4. At the top, head left, down the hill, until Ocean Way merges with Entrada. Walk up Entrada just past 278, a tall, white modern structure with a corner so sharp it has a surreal M.C. Escher feel. Look right to find your second set of stairs. These start as a path through sprays of bougainvillea, towering eucalyptus and tropical greens to a stair that climbs 79 steps to Mabery Road.
5. Turn left on Mabery and follow the road down to East Ocean Avenue (also known as Ocean Avenue Ext. on Google Maps). Cross carefully to the other side of Ocean and head left, downhill, to the base of the 4th Street Stairs. (Note: There is a smaller set of stairs on the right just before the 4th Street Stairs, which you should ignore. The 4th Street Stairs are just past 358 Ocean, and are pretty easy to recognize since they zig and zag 189 steps to the top and have a fair number of panting, dripping athletic types running up and down them.
6. Luckily, the 4th Street Stairs have several landings along the way where you can catch your breath, enjoy the gorgeous views behind you and, in my case anyway, try to ignore the fact that the same runner has passed you three times already up and down and up again. Just be careful to hug the rails as you climb these stairs because these runners aren’t shy about asking you to move.
7. At the top, past the water bottles left by the runners as they exercise, you emerge at the corner of 4th Street and Adelaide Drive. Here are some truly breathtaking views of the ocean, Rustic Canyon and many gorgeous homes, with plaintive signs asking people to please refrain from doing calisthenics in view of their windows.
8. Turn left on Adelaide, walking uphill, and savor the views until you reach 526. There on the left are the Santa Monica Stairs, 166 weathered wooden steps, thankfully heading down. You’ll soon understand that this is a continuation of the workout regime, with some runners charging up the 4th Street Stairs and then down the Santa Monica Stairs again and again in a sweaty circle. Anyway, be sure to stay right so they can speed past (unless you are fit enough to join their ranks).
9. At the bottom of the stairs, you’re back on Entrada, where you should cross the street and turn right, heading uphill a short distance, past 525 and a tall jagged concrete wall to find your next stairs on the left, about 25 steps down to the cul-de-sac end of Attilla Road.
10. Walk straight on Attilla past Dryad Road to East Channel Road, where you turn left. This is a serenely beautiful neighborhood, full of majestic trees, quiet birdsong and children playing safely in the street.
11. East Channel Road dead-ends, becoming impassable for cars, but we foot travelers can continue forward following a path through a wide gate on the right of the road to the other end of East Channel Road. Keep walking straight, past Amalfi Drive and Canyon Elementary School, until you see a crosswalk and a pedestrian bridge crossing the Santa Monica Canyon Creek bed on your right.
12. Across the bridge you emerge on Sage Lane, where you should walk straight until Sage bends left and you spot your next stairs on the right, rising 14 steps and then turning right up another 64 steps through what appears to be a tall grove of bamboo.
13. At the top, you’ll emerge onto Amalfi Drive. Turn left, and stay left when Amalfi runs into Sumac Lane.
14. Follow Sumac about a block, until it curves to the right. On your left, at 323 Sumac, you’ll find another set of steep stairs, 124 steps climbing straight up to Amalfi again, where you turn left, past just one house, and take a semihidden set of stairs along a steel fence that plunge you down again — without handrails — a very steep 124 steps to Mesa Road.
15. Turn right on Mesa, heading uphill to 475, a stark, hyper-modern-looking home built in 1937 by Harwell H. Harris for John Entenza, editor of Art & Architecture magazine. This 850-square-foot house looks like a circle attached to a square with some very cool (and private) steps leading to a rooftop patio. We must, however, carry on to our public stairs just beyond 491 Mesa, a few doors down on the left.
16. Be careful as you descend because the 61 steps are uneven and broken in places. At the bottom, you’ll emerge onto West Rustic Road, my favorite part of this walk. It’s so quiet, green and yes, rustic, it feels magical, especially when you cross the bridge in front of you, over Rustic Creek (which actually has a small trickle of water) and follow West Rustic Road to the left.
17. At the first corner, turn right on Hillside Lane and follow the narrow street as it bends left, so quiet it feels like a deserted movie set of tall, lovely homes. Just as Hillside bends left again, look straight ahead for your final set of stairs, 85 steep, narrow steps that climb up through green shady yards to Vance Road at the top.
18. Turn left on Vance, walking downhill past the magnificent mosaic of a guitarist and dancer at 390, straight and then right, as the road curves back, alas, to civilization. Along the way, there are some fine views of Santa Monica and Rustic Canyon, a small consolation. Suddenly, far too soon, you’re back in the real world amid the jarring traffic of Chautauqua Boulevard.
19. Turn left on Chautauqua and follow the road down to where it converges with West Channel Road at PCH. The traffic is fierce here, so use the crosswalks from Chautauqua to the south side of Channel to get back to the tunnel that will take you down 17 steps to cross under PCH and then back up 17 steps to your car.
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(Silvia Rázgová / For The Times)
Find your flow at Ethereal Yoga
Topanga Yoga studio
Given the naturalistic history and hippie notoriety of Topanga, the canyon is unsurprisingly home to a range of yoga practices — some indoor, some outdoor, some private, some public. At Ethereal Yoga, one of the area’s premier studios, the class size is intimate and the mood is relaxed, whether you’re opting for the brisk clip of vinyasa flows or the slower pace of a candlelit yin class. Guests slip out of their shoes as they enter one of the most tranquil storefronts in the Pine Tree Circle shopping center, and they span demographics; that’s part of the design of Ethereal Yoga, which offers classes for all levels and age groups, such as a flow for its older practitioners called “Elder Not Elderly.” For those looking to recenter without yoga, Ethereal hosts meditation tea ceremonies, therapeutic breathwork and sound baths.
