California Dreaming: Tom and Tracy’s California Journal
From The Maitai Vault
What’s great here in the Golden State? There are some stops in California that demand extra time and energy to explore. Others require just a quick stop. That’s what we’re here to do. From magnificent museums to gorgeous settings to events unique to our great state…and even a fork in the road…this section gives you a unique cross section of California, and the places you should spend some time exploring while visiting. My most recent posts are at the top as we keep adding places that we travel, and add additional information to spots we revisit more frequently. Hopefully this will give you some ideas on what to see in our great state.
August 16, 2013
Grand New Park With Grand Old Flags Grand Park – Los Angeles I often hear people ignorantly spout off and grouse, “There’s nothing to do in downtown Los Angeles on the weekend.” When I hear that, I reply, “Look around, there’s plenty to see and do if you do your […]
August 15, 2013
A $45 Million Walk Around “Lotus Lake” Echo Park Lake (Echo Park) – Los Angeles So what does $45 million get you these days? Well, if the two-year renovation of Echo Park Lake is any indication, that heavy chunk of change gets you a beautiful place to spend a lazy […]
August 12, 2013
Spaced Out In Los Angeles Space Shuttle Endeavour/California Science Center – Los Angeles Everyone gets spaced out living in Los Angeles, so what better way to spend Memorial Day 2013 than head down to the California Science Center to check out the Space Shuttle Endeavour. I’ve been interested in space […]
August 11, 2013
Sticky Situation La Brea Tar Pits & Page Museum – Los Angeles I am a native Angeleno, yet at age 59 years and 362 days, I had never visited the La Brea Tar Pits….a fact that stuck with me…until today, that is. Even worse, I had never even heard about […]
August 9, 2013
Music Under The Stars The Hollywood Bowl – Hollywood For the better part of the last 40 years, there has been one place in Southern California that draws me back at least once every summer, and it has nothing to do with the beach. The famed Hollywood Bowl is a […]
July 4, 2013
Light At The Bottom Of The Stairs Point Reyes Lighthouse – Point Reyes Station The odds of a sunny day at Point Reyes Lighthouse along with me climbing up and down 616 stairs without having to use a defibrillator are just about nil. Yet, on the 4th of July, those […]
May 30, 2013
D-Day Commemorated At A Mall Spirit Of Youth Rising From The Waves – Glendale If you have ever visited the American Cemetery in Normandy (as we did last autumn), you probably saw the sculpture named Spirit of American Youth. It represents the nearly 10,000 soldiers who gave their lives and […]
April 24, 2013
Seeing Stars In North Hollywood Academy Of Television Arts & Sciences Hall Of Fame Plaza – North Hollywood Sure, I’ve lived in Southern California for 60 years, but doesn’t mean I’ve seen everything (or even heard of everything). A few of these places are only a few miles from […]
April 18, 2013
“The House That Nat Built” Capitol Records Building – Hollywood This is one of the first cool, California buildings that stood out to me as a youngster. The 13-story high Capitol Records Building was constructed and completed in 1956 and was the world’s first circular office building. It was nicknamed […]
January 7, 2013
Jurassic Park…Just Off The Highway World’s Biggest Dinosaurs If you have ever driven from Los Angeles to the Palm Springs/Indio area in the lower desert, you might have noticed some prehistoric characters (and they’re not the Rolling Stones) lurking just to the north of Interstate 10 in Cabazon. These are […]
May 21, 2012
Air. Sea. Space. California Academy of Sciences – San Francisco This was going to be the day that Mary, Kim, Tracy and I were to venture from Bodega Bay into “The City” (also known as San Francisco) to see the Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces From the Musée D’Orsay at the […]
May 19, 2012
“I Can See Russia From My Car” Fort Ross and The Sonoma Coast Starting in the 1740s, frontiersmen from Russia left the Siberian wilderness to look for fur-bearing marine mammals to the east. They first formed a colony in Kodiak, which today is Alaska. The organization was known as the […]
May 19, 2012
Hip To Be Square Sonoma Square & Surroundings – Sonoma Always a nice stop for an hour or two when in the area, the Sonoma Square (or Plaza) is an eight-acre National Historic Monument. It was designed 170 years ago by the Mexican Governor at the time, Mariano Vallejo. […]
January 7, 2012
A Bridge That Spans The Decades Colorado Street Bridge & The Lower Arroyo Seco Trail – Pasadena Sunday mornings mean “Adventure Time” for our two Corgis, and one spot we all like to go is the nearby Lower Arroyo Seco Trail, where there are numerous good vantage points to get […]
January 4, 2012
Fork It Over! The Fork In The Road – Pasadena What do you do when you come to a fork in the road? Get out of the car and take a photo, that’s what. A weird moment occurred a couple of years ago as I drove on Pasadena Avenue north […]
January 3, 2012
Flying High Portal Of The Folded Wing – North Hollywood I’m guessing that any of you who have flown in and out of Bob Hope Airport in Burbank have never traveled the short distance to see The Portal Of The Folded Wings in Valhalla Memorial Park. I hadn’t either until […]