#283-287: Deer Park Monastery, Troutdale, Fort MacArthur Museum and more!

from wikipedia

Happy New Year, L.A. Adventurers! This month we have a beautiful mountainside Buddhist retreat, a fort that's been transformed into a museum, a Spanish mission, all-you-can-fish fun for the family, and a gem fiesta. Read on...

#283: Deer Park Monastery  

Deer Park Monastery (pictured above) is a gorgeous retreat in the mountains of Escondido. The practice center follows the Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and is open to visitors.

img via FortMacArthur facebook page

#284: The Fort MacArthur Museum

The Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro displays historical structures that were part of the Army's defense of the coastline. The defenses range from the big gun era to the missile era. They also have a radio room full of the old communication equipment used by the Army at Fort MacArthur. 

#285: San Gabriel Mission

Founded in 1771, this Spanish Mission includes a museum, gift shop, church and performance art center.  Admission is $3-$5. Mark your calendar for their 243rd Annual Fiesta at the end of August. 

pic via 

#286: Troutdale

Want something different to do with your family? Take them to Troutdale in Agoura Hills, where there's no limit to the trout you can fish for. They provide you with a bamboo pole, bucket and bait. Admission is $7 and you also pay based on the size of the fish you catch. 

#287: The Culver City Rock & Mineral Club

Members of this club get access to a fully equipped lapidary shop, library, field trips, parties and more. Everyone should check out their Fiesta of Gems, a free rock and mineral show they host every summer.

 Have you been to any of these places? What did you think? Leave me a comment below!

#264 to #270: Farm Sanctuary, a Movie Railway, the Coroner's Gift Shop and more!

pic via allaboutjazz

Hey adventurers! Hope you're enjoying September in Los Angeles. Here are more places in and around L.A. to check out. Have you been to any of these? Let me know in the comments section below! 

#264: Attend an intimate musical performance at McCabe's on the West Side

#265: Visit Farm Sanctuary's rescue animals in Acton. A tour is just $5 for adults.

#266: Check out the home of the movie trains, Fillmore & Western Railway in Fillmore.

pic via tumblr

#267: Watch the sunset on El Matador State Beach in Malibu

#268: Admire the art or attend a performance at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton

The bath towels at Skeletons in the Closet

#269: Visit the coroner's gift shop, Skeletons in the Closet in Downtown L.A.

pic from latimes.com

#270: Take the kids to a Bob Baker Marionette Show in Downtown L.A.

#260: Gymboree Play and Music

                                                                                                                                                     

Hey loyal readers of this blog, I'm sad to announce that we're moving from L.A. to Hawaii in a couple of days. It's a bittersweet move since I've got so many places bookmarked that I have yet to do and see in L.A.. However, the show will go on... I'm still posting until I hit 365, so don't go anywhere!

This post is for all the new parents out there... It's about a magical place where you can catch bubbles on the tips of your fingers, where kids never tire of rainbow colored parachutes, and where clowns aren't scary at all.  I'm talking about Gymboree Play and Music. For the past 6 months, my girl and I have been spending oh, about 95% of our time here, and it's been her favorite place to be. 

What makes Gymboree such a special place? It's the girls who work here. I am beyond impressed by how cheerful and friendly they always are, how they know everyone's names who walks through the door, and how they're always patient and nurturing with the kids. 

I also love how the floor at Gymboree is padded, which provides my girl a safe place to fall and practice her crawling and walking skills. They change the floor plan every two weeks to make the place seem like a whole new gym for the kids. And their class makeup policy is very flexible, which is a bonus if your kid's naps are all over the place (like mine). 

For $74 per month, you can enroll in a weekly 45 minute class. To add more bang for your buck, you also get unlimited "Open Gym" membership where you can take your little one for free play. I've met so many great parents this way whose little ones are about the age as my girl. 

Definitely check this place out if you're a new parent--it will save your sanity and your kid will love it. If you're not sure whether Gymboree is for you, you can try a free class.  Thanks for the memories Gymboree! 

Gymboree Play and Music

#259: Zimmer Children's Museum

You know the Chuck E. Cheese jingle Where a kid an be a kid? Well if the Zimmer Museum had a jingle, it would go Where a kid can be an adult. This hidden museum located on Wilshire is the perfect place for your tot to practice his or her hand at being a chef, an emergency medical technician, a pilot, an actor, a musician, or a construction worker. It's like a miniature world where the kids run the show!

Kids can also enjoy playing in a ball pit, a place to explore water, and my baby's favorite--a VIB area. VIB stands for "Very Important Baby" and it's a small padded area where babies and their caregivers can play with soft blocks and other toys. All we were missing was bottle service.

Most of the kids at the museum were in the 3 to 5 year range, but my 11 month old loved it as well. We were there till they closed, and as an extra incentive to get everyone out on time, they give balloons to the kids as they leave.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children. Babies less than one year old are free. FYI: When you enter, you have to go through a metal detector and put your bags through an x-ray. That's because the Zimmer Museum is a Jewish museum and is located in a building that houses the Jewish Federation of Greater L.A., so they take extra precautions (They do the same at the Museum of Tolerance (#209)).

The Zimmer Museum also offers classes. Click on the link below to find out more!