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(Los Angeles Times)
Navigate a labyrinth at Serra Retreat
Public garden
It’s free to visit the Serra Retreat in Malibu, about one mile off Pacific Coast Highway, but you will need to make a reservation. It’s worth it. Franciscan Friars purchased the 26-acre property in 1942 and have been hosting retreats there ever since. After checking in with a security guard at the bottom of the hill, day visitors are invited to wander the landscaped grounds with views of sprawling new mansions and the vast Pacific beyond. If you walk past the retreat buildings to the lot where the friars park, you can follow a short trail down to a shaded patio flanked by a tinkling hillside waterfall and a statue of Mary. A labyrinth on the grounds is also well worth your time, especially if you are seeking to reconsider an old habit or belief.
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(Alexander Norton)
Float in a saltwater tank at IntoMeSea
Santa Monica Wellness Center
IntoMeSea calls itself a quantum wellness center. Upon entering, guests relax in the prefloat lounge with ice water or tea. Virtual reality headsets are on hand for a VR-guided meditation that will lead participants to the bottom of the sea so as to relax them prior to floating. But if that’s not your thing, there’s also a room with soaring ceilings, multiple skylights and a hand-painted labyrinth on the floor in which to meditate.
Float tanks — a.k.a. sensory deprivation tanks — are often small, dark and claustrophobic-feeling, which can defeat the purpose if you’re there to relax. At IntoMeSea, each of its three tanks is in its own private suite. One includes a eucalyptus aromatherapy steam room; the other two, a “fire and ice” setup for cold plunging and infrared sauna-going. They all include showers and dressing areas.
The tanks themselves are almost blindingly clean and roomy, with 7-foot-high ceilings. They contain 22 bags — about 1,200 pounds — of Epson salt each (more salt per gallon of water than the Dead Sea). Buttons inside the tank allow you to adjust the lighting (I chose pitch black), the sound (I chose meditative music) and the intensity of the twinkling stars on the ceiling (I chose full, because why not?). The spa also provides earplugs and tubes of petroleum jelly, the latter to keep salt out of the eyes.
Lying there in the dark, with the water at 98 degrees, roughly body temperature, felt more like floating in space than on the water’s surface. I thought it impossible to be any more relaxed, but then came the postfloat lounge, with chilled fruit water and herbal tea, a salt chamber and a two-person infrared sauna.
Just beware of the bean bag-like moon pod chairs, as IntoMeSea calls them. I fell asleep in mine while listening to music, and there went a chunk of the afternoon.
Price: $88 for a one-hour float with 30 additional minutes for steam room and suite time.
Float tanks — a.k.a. sensory deprivation tanks — are often small, dark and claustrophobic-feeling, which can defeat the purpose if you’re there to relax. At IntoMeSea, each of its three tanks is in its own private suite. One includes a eucalyptus aromatherapy steam room; the other two, a “fire and ice” setup for cold plunging and infrared sauna-going. They all include showers and dressing areas.
The tanks themselves are almost blindingly clean and roomy, with 7-foot-high ceilings. They contain 22 bags — about 1,200 pounds — of Epson salt each (more salt per gallon of water than the Dead Sea). Buttons inside the tank allow you to adjust the lighting (I chose pitch black), the sound (I chose meditative music) and the intensity of the twinkling stars on the ceiling (I chose full, because why not?). The spa also provides earplugs and tubes of petroleum jelly, the latter to keep salt out of the eyes.
Lying there in the dark, with the water at 98 degrees, roughly body temperature, felt more like floating in space than on the water’s surface. I thought it impossible to be any more relaxed, but then came the postfloat lounge, with chilled fruit water and herbal tea, a salt chamber and a two-person infrared sauna.
Just beware of the bean bag-like moon pod chairs, as IntoMeSea calls them. I fell asleep in mine while listening to music, and there went a chunk of the afternoon.
Price: $88 for a one-hour float with 30 additional minutes for steam room and suite time.
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(Alma Backyard Farms)
Eat chilaquiles and shop organic groceries at Alma Backyard Farms
West Compton Urban farm
While you can find farmers markets every day in L.A. County, none feels quite as intimate and familial as Alma Backyard Farms’ farm stand in West Compton.
As soon as you enter the urban farm, which sits on a half-acre lot behind St. Albert the Great Elementary School, you’re bound to see children playing together on a large grass field. Married co-founders Erika Cuellar and Richard Garcia often circle the farm to greet new and returning customers as if they’ve known them for years. And while they pass out food samples, kids from Alma’s youth program are eager to drop facts about the farm.
Alma (which means “soul” in Spanish) hosts its farm stand every first and third Sunday of the month from 8 a.m. to noon. It sells an array of organic produce including carrots, beets, a variety of greens, radishes, fava beans, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers and more. The farm also offers baked goods, fresh flower bouquets, CBD creams and homemade jams and salsas. You may even spot some unexpected finds here, such as heirloom Peruvian black corn, as the farm sometimes plants seeds provided by its customers. It’s typical for the farm stand to sell out as early as 10 a.m., so it’s best to get there when it opens. Alma hosts monthly brunches as well, which sell out just as fast. Mouthwatering chilaquiles are a specialty.
Cuellar and Garcia started the organization in 2013 to help formerly incarcerated people “reorient their lives as caretakers of community” by growing food through Alma’s job training program. Alma also offers educational workshops and a summer camp program for kids to learn about gardening and farming. Adults can participate in volunteer days once a month. A mural at the farm explains their mission perfectly: “We feed the soul, and then we rise. We nourish the body, and then we rise. We educate the mind, and then we rise.”
As soon as you enter the urban farm, which sits on a half-acre lot behind St. Albert the Great Elementary School, you’re bound to see children playing together on a large grass field. Married co-founders Erika Cuellar and Richard Garcia often circle the farm to greet new and returning customers as if they’ve known them for years. And while they pass out food samples, kids from Alma’s youth program are eager to drop facts about the farm.
