Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [86]
Scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean and other movies were filmed just south of here at Long Point, a pristine coastal terrace being turned into Terranea (Map), a vast luxury resort of vacation villas and a golf academy. Eager buyers plunked down an average of 2.4 million per unit and the first 51 sold like hot cakes in just 2½ hours. A trail leads down to the pebbly beach from the free Point Vicente Fishing Access (Map) parking lot. There’s some tide-pooling here but the best place to hunt for starfish, anemones and other shoreline critters is at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park (Map; 9am-4pm; ), a rock-strewn eco-preserve one mile further on. The walk down to the beach gets pretty steep in some sections, so watch your footing. Parking costs $6.
Palos Verdes’ most stunning non-natural attraction is the Wayfarers Chapel (Map; 310-377-1650; www.wayfarerschapel.org; 5755 Palos Verdes Dr S; admission free; 8am-5pm; ) across the road. Built by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank) in 1951, it’s a glass church cradled by soaring redwood trees. Not surprisingly, this seaside sanctuary is an insanely popular spot to tie the knot, so avoid coming on weekends. During weddings you’re still free to roam the grounds but you can’t get inside the chapel.
Before leaving PV, floweristas should head inland to the South Coast Botanic Garden (Map; 310-544-1948; www.southcoastbotanicgarden.org; 26300 Crenshaw Blvd; adult/child 5-12/student $7/2.50/5; 9am-5pm; ), which has been reclaimed from a former landfill. So when you see all those fruit trees, redwoods, roses, dahlias and some other 2000 species, remember you’re actually standing on a huge pile of trash. A tram operates on the weekends, and plant shows and sales take place year-round.
San Pedro
Amid the glitz and sprawl of Los Angeles, the port town of San Pedro (San Pee-dro) keeps it real. A slice of 1960s small-town America, its high street is devoid of chain-store clutter, down-to-earth locals ask how you’re doing and actually mean it, and restored vintage cars time-warp you back to American Graffiti days. Despite some sprucing up, especially along 6th and 7th Sts in the historic downtown, an air of working-class grit remains, and so do many of the dive bars where Charles Bukowski probably ruined his liver. LA’s late, great bad-boy poet now rests in Green Hills Memorial Park (Map; 27501 S Western Ave; Ocean View plot 875; ).
‘San Pedro is real quiet’, Bukowski once observed. That’s still true today, except for the distant clanging of containers being hoisted on and off gigantic cargo vessels at Worldport LA, the world’s third-busiest container port after Singapore and Hong Kong. LA’s own ‘Golden Gate’, the 1500ft-long suspended Vincent Thomas Bridge links San Pedro with Terminal Island.
Not surprisingly, most local attractions are situated along the waterfront, which is served by the electric trolley (all-day fare $1; 10am-6pm Fri-Mon). On the first Thursday of every month, historic downtown livens up during the San Pedro Art Walk (www.1stthursday.com; 6-9pm). Check the website for further details.
CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM
This city-owned aquarium (Map; 310-548-7562; www.cabrilloaq.org; 3720 Stephen White Dr; suggested donation adult/child $5/1; noon-5pm Tue-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun; ) is the smaller, older, less frantic and high-tech cousin of Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific. It’s also a lot lighter on your wallet and probably less overwhelming for small children. Spiky urchins, slippery sea cucumbers, magical jellyfish and other local denizens will bring smiles to even the most PlayStation-jaded youngster. Naturalists lead rambles around the rocky tide pools and salt marshes and organize all sorts of other educational programs, including the grunion-watches (April to July; see boxed text, Click here).
LOS ANGELES MARITIME MUSEUM & AROUND
For a salty introduction to the area, visit this endearing but notoriously short-staffed