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SPAS

If the road has left you feeling frazzled and achy, an hour or more at a day spa may be just what the doctor ordered. There are literally hundreds of spas throughout the Southland, from simple massage parlors to sumptuous luxury salons. Every place has its own ‘treatment menu,’ which usually includes a variety of massages such as Thai, shiatsu, deep-tissue, Swedish, tandem (for two people) and hot-stone. Beauty treatments range from facials to wraps, botanical baths, mud baths and such exotic procedures as mother-of-pearl enzyme facials, Moroccan-mint sugar scrubs and milk-and-honey baths. For a special treat visit the Glen Ivy Hot Springs, which is famous for its red-clay mud pool but also has clear mineral-water tubs and a large swimming pool.

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Learn how to minimize your impact on the environment while traipsing through the wilderness from the Leave No Trace Center (www.lnt.org).

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You’ll usually find Thai massages for around $40 per hour, but other pummeling sessions can cost at least twice that. Smoothing your skin will likely set you back about $60. By the time you’ve added a 20% tip, the final tab may be high enough to put the frown right back on your forehead.

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Los Angeles & SoCal for Children

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ARE WE THERE YET?

NIGHT-NIGHT

WHINING & DINING

LOS ANGELES

ORANGE COUNTY

SAN DIEGO COUNTY

PALM SPRINGS & THE DESERTS

SANTA BARBARA

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(Tiny) hands down, Southern California has got to be one of the most child-friendly vacation spots on the planet. The kids will already be begging to go to Disneyland, Universal Studios, SeaWorld and Magic Mountain. Get those over with (you may well enjoy them too) and then introduce them to many other worlds.

SoCal’s ‘endless summer’ of sunny skies and warm temperatures lends itself to outdoor activities too numerous to mention, but here’s a start (big breath): swimming, bodysurfing, snorkeling, bicycling, kayaking, hiking (mountain or urban), horseback riding and walking. Many outfitters and tour operators have dedicated kids’ tours.

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In Tyler on Prime Time (2003) by Steve Atinsky, a 12-year-old gets caught up in the world of TV production after he is sent to LA to live with his uncle, who works on a sit-com. Written by an actual TV writer.

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Sometimes no organized activity is even needed. We’ve seen kids from Washington, DC, thrill at catching their first glimpse of a palm tree, and 11-year-olds with sophisticated palates in bliss over their first heirloom tomatoes at a farmers market or shrimp dumplings at a dim-sum palace.

The upshot: if the kids are having a good time, their parents are having a good time.

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ARE WE THERE YET?

What to Bring

Sunscreen. Bring sunscreen.

And bringing sunscreen will remind you to bring hats, bathing suits, flip-flops and goggles. If you like beach umbrellas and sand chairs, pails and shovels, you’ll probably want to bring or buy your own; all are readily available at local drugstores. At many beaches, you can rent bicycles of all stripes – check local listings for surf and other water gear.

For mountain outings, bring hiking shoes, plenty of food and water, and your own camping equipment. These can be purchased or rented from markets and outfitters near desert parks (see local listings), but remember that the best time to test out shoes, sleeping bags and such is before you take your trip. Murphy’s Law dictates that wearing brand-new hiking shoes on a big hike results in blisters.

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Throughout this book, we’ve denoted kid-friendly establishments (sights, activities, hotels and restaurants especially) with the symbol , within the parentheses after each establishment’s name.

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Whatever you bring, kids always seem to take more ownership of the process if they have their own minibackpacks to carry their own gear.

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TIP!

Don’t pack your schedule too tightly. Traveling with kids always takes longer than expected,