Alma (which means “soul” in Spanish) hosts its farm stand every first and third Sunday of the month from 8 a.m. to noon. It sells an array of organic produce including carrots, beets, a variety of greens, radishes, fava beans, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers and more. The farm also offers baked goods, fresh flower bouquets, CBD creams and homemade jams and salsas. You may even spot some unexpected finds here, such as heirloom Peruvian black corn, as the farm sometimes plants seeds provided by its customers. It’s typical for the farm stand to sell out as early as 10 a.m., so it’s best to get there when it opens. Alma hosts monthly brunches as well, which sell out just as fast. Mouthwatering chilaquiles are a specialty.
Cuellar and Garcia started the organization in 2013 to help formerly incarcerated people “reorient their lives as caretakers of community” by growing food through Alma’s job training program. Alma also offers educational workshops and a summer camp program for kids to learn about gardening and farming. Adults can participate in volunteer days once a month. A mural at the farm explains their mission perfectly: “We feed the soul, and then we rise. We nourish the body, and then we rise. We educate the mind, and then we rise.”
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(Silvia Rázgová / For The Times)
Discover a secret wildlife habitat amid art at Hauser & Wirth
Downtown L.A. Art Museum
The international art gallery Hauser & Wirth has become a cornerstone of the Arts District since it opened several years ago in a Neoclassical former bank building plus a complex of warehouses that once served as a flour mill on 3rd Street. The Artbook store alone is worth a visit, but there’s also a restaurant, Manuela, and a wide breezeway that leads to an open-air courtyard.
Spaces that hint at the natural world are few to none in the Arts District, but you can find respite in the garden here, a hidden gem that is a certified wildlife habitat recognized by the National Wildlife Federation. Raised beds of herbs and vegetables are maintained for Manuela; a coop is dedicated to chickens; native plants flourish. If you’ve been walking around all day, the courtyard and garden are an idyllic place to rest.
Certainly, you should visit the exhibits, which recently have included works from artists such as Mike Kelley, Louise Bourgeois and Harmony Korine. But the bookstore, courtyard, garden (and chickens) also beckon.
Spaces that hint at the natural world are few to none in the Arts District, but you can find respite in the garden here, a hidden gem that is a certified wildlife habitat recognized by the National Wildlife Federation. Raised beds of herbs and vegetables are maintained for Manuela; a coop is dedicated to chickens; native plants flourish. If you’ve been walking around all day, the courtyard and garden are an idyllic place to rest.
Certainly, you should visit the exhibits, which recently have included works from artists such as Mike Kelley, Louise Bourgeois and Harmony Korine. But the bookstore, courtyard, garden (and chickens) also beckon.
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(Deborah Netburn / Los Angeles Times)
Totally let go during a sound bath at the Calming Spot
Santa Monica Soundbath
Sound baths are offered daily at the Calming Spot, a small space at the bottom of a mixed-use building on 6th Street in Santa Monica. It might take your eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light, but the scene will take your breath away. Round mats depicting the signs of the zodiac and dozens of electric candles are spread across the floor of the dark studio. Stepping into the room, I felt like I was floating in space.
You don’t need to bring anything with you to this sound bath: Pillows and blankets are arranged neatly on the mats, and the room is so dark there is no need for an eye mask. On a recent Tuesday evening there were eight other people in the room (the space can hold 23). Sara Sofia Bousiali, who founded the Calming Spot in 2022 with her husband, TR Gourley, said Mondays and Tuesdays are generally the quieter days. Weekend sound baths often sell out and it’s best to make a reservation ahead of time on the website. There’s free two-hour street parking outside the studio.
The actual sound bath is a departure from most you’ll find in L.A. Bousiali played the usual crystal bowls, gongs, chimes and ocean drum, but prerecorded music played over a speaker system the entire time, and I couldn’t always hear her instruments over it. She also wore a headset microphone and led participants on a guided meditation throughout the hourlong experience. If you’re looking for a straight bowls-gongs-chime sound bath, this may not be the one for you. But if you find your mind wandering during silent meditations, you might appreciate Bousiali’s gentle guidance and find that the recorded music helps focus your mind. I definitely felt relaxed at the end.
You can also check out the Calming Spot’s outdoor sessions, held on Sunday on the beach from the end of spring through fall. Located near Lifeguard Station 24 at Santa Monica Beach, they include mats, blankets and wireless headphones through which the music is transmitted.
Price: $35 for indoor sound baths, $55 for beach sessions.
You don’t need to bring anything with you to this sound bath: Pillows and blankets are arranged neatly on the mats, and the room is so dark there is no need for an eye mask. On a recent Tuesday evening there were eight other people in the room (the space can hold 23). Sara Sofia Bousiali, who founded the Calming Spot in 2022 with her husband, TR Gourley, said Mondays and Tuesdays are generally the quieter days. Weekend sound baths often sell out and it’s best to make a reservation ahead of time on the website. There’s free two-hour street parking outside the studio.
The actual sound bath is a departure from most you’ll find in L.A. Bousiali played the usual crystal bowls, gongs, chimes and ocean drum, but prerecorded music played over a speaker system the entire time, and I couldn’t always hear her instruments over it. She also wore a headset microphone and led participants on a guided meditation throughout the hourlong experience. If you’re looking for a straight bowls-gongs-chime sound bath, this may not be the one for you. But if you find your mind wandering during silent meditations, you might appreciate Bousiali’s gentle guidance and find that the recorded music helps focus your mind. I definitely felt relaxed at the end.
You can also check out the Calming Spot’s outdoor sessions, held on Sunday on the beach from the end of spring through fall. Located near Lifeguard Station 24 at Santa Monica Beach, they include mats, blankets and wireless headphones through which the music is transmitted.
Price: $35 for indoor sound baths, $55 for beach sessions.
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(Kari Shulman )
Burrow in Himalayan salt in a glowing cave
Woodland Hills Salt Cave Spa
Don’t let Valley Salt Cave’s shopping mall location fool you. Its interior is transcendent.
