Los Angeles--Fun activities to enjoy inexpensively

I love visiting Santa Monica because of its beauty...and also for nostalgic reasons, since I was born here. I loved taking visitors here when I lived nearby (I lived in greater LA until recently) because it offered "something for everyone." My guests--of all ages--could find something to enjoy. Within a range of just several blocks, lie the Santa Monica State Beach and pier--which feature fishing, dining, shops and an an amusement park (Pacific Park.) Also nearby, strolling paths wind along a tall bluff overlooking the ocean in green, tree-lined Palisades Park. Plus, there are shopping opportunities beckon at the Santa Monica Place mall and in the many outdoor shops of the 3rd Street Promenade.

On a typical visit, I like to enjoy a sampling of ALL of these activities, and so I park in the centrally-located Santa Monica Place mall parking lot (free for the 1st 3 hours) or the Sears lot (free). If you choose to park there, too, you'll find that the ocean is only a short stroll down Colorado Blvd. Upon reaching Ocean Blvd, you'll find both the Palisades Park and the Santa Monica Pier entrances sitting side by side. Either one can be explored for an hour or more. If you choose to walk along the bluffs at Palisades Park, you'll drink-in stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. If you head towards the pier, you'll see fishermen trying to reel in a catch, vendors hawking their wares to the tourists, and people on the beach below--swimming, building sand castles, skating on the bike path, flying kites, etc. If you keep walking along the pier, you'll face another choice--to either take the stairs directly down to the beach, or to head to the amusement park.

Decisions! I say, do both! If you're careful, you can chase the waves at the beach for awhile, and not get TOO sandy and wet! On the pier, you'll find both adult and kiddie rides and carnival games at Pacific Park. There, the views from the Pacific Wheel (ferris wheel) are great, and every visitor I've taken on it has enjoyed it! The "West Coaster" ride is also fun. It's not a big roller coaster, but it's probably the only one you'll ever ride that's out over the ocean!

After leaving the pier, you can stroll back to Santa Monica Place mall and enjoy 3 floors of shopping! There are over 120 stores, including Macy's and Robinsons-May department stores. The food court offers a variety of choices for inexpensive meals and snacks. From the food court area, you can step out onto the 3rd Street Promenade, and outdoor pedestrian mall several blocks long. There's a large variety of shopping and dining options, from inexpensive to upscale in price. Sidewalk performers enhance the atmosphere & make for a fun experience.

Be sure to take your car when you visit Griffeth Park! This isn't your ordinary patch of grass with swings and a picnic table! Griffeth Park is the largest city park in the USA! Part of the park is developed (with green lawns, tall eucalyptus trees, and activity areas) and part of it is "raw"--hills covered with the same natural landscape that has grown in the area for thousands of years. As you drive through the park, you'll climb mountains with stunning views of the city.

On Mount Hollywood, the Griffith Park Observatory was once a great free activity--with several exhibit halls to explore--until it shut down for renovations in 2002. It will re-open in May 2006, though, and will have 2 ADDITIONAL exhibit halls, plus new exhibits. (I hope they keep some of my favorites, like the globes of the Moon and Mars, the Mars rock, and the Tesla coil . And, SURELY they couldn't get rid of the beautiful murals that date back to the Planetarium's 1935 opening!) For a fee, they’ll offer an all-new planetarium show featuring an all-new projector--to give a truly "star" performance! Another free activity that will re-open is the trail to the Mount Hollywood summit, which leads off the planetarium parking lot It's a steep trail, but it provides spectacular views. (If you get hot on the trail, at least you can head back to the snack bar in the parking lot for a cool treat!)

But this is not even close to being the only trail in the park--there are over 53 miles of them! In the green, "developed" section of the park are more free and inexpensive activities. There are picnic groves and athletic fields. There's an unusual--and touching--playground called "Shane's Inspiration," which is a wheelchair-accessible play structure. Of course, you're most welcome to play there if you're NOT handicapped, too. There are train rides, pony rides and a merry-go-round. The train ride costs $2 for a mile-long ride around the pony area, meadows, and an old Western village. The pony ride takes kids around a large, oval track. The merry-go-round features 68 horses that ALL go up and down.

Farther down the park road, you'll come to the Travel Town Museum, which is a free railroad museum. In other words, you can spend a nice long day at the park without spending much! Park activities charging admission are: (1) Los Angeles Zoo, $10/adults, $5/kids. (Even though it's not a #1 zoo, like the San Diego Zoo is--it's still a nice place for an outing.) (2) The Museum of the American West, $7.50/adults, $3/kids. It features both history and art exhibits--including the noted Western artists Remington and Russell. (3) Concert-lovers will enjoy the Greek Theater, a beautiful amphitheater that features concerts of all styles--rock, Latin, classical. (Unfortunately, unlike the Hollywood Bowl, you CAN'T tour it when there's no concert going on.) (4) For golfers, there are four beautiful courses in different locations throughout the park.

As long as you lock up your wallet, you can have some inexpensive fun touring the famous Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The shopping district on Rodeo Drive lies between Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire Blvd. You'll see a number of famous shops. Some, you can see in other upscale retail facilities--such as the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, or at the South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa (Orange County.) Others include one-of-a-kind art galleries and boutiques. Some of the stores with familiar names are Cartier, Tiffany, Van Cleef and Arpels, Giorgio, Chanel, Hermes, Ralph Lauren, Dior, Armani, Gucci and Giani Versace. My advice for enjoying Rodeo Drive is this--just have fun enjoying the street and knowing that you're in a famous place. Don't set your hopes on seeing movie stars shopping, because it's probably not going to happen. True, Beverly Hills is home to some movie stars, but it's also home to an even greater number of un-famous businessmen, doctors and other professionals--and THOSE are the people you're most likely to see here.

While on Rodeo Drive, you can't help but notice the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which was used extensively in the film, "Pretty Woman." In fact, Rodeo Drive ends in front of the hotel, so you can't miss it! But Beverly Hills is a beautiful city with more things to see than the shopping district. I like to drive around the residential areas and marvel at the "miracle" that has happened here--which is the fact that this neighborhood was developed in the 1930s and '40s, yet it's still in super condition. Everything else in LA that's this old is either torn down or now a "disadvantaged neighborhood." Yet Beverly Hills remains elegant. It proves that with good architecture, good building materials, good landscaping, and a commitment to maintenance. Neighborhoods DON'T have to be "disposable" like clothing or cars, going out of style when the fashions change!

Another thing about Rodeo Drive--in the adjacent residential section (between Santa Monica Blvd. and Sunset Blvd.), Rodeo Drive and its sister streets are all tree-lined, but each is lined with a different type of tree! Especially in the spring, you can drive down one street covered in purple Jacaranda blooms, and the next street will be sporting white magnolias, and the next street further on, lined with tall palms. It's a plant-lover's paradise! While you're in the neighborhood of Rodeo Drive, there's a darling little cottage to see nearby, commonly called "The Witch's House" at 516 N. Walden Drive. Somebody actually lives there--and yet, it looks like it came right out of a fairy tale. Well, actually, it wasn't built to be a residence. It was built on a movie set in 1921 and later transported to the area. It's just plain fun to see this wacky structure!

Would you like to take a beautiful drive that will offer you spectacular views and give you a country feeling while still in the middle of the city? Then try driving along Mulholland Drive. Not many cities have a big mountain running through the middle of them, so not many cities have a crest-of-the-ridge drive that has scenic views of valleys to the left and right of the road AT THE SAME TIME! One "valley" is the ocean side of the city, and you can look out over areas such as Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Santa Monica, and Venice. The other valley is the San Fernando Valley--and it's actually an official part of Los Angeles City, too. The San Fernando Valley is home to Encino, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, Northridge, Chatsworth, and others. (From time to time, these areas try to secede from Los Angeles, but so far the vote hasn't carried that motion forward.) In addition to the wonderful views on either side of you, you'll find yourself in a less-developed part of the city with plenty of greenery and open spaces!