The caves here are man-made. But with walls of luminescent Himalayan salt bricks, a hand-sculptured ceiling mimicking that of a natural cave and pink salt crystals on the floor, along with a gurgling waterfall, the 14-person community room feels otherworldy. Certainly soothing.
The Woodland Hills spa pumps microparticles of pharmaceutical-grade salt into the air through a vent. Owners Warren and Kari Shulman believe that dry salt therapy — halotherapy — aids with chronic respiratory and skin conditions, among other things. “It’s like a toothbrush for the lungs,” Warren Shulman says. Research suggests there may be some truth to that, to varying degrees.
Whether or not that’s true, I can say that snuggling in one of Valley Salt Cave’s cool, amber-hued caverns, wrapped in a blanket on a zero-gravity chair under a ceiling of twinkling blue lights, is an excellent way to unwind.
Bonus, there’s a 10-minute recorded guided meditation at the start of every 45-minute session, followed by time to sit there, breathe deeply and just be.
Price: Community room, $35 per person; private room, $45 per person for up to four people.
The caves here are man-made. But with walls of luminescent Himalayan salt bricks, a hand-sculptured ceiling mimicking that of a natural cave and pink salt crystals on the floor, along with a gurgling waterfall, the 14-person community room feels otherworldy. Certainly soothing.
The Woodland Hills spa pumps microparticles of pharmaceutical-grade salt into the air through a vent. Owners Warren and Kari Shulman believe that dry salt therapy — halotherapy — aids with chronic respiratory and skin conditions, among other things. “It’s like a toothbrush for the lungs,” Warren Shulman says. Research suggests there may be some truth to that, to varying degrees.
Whether or not that’s true, I can say that snuggling in one of Valley Salt Cave’s cool, amber-hued caverns, wrapped in a blanket on a zero-gravity chair under a ceiling of twinkling blue lights, is an excellent way to unwind.
Bonus, there’s a 10-minute recorded guided meditation at the start of every 45-minute session, followed by time to sit there, breathe deeply and just be.
Price: Community room, $35 per person; private room, $45 per person for up to four people.
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(Kemal Cilengir / For The Times)
Sift through the crates at High Fidelity Records
West Adams Record store
Stop by this sleek record store on West Adams to pick up new or used vinyl, especially on Saturdays when it adds new inventory. With exposed ceilings and original brick walls, it’s easy to imagine Rob Gordon — the record store owner who’s played by John Cusack in the 2000 film “High Fidelity” — ruling over the space. There’s a selection of bargain buys, including records priced at just $1, and you can test anything at a listening station before you purchase. Staff is always readily available to answer any questions.
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(Wesley Lapointe/Los Angeles Times)
Pay a visit to the Runyon Buddha
Hollywood Hills West Public garden
Discovering the Runyon Buddha — a humble hillside shrine adorned with inspirational messages and dime store treasures behind Hollywood’s Wattles Mansion — feels like the culmination of a spiritual scavenger hunt. Be forewarned, it’s a bit of a hike. To get there, enter Wattles Garden Park on Curson Avenue just south of where the road branches into Curson Terrace and Curson Place. Walk up a sloping sidewalk on the far edge of the park lined with white pillars until you get to a ramshackle gate lined with sandbags. Step into a small secret garden and continue walking into the canyon. Follow the hand-painted “Buddha” sign and before long you will spot a set of stone stairs through a red archway. Climb the stairs, read the handwritten messages fluttering in the wind, and take a seat. You made it!
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(Dana Green)
Throw pottery on a rooftop at sunset
Fairfax Arts
Atop a nondescript building on Beverly Boulevard, there are a dozen or so potters’ wheels at which you can throw pottery and look out over the Hollywood Hills during golden hour. The “Baroque” studio — one of three of Bitter Root Pottery’s locations — is in Liberace’s former penthouse apartment, which he inhabited from the late ’70s until his death in 1987. The space offers a touch of the drama the pianist was famous for, with a serene koi pond and sweeping views of both the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory. Other thoughtful details include a rooftop swing and a patio-turned-greenhouse.
Bitter Root offers plenty of classes for beginners, which include a demonstration followed by a hands-on tutorial. The combination of the pond’s rushing waterfall, the amber-hued clouds dotting the horizon and the whirring of the wheel head make it easy to slip into a meditative state.
Don an apron, grab a lump of cream-colored clay and sponge water onto your workspace. Let the slippery clay ooze through your fingertips. And ignore all those ceramist influencers filming themselves nearby. Your iPhone is … well, what iPhone?
Price: $95 for a two-hour class.
Bitter Root offers plenty of classes for beginners, which include a demonstration followed by a hands-on tutorial. The combination of the pond’s rushing waterfall, the amber-hued clouds dotting the horizon and the whirring of the wheel head make it easy to slip into a meditative state.
Don an apron, grab a lump of cream-colored clay and sponge water onto your workspace. Let the slippery clay ooze through your fingertips. And ignore all those ceramist influencers filming themselves nearby. Your iPhone is … well, what iPhone?
Price: $95 for a two-hour class.
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(Jennelle Fong / For The Times)
Stretch inside a former Buddhist meditation center at Roam Yoga
Elysian Valley Yoga studio
Housed in a sun-drenched studio that was formerly a Buddhist meditation center, Chad Dennis and Jennifer Perry’s pretty yoga studio offers a wide variety of Vinyasa-based classes and restorative Yin and Kirtan.
I took a Level 1/2 class with Beatrice Buenaventura, who was thoughtful about her flows and offered good insights into students’ techniques (especially when she offered an adjustment when I did a headstand incorrectly). Many of the students knew one another, which gave the class a friendly, welcoming energy.
Roam offers a good spread of levels, so you can find a more challenging class if that interests you. There are several classes a day, from as early as 7:30 a.m. to as late as 7:30 p.m., and livestream classes are available online. If mindfulness interests you, Nick Thurston offers guided and silent meditations on Monday evenings, which seems fitting for a former meditation center.
Single class, $25. Livestream class, $13 with new student and Class Pass discounts.