If you stay until nightfall, you'll see thousands of city lights shining in either direction. It's a beautiful sight--and also a sight made famous by The Tonight Show, where you can see a Mulholland view in the opening L.A. photo montage.

My favorite section of Mulholland is from Coldwater Canyon to I-405. To go that way, take Beverly Drive north from Sunset Boulevard--it's easy, because there are signs you can follow. When Beverly Drive splits into two roads, just follow the Coldwater Canyon split up the hill to Mulholland.

Coldwater Canyon is a pretty, tree-lined residential street. Its quiet looks are deceiving, though, because it's actually a major commuter thoroughfare between San Fernando and the "main" portion of the city! I have also accessed Mulholland Drive from Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Benedict Canyon Drive, and Beverly Glen Boulevard, and they're all scenic paths through residential areas that you'd enjoy seeing.

Once you're actually on Mulholland, take care! The locals "drive like maniacs!" The roads are twisty and narrow, but the locals speed along them anyway. (At Disney's California Adventure, there's a ride called "Mulholland Madness," and the term certainly fits!) Luckily, the road offers numerous pullout spots. You can take it easy and make as many stops to enjoy the view as you'd like along the way. I've even spotted deer while in one of these rest areas! I generally leave Mulholland at I-405, but you don't have to. Mulholland goes on for miles and miles. Eventually, you get out into very rural areas of the Malibu hills. Mulholland eventually splits into two roads, Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Highway. If you take the highway split, you can actually keep going until you reach the Pacific Coast Highway!

This is an article about INEXPENSIVE things to do in greater Los Angeles. Now, you CAN drop quite a load of cash at Universal CityWalk! It's a shopping and entertainment district lined with great restaurants and unusual stores. BUT if you keep a tight control of your wallet, it can ALSO be a budget destination. The CityWalk is right next to Universal Studios, which might be one of your vacation destinations anyway. You'll have to walk through this district to get to Universal Studios from the parking lot (unless you pay the outrageous extra fee for close-up parking!) Yet Universal CityWalk is cute and quirky---and definitely deserves its OWN special tour time, rather than just being seen on a quick walk-through. The most striking feature of this outdoor mall is its outrageous architecture. Giant teacups, guitars, and cartoon characters decorate its buildings. A pink Cadillac looks like it slammed into a wall--backwards! There's color and way-out artwork everywhere. And all that's before you even enter a doorway! The merchandise sold ranges from practical to fantastical. There are clothing stores aimed at young people--Billabong, Hot Topic, and Quicksilver, for example. There are team sports memorabilia stores--The Raider Image, Dodgers Clubhouse, and Team LA.

And, of course, there are collectibles everywhere. "Sparky's" specializes in nostalgia, "Things from Another World" caters to movie and comics lovers, and "Harley Davidson" has motorcycle memorabilia, of course. Since the merchandise here is so unique, that's where I can spend the day happily browsing through the stores, and that's why it's a cheap outing for me. I get a souvenir, I buy a soda or an ice cream cone, and I have change left over. If you're more willing than I am to spend your cash, you could eat at some great restaurants. Gladstone's is a popular seafood restaurant. The Saddle Ranch Chop House is known for great steaks. Of course, everyone has heard of Wolfgang Puck's, Buca di Beppo and the Hard Rock Cafe--and each of them is represented here at CityWalk. For entertainment, I hear that B.B. King's Blues Club is one of the best. There's music every night--often blues, but sometimes something different--and they serve good ol' Southern cookin'. There's the Rumba Room, a Latin dance club, and there's a Nascar (virtual) speedway. The multi-screened Universal City Cinemas show first-run movies. But often, you get to hear live music being played from the courtyard in front of the theaters. The management seems to like to keep this place LOUD, at least at night and on weekends.

This complex is similar in idea to Downtown Disney at the Disney Resort in Anaheim. But the two are very different. Universal CityWalk is hipper and edgier, and did I say louder? For me, it's great shopping fun for a weekday afternoon. But when party time comes, I'm SO outta there!