I took a Level 1/2 class with Beatrice Buenaventura, who was thoughtful about her flows and offered good insights into students’ techniques (especially when she offered an adjustment when I did a headstand incorrectly). Many of the students knew one another, which gave the class a friendly, welcoming energy.
Roam offers a good spread of levels, so you can find a more challenging class if that interests you. There are several classes a day, from as early as 7:30 a.m. to as late as 7:30 p.m., and livestream classes are available online. If mindfulness interests you, Nick Thurston offers guided and silent meditations on Monday evenings, which seems fitting for a former meditation center.
Single class, $25. Livestream class, $13 with new student and Class Pass discounts.
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(Jennelle Fong / For The Times)
Picnic among native plants at Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park
Elysian Valley City park
Venturing off the bikeway to Lewis MacAdams Park, a 3.9-acre park along the L.A. River, it’s not uncommon to stumble upon photo shoots for quinceañera and wedding parties at the Spanish-style River Pavilion. (I’ve also seen people practicing their dance routines on the Spanish tiles of the 4,500-square-foot pavilion.) During the weekends, the park is a popular destination for birthday parties, picnics and skateboarders who flock to the nearby Marsh Skate Park. You can enjoy a picnic at one of the shaded picnic tables or play on the lawn or the children’s play equipment. An attractive bioswale filled with river rocks and California native plants moves through the park and offers a first-hand look at a natural water filtration system. There is grass, but the park also features environmentally friendly native marshland, upland plants and more than 100 native California trees.
Entrances are at 2999 Rosanna St., 2944 Gleneden St. and 2960 Marsh St.
Entrances are at 2999 Rosanna St., 2944 Gleneden St. and 2960 Marsh St.
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(Alon Goldsmith / For The Times)
Get a celeb-worthy facial at OSEA Skincare Studio
Venice Skin-care services
Tucked away on an under-the-radar stretch of Abbot Kinney Boulevard, this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it spot with a beach-cottage vibe serves as both the headquarters of seaweed-focused, clean-beauty brand OSEA (pronounced oh-see-uh, it’s an acronym for ocean, sun, earth and atmosphere) and a two-treatment-room skincare studio that offers if not life-changing facials, definitely life-affirming ones that deploy the same kinds of cleansers, scrubs, potions and lotions that celebrities like Victoria Beckham, Brie Larson and Emma Roberts rely on for their closeup-worthy beauty routines.
On a recent visit, an aesthetician named Christina gave me something called a cranial wave facial, which started with an assessment of my skin (including a gentle reassurance that my pores, which I believed to be freakishly large, were in fact normal). From there, it was a gentle, almost tender series of steams, slathers and serums interrupted by the occasional pinch of extraction and scrub of exfoliation. From time to time during the 50-minute treatment, Christina cradled my head in her hands and gently kneaded my neck (craniosacral therapy is based on these kinds of manipulations). The result? I left with a glow and a notecard with a detailed daily skincare regimen I could follow to keep putting my best face forward.
On a recent visit, an aesthetician named Christina gave me something called a cranial wave facial, which started with an assessment of my skin (including a gentle reassurance that my pores, which I believed to be freakishly large, were in fact normal). From there, it was a gentle, almost tender series of steams, slathers and serums interrupted by the occasional pinch of extraction and scrub of exfoliation. From time to time during the 50-minute treatment, Christina cradled my head in her hands and gently kneaded my neck (craniosacral therapy is based on these kinds of manipulations). The result? I left with a glow and a notecard with a detailed daily skincare regimen I could follow to keep putting my best face forward.
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(Daniel Hernandez / Los Angeles Times)
Venture out to Millard Canyon Falls
Altadena Mountain Trail
Millard Canyon Falls in Angeles National Forest is just above Altadena — just take Fair Oaks Avenue north, take a left at Loma Alta Drive, then a right onto Chaney Trail Drive and into the campground parking area — and yet it feels like it could be hundreds of miles away.
Park at the Millard Canyon campground. A craggy, tree-lined ravine anchored by a creek leads hikers up on a gentle climb toward a clearing. Here, the breathtaking swoosh of a 50-foot-tall waterfall will fill your eardrums; the recent storms have given this wash a healthy wallop of fresh water. The water is icy, but that won’t deter an occasional visitor from taking what looks like a soul-cleansing dip, even in winter. That said, novice hikers and families, be warned — with the creek full, water is currently reaching its bordering boulders and canyon walls, forcing you to cross the creek in a constant zigzag, on smooth rocks and loose logs, to reach the waterfall. Avoid creek tragedy by employing hiking sticks, waterproof shoes or water shoes.
Park at the Millard Canyon campground. A craggy, tree-lined ravine anchored by a creek leads hikers up on a gentle climb toward a clearing. Here, the breathtaking swoosh of a 50-foot-tall waterfall will fill your eardrums; the recent storms have given this wash a healthy wallop of fresh water. The water is icy, but that won’t deter an occasional visitor from taking what looks like a soul-cleansing dip, even in winter. That said, novice hikers and families, be warned — with the creek full, water is currently reaching its bordering boulders and canyon walls, forcing you to cross the creek in a constant zigzag, on smooth rocks and loose logs, to reach the waterfall. Avoid creek tragedy by employing hiking sticks, waterproof shoes or water shoes.
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(Adam Markovitz)
Stroll through a zen Japanese garden in Van Nuys
Van Nuys Walk
As I walked through the wooden gate of this meditative oasis in the Sepulveda Basin, I heard a visitor ahead of me coo, “Ooh, it’s so pretty!” She was right: the 6½-acre garden, officially named SuihoEn (“Garden of Water and Fragrance”), is full of manicured, Japanese-inspired compositions that practically dare you not to take a photo. Wooden bridges cross tiny streams, fountains burst across a reflecting lake, a teahouse offers a shady refuge on the far edge of the water. (Trekkies might even recognize the landscape as the campus of Starfleet Academy from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” a fact the garden proudly announces on a sign at the entrance.)
The garden’s winding paths and quiet nooks are perfect for one-on-one conversations. The east side of the park is currently closed for construction, but there are still plenty of open pathways along the west side, offering full views of the entire garden. To keep the atmosphere tranquil, the park requires free reservations that generally fill up three to four days out. Though at the time of writing, the reservation system is down indefinitely, meaning no booking is required.
Still, it’s always best to call ahead since the park has slightly finicky hours. (In addition to being closed from noon to 1 p.m. daily, the garden’s website warns that the grounds are “closed Friday through Sunday; closed on all Federal & City of Los Angeles Holidays; and closed within 24 hours of rain.”) If you do happen to get shut out, don’t head home — the Sepulveda Basin has plenty of other watery wonders nearby, including bustling Lake Balboa and the marshy Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.
The garden’s winding paths and quiet nooks are perfect for one-on-one conversations. The east side of the park is currently closed for construction, but there are still plenty of open pathways along the west side, offering full views of the entire garden. To keep the atmosphere tranquil, the park requires free reservations that generally fill up three to four days out. Though at the time of writing, the reservation system is down indefinitely, meaning no booking is required.
Still, it’s always best to call ahead since the park has slightly finicky hours. (In addition to being closed from noon to 1 p.m. daily, the garden’s website warns that the grounds are “closed Friday through Sunday; closed on all Federal & City of Los Angeles Holidays; and closed within 24 hours of rain.”) If you do happen to get shut out, don’t head home — the Sepulveda Basin has plenty of other watery wonders nearby, including bustling Lake Balboa and the marshy Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.
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(Alon Goldsmith / For The Times)
Stock up on weed in high style at Green Goddess Collective
Venice Dispensary
There are a couple of things that make this dispensary stand out. First is its location: At less than 1,600 feet from the water’s edge (two blocks, give or take), it’s the closest place to the beach here to legally score herb. (Ignore those boardwalk sandwich boards telling you different.) Second is its longevity: Originally opened as a Highland Park collective in 2006 (in the medical marijuana days, long before 2018’s recreational sales began) before moving to Venice in 2009, co-founded by Nathan Holtz-Poole and Daniel Stein, it’s one of the oldest (Holtz-Poole claims it’s the oldest) continually operating legal cannabis retail shops in the country. The result is a bustling dispensary that’s popular with both canna-curious tourists and pot-puffing locals alike.
On top of that, it’s simply a beautiful space outside and in; one exterior wall is covered by an immense Hans Valør mural of a flowing-haired woman holding a seedling in her cupped hands (I’m gonna take a wild guess that’s the goddess). The interior vibe is more Art Deco apothecary than 21st century dispensary thanks to architectural elements like parquet floors and ornate light fixtures including a ballroom-worthy chandelier hanging over a curved glass case full of flower jars and tubes of prerolled joints (the latter of which are particularly popular here, a budtender told me recently, on account of the brisk tourist business). As if things couldn’t feel any more classy, there’s also free 20-minute validated parking across the street for dispensary customers who’ve made a purchase.
On top of that, it’s simply a beautiful space outside and in; one exterior wall is covered by an immense Hans Valør mural of a flowing-haired woman holding a seedling in her cupped hands (I’m gonna take a wild guess that’s the goddess). The interior vibe is more Art Deco apothecary than 21st century dispensary thanks to architectural elements like parquet floors and ornate light fixtures including a ballroom-worthy chandelier hanging over a curved glass case full of flower jars and tubes of prerolled joints (the latter of which are particularly popular here, a budtender told me recently, on account of the brisk tourist business). As if things couldn’t feel any more classy, there’s also free 20-minute validated parking across the street for dispensary customers who’ve made a purchase.
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(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Center yourself at Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens
Jefferson Park Garden
Hidden in a residential West Adams neighborhood, this meditative oasis is the perfect way to recharge and clear your mind when the hustle of the city starts to overwhelm. The historic Renaissance mansion that houses the lush, multilevel gardens was built in 1910 by Italian winemaker Secundo Guasti. You can learn more about the house and its history by booking a tour during your visit. The home and gardens serve as headquarters for the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness (MSIA) and Peace Theological Seminary & College of Philosophy (PTS), which host meditations, sound baths and tea ceremonies on the grounds.
The stone labyrinth that features the same design as the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth is the main attraction here, and one of the docents will instruct you on how to walk its path and share the purported benefits of doing so, including reduced stress. As you explore the property, you’ll see sculptures and a Japanese garden with a koi pond and streams, plus tucked-away benches for reading or meditating. Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens is open Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. One-hour reservations must be made in advance online.
The stone labyrinth that features the same design as the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth is the main attraction here, and one of the docents will instruct you on how to walk its path and share the purported benefits of doing so, including reduced stress. As you explore the property, you’ll see sculptures and a Japanese garden with a koi pond and streams, plus tucked-away benches for reading or meditating. Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens is open Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. One-hour reservations must be made in advance online.
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(Deborah Vankin / Los Angeles Times)
Get grounded on Elysian Park West Loop Trail
Elysian Park Park Trail
The Elysian Park West Loop may be the ultimate urban trail in L.A. — intimately connected to the surrounding city while also steeped in tranquil wildlife. The dirt trail is perfect for runners: It’s relatively smooth, well-maintained and wide enough for two athletes to run side by side. This is also a great introductory hike for out-of-towners as it’s fairly easy and offers an elevated perch of sorts, with views of iconic L.A. landmarks. The trail hovers over parts of the L.A. River and the bustling 5 Freeway in one area. In others, it faces the soaring skyscrapers of downtown L.A. and passes the lights of Dodger Stadium.
What is perhaps most charming about this hike is the commingling natural and urban elements. The sounds of sparrows, ravens and crows mix with Latino music from a nearby birthday picnic and intermittent cheers from a pickup soccer game in the park, for example. Meanwhile, the scent of fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, California wild rose and purple sage blend with wafting barbecue smoke.
The trailhead, off Stadium Way in Elysian Park — just minutes from downtown L.A. — is easily accessible and yet, as you wind around the cityscape, ensconced by coast live oaks, California walnut and spindly palm trees dotting the hilltop, you feel completely transported. This is why we live in L.A.
What is perhaps most charming about this hike is the commingling natural and urban elements. The sounds of sparrows, ravens and crows mix with Latino music from a nearby birthday picnic and intermittent cheers from a pickup soccer game in the park, for example. Meanwhile, the scent of fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, California wild rose and purple sage blend with wafting barbecue smoke.
The trailhead, off Stadium Way in Elysian Park — just minutes from downtown L.A. — is easily accessible and yet, as you wind around the cityscape, ensconced by coast live oaks, California walnut and spindly palm trees dotting the hilltop, you feel completely transported. This is why we live in L.A.
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(Tikkun Holistic Spa)
Soak in therapeutic waters at Tikkun Holistic Spa
Santa Monica Day Spa
Underneath the busy streets of Santa Monica you’ll find Tikkun Spa, offering a wonderful L.A. mix of woo-woo, luxury and ease. This boutique spa packs a punch with a quality of services and therapeutic treatments that go beyond the basics, while staying true to a traditional Korean spa experience.
Tikkun garnered both fame (and ridicule) when Goop reported on its V-Steam for women, an ancient vaginal steam therapy. (Men, or those without the V, can enjoy an accompanying A-Steam.) This story has made the spa popular with tourists seeking Goop-approved spa experiences that are approachable. However, the V-steam isn’t the only signature treatment. Locals travel across the city for its range of services that have a more holistic bent than straightforward body scrubs.
This spa is for you if you’re looking for some frills — at Tikkun, you’ll get pampered and can enjoy the Santa Monica scene. A treatment includes time at the spa, which features the usual jacuzzi, steam room and Hwangto Clay Room and Salt Room saunas. However, the latter rooms are equipped with far infrared technology, purported to intensify the health benefits of sauna use with deeply penetrating light and heat.
Free parking for up to 90 minutes is available at the adjacent parking garage at Lot 5 off 4th Street, or it’s a five-minute walk from the downtown Santa Monica Metro station.
Price: A day pass is $50. Treatments start at $75.
Tikkun garnered both fame (and ridicule) when Goop reported on its V-Steam for women, an ancient vaginal steam therapy. (Men, or those without the V, can enjoy an accompanying A-Steam.) This story has made the spa popular with tourists seeking Goop-approved spa experiences that are approachable. However, the V-steam isn’t the only signature treatment. Locals travel across the city for its range of services that have a more holistic bent than straightforward body scrubs.
This spa is for you if you’re looking for some frills — at Tikkun, you’ll get pampered and can enjoy the Santa Monica scene. A treatment includes time at the spa, which features the usual jacuzzi, steam room and Hwangto Clay Room and Salt Room saunas. However, the latter rooms are equipped with far infrared technology, purported to intensify the health benefits of sauna use with deeply penetrating light and heat.
Free parking for up to 90 minutes is available at the adjacent parking garage at Lot 5 off 4th Street, or it’s a five-minute walk from the downtown Santa Monica Metro station.
Price: A day pass is $50. Treatments start at $75.
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(Madeleine Hordinski/Los Angeles Times)
Stroll through the Velaslavasay Panorama gardens
University Park Public/private garden
Everything about the Velaslavasay Panorama on 24th Street in West Adams is awe-inspiring — the turquoise blue facade, the life-size diorama of an Arctic trading post off the entrance hall, the 360-degree immersive painting on the second floor. But if it’s solace you seek, head to the enchanted garden behind the building, where you’ll find an alcove surrounding a waterfall, a gazebo hung with oversized gourds, and a shell-studded replica of the mythical island of Penglai. More than a dozen benches and chairs scattered around the garden invite visitors to enjoy these features while sitting in quiet introspection.
By appointment only, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, $7.
By appointment only, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, $7.
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(Alon Goldsmith / For The Times)
Discover your next beach read, amid cats, at Small World Books
Venice Book Store
Wedged between a sidewalk cafe and a cheesy souvenir shop right on the bustling boardwalk, the single doorway leading into this indie bookstore might be easy to overlook (even with a massive red-and-white-striped awning and sidewalk sandwich board pointing the way), but once you’ve spent even a few minutes poking around the 2,000-square-foot interior, you’ll find it impossible to forget. Not just for the eclectic assortment of zines (titles include “Awesome Ovaries” and “Smash the Skatriarchy”) near the door, or the particularly robust offerings of philosophy and poetry, but for the curated collections that dot tabletops and end caps that encourage the lost art of browsing. There’s a collection of Los Angeles stories over here (“Interior Chinatown” cheek by jowl with “Inherent Vice” and “Less Than Zero”), comedy over there (George Carlin’s “Last Words,” Judd Apatow’s “Sick in the Head” and David Sedaris’ “Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls,” to name just three) and a curated collection of feline-related literature near the register (among them: a personality quiz book titled “Is Your Cat a Psychopath?”).
Speaking of cats, the bookstore has two in-house fursters — Franny and Malcolm — whom you’re likely to find prowling the aisles as you browse. What could possibly be better than a well-curated beachside bookstore that comes with its own cats? One that comes with all that and a free half-hour of validated weekday parking (at the corner of Market and Speedway) in a part of town where such things are all but nonexistent.
Speaking of cats, the bookstore has two in-house fursters — Franny and Malcolm — whom you’re likely to find prowling the aisles as you browse. What could possibly be better than a well-curated beachside bookstore that comes with its own cats? One that comes with all that and a free half-hour of validated weekday parking (at the corner of Market and Speedway) in a part of town where such things are all but nonexistent.
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(Adam Markovitz)
Take in the scent of roses at Virginia Robinson Gardens
Beverly Hills Public garden
For roses with a heady perfume of Old Hollywood glamour, head to the Virginia Robinson Gardens just up the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel. The lavish 1911 estate was built by department store magnates Harry and Virginia Robinson and boasts Italianate architecture, lush botanical gardens and views that stretch as far as Catalina Island on a clear day. Opulence is the unofficial theme here, and the rose gardens are no exception: You’ll find no fewer than 500 blooming plants spread across two separate collections, one for display and one for cutting.
The display garden, just across from a tennis court where Hollywood stars like Charlie Chaplin used to play, is still maintained according to Virginia’s original design, with an emphasis on her favorite color. See if you can guess what it was as you browse the 34 different rose varieties, including blushing Mon Cheris, pastel Sweet Surrenders and Virginia’s personal preference, a Barbie-bright hybrid tea rose called Eiffel Tower.
High up on the house’s outer wall, you can even spot a historic climbing rose that was planted during Virginia’s lifetime and still explodes in yellow and white blooms every year. On the other side of the tennis court (which has a few more historic rose plants clinging to its borders), the sloped cutting garden spills down a hillside of blossoms. “Virginia loved to entertain and would decorate with roses that matched the color of her dress that day,” Diane Sipos, superintendent of the park, told me on a recent visit. Like I said: opulence.
In 1977 the estate was handed over to L.A. County, which now runs reservation-only tours along with a number of on-site classes and programs. (Events are posted about a month out and tend to fill up quickly, so it helps to check the official website regularly for new dates.) If you want especially Instagrammable lighting, try a Golden Hour tour, which showcases the gardens at sunset. Wellness classes — including sound baths and meditative walks — offer a chance for even more mindfulness on the grounds. And for a hands-on experience with the roses themselves, look out for the annual pruning class in January, when master gardeners give lessons in the cutting garden.
Hours: By reservation only.
Admission: Adults $15, children (5-12) $6, students $11, seniors (62+) $11.
The display garden, just across from a tennis court where Hollywood stars like Charlie Chaplin used to play, is still maintained according to Virginia’s original design, with an emphasis on her favorite color. See if you can guess what it was as you browse the 34 different rose varieties, including blushing Mon Cheris, pastel Sweet Surrenders and Virginia’s personal preference, a Barbie-bright hybrid tea rose called Eiffel Tower.
High up on the house’s outer wall, you can even spot a historic climbing rose that was planted during Virginia’s lifetime and still explodes in yellow and white blooms every year. On the other side of the tennis court (which has a few more historic rose plants clinging to its borders), the sloped cutting garden spills down a hillside of blossoms. “Virginia loved to entertain and would decorate with roses that matched the color of her dress that day,” Diane Sipos, superintendent of the park, told me on a recent visit. Like I said: opulence.
In 1977 the estate was handed over to L.A. County, which now runs reservation-only tours along with a number of on-site classes and programs. (Events are posted about a month out and tend to fill up quickly, so it helps to check the official website regularly for new dates.) If you want especially Instagrammable lighting, try a Golden Hour tour, which showcases the gardens at sunset. Wellness classes — including sound baths and meditative walks — offer a chance for even more mindfulness on the grounds. And for a hands-on experience with the roses themselves, look out for the annual pruning class in January, when master gardeners give lessons in the cutting garden.
Hours: By reservation only.
Admission: Adults $15, children (5-12) $6, students $11, seniors (62+) $11.
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(Silvia Razgova / For The Times)
Mosey along the 6th Street Viaduct
Downtown L.A. Walk
When the new 6th Street Viaduct opened in 2022, reconnecting downtown’s Arts District to Boyle Heights, it immediately became a “totem for the city’s fissures over transit, policing, housing, equity, culture and land use,” to quote The Times’ Rachel Uranga. In the years since, the furor has mellowed a bit, to the point where the viaduct now seems less like a sociopolitical lightning rod and more like … a bridge. One that does a perfectly fine job of helping people cross the L.A. River while looking kind of cool, to boot.
It also happens to make for a great walk in and of itself, since the bridge spans about two-thirds of a mile, with wide, protected footpaths. You could start the loop on either side, but I like to begin and end in the Arts District, since it has the best options for post-walk snacks.
Parking isn’t the easiest around here, but you can sometimes grab a street spot on South Santa Fe Avenue or nearby cross streets (like Jesse Street). Otherwise, try one of the pay lots around 6th and Mateo streets. Then walk onto the viaduct via the ramps on Mateo or the staircase at Santa Fe. As you cross the river, be sure to look south at the 7th Street Bridge and north to the 4th Street Bridge — two of the most beautiful L.A. River bridges of the early 20th century.
When you reach Boyle Heights, cross the street at Whittier Avenue and South Boyle Avenue before heading back to the Arts District side. There, you’ve got your pick of culinary delights, including turmeric lattes at Zinc Café (580 Mateo St., Los Angeles, CA 90013) or combo platters at Chuy’s Tacos Dorados (1335 Willow St., Los Angeles, CA 90013).
It also happens to make for a great walk in and of itself, since the bridge spans about two-thirds of a mile, with wide, protected footpaths. You could start the loop on either side, but I like to begin and end in the Arts District, since it has the best options for post-walk snacks.
Parking isn’t the easiest around here, but you can sometimes grab a street spot on South Santa Fe Avenue or nearby cross streets (like Jesse Street). Otherwise, try one of the pay lots around 6th and Mateo streets. Then walk onto the viaduct via the ramps on Mateo or the staircase at Santa Fe. As you cross the river, be sure to look south at the 7th Street Bridge and north to the 4th Street Bridge — two of the most beautiful L.A. River bridges of the early 20th century.
When you reach Boyle Heights, cross the street at Whittier Avenue and South Boyle Avenue before heading back to the Arts District side. There, you’ve got your pick of culinary delights, including turmeric lattes at Zinc Café (580 Mateo St., Los Angeles, CA 90013) or combo platters at Chuy’s Tacos Dorados (1335 Willow St., Los Angeles, CA 90013).
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