The Zimmer Children's Museum

#258: Sweet!

Urinals that dispense candy at Yucky

Urinals that dispense candy, a Ferrari that shoots gumballs out of its exhaust pipe, a chocolate lab where you can put everything from Hot Cheetos to Bacon Bits in your custom chocolate bar... You can experience all this and much more at Sweet! located in the Hollywood and Highland complex. 

The Stay Puft marshmallow boutique

Sweet! is the Disneyland of candy shops. This over the top store contains a dozen boutiques including Peace of Candy (candies from around the world), Stay Puft (everything marshmallow), the Wonka Room (creative truffles and chocolate bars designed by Willy Wonka), and Sticky (traditional handmade hard candies with customizable messages).  I am pretty sure this place has every candy imaginable!

The Sticky Boutique

The good ship lollypop at the Lollywood boutique

Sweet! took me down memory lane. Seeing the Nerds, Airheads, and Chupa Chups made me nostalgic for simpler times. (That nostalgia must have carried through when I chose the song for the video--can you name who sings it?)

The main candy counter

Taking Candy from a Baby candy dispenser

Another awesome thing about Sweet! is the free samples. At the main candy counter they let you try any of the sweet and sour gummy candies in the case. I chose the gummy watermelon, which I used to inhale as a kid. Also at the Sticky boutique we got to watch them make sour apple candies from start to finish, and we got a taste at the end! 

Making sour apple candies at the Sticky boutique

Wonka's "Square Sweets That Look Round" (haha!)

Here are some tips for your visit:

• There is an underground paid parking garage for the Hollywood and Highland complex. The garage entrance is off of Highland. 
• Sweet! is located on the second floor.
• We went early to avoid the crowd on the weekend which was a good move--we had the place mostly to ourselves.
• Some of the boutiques (Peace of Candy, As If and Stay Puft) are located across from the main Sweet! shop. These boutiques open later than the main store (on Sunday they opened at noon).

We loved our time at Sweet! and highly recommend it. It just might be in my top ten places to visit in L.A.!

The largest gummy bear in the world!

Does this seem wrong to you?

Choose your jelly bean

Make your own chocolate bar at the Chocolate Lab

This snozzleberry tastes like snozzleberry! 

Wonka's Travel Trunk Truffles

Wonka's Hot & Cold Bar (cayenne and cinnamon for the hot and mint for the cold)

Farts in a Can in the Yucky boutique

Hazardous candies at Yucky

Have you been to Sweet? What did you think of it? Leave me a comment below!

Sweet! at Hollywood and Highland

#249: Christmas at The Grove

Of all the malls in L.A., The Grove just might be the most Christmas-y. The "snow" that falls in the evening, the towering Christmas tree with more ornaments than visible greenery, pictures with Santa in his workshop, and a sleigh that soars high above the fountains are all sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

Santa's in here!

The Grove reminds me of Disneyland; everything looks perfect and there's not a speck of litter in sight.  And like Disneyland, it gets very crowded on the weekends. 

This time I came on a weekday morning and had a much more relaxing experience.  Have you ever been to Disneyland right when it opened? That's what it felt like! Except replace Mickey Mouse with Mario Lopez. Yes, Mr. Dimples was there filming an episode of Extra. I snapped this photo of him looking at free swag one of his guests gave him:

Speaking of t.v. shows, remember that episode of Modern Family where they take a doll into the "Doll Emergency Clinic" to get fixed and Alex sees one that looks just like her? I thought that was just something on t.v., but it turns out there is such a place at The Grove! It's American Girl, and in addition to a doll emergency room, they've also got a doll hair salon, a historic doll museum, a dining room where girls can eat with their dolls, and a doll photography studio. You can also buy clothes, accessories, musical instruments and even dogs for your custom designed doll. It's pretty crazy.

For the walking disinclined, The Grove has a free trolley. This was a hit with the youngsters.

And for your sweet tooth, there's a Sprinkles cupcakes stand:

And a Dylan's Candy Bar:

Have you been to The Grove during the holidays? What did you think of it? Leave me a comment below!

The Grove

#247: STAR Eco Station

Pet a boa constrictor, gaze into the third eye of a monitor lizard, and meet a baby crocodile at the wildest place in Culver City: the STAR Eco Station. The Eco Station rescues exotic wildlife and takes in endangered and illegally trafficked animals from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Center.  For just $8 you can take an hour long tour of the facilities. 

When we went on a Saturday afternoon, there were only six other people in our tour group. We started in the aquarium room, where our guide pointed out a giant black fish in one of the tanks. How did this fish find its way to the Eco Station? The poor guy grew so large that it busted through its owner's glass aquarium! The owner had no idea that this breed of fish would grow so strong or large. Sadly, "pets gone wrong" seems to be the story of many of the animals at the Eco Station.

so sad 

We noticed that a lot of the birds at the Eco Station didn't have feathers. Our guide told us that birds get very attached to their owners, and when their owners abandon them or give them away, they become distressed and start plucking out all their feathers. :(

 

The interior of the Eco Station is amazing--it reminds me of being in the Jungle Book! That's no coincidence; Hollywood set designers lent their talents to transform the Eco Station into a wild jungle paradise.

reptile enclosures

a baby crocodile

Our guide referred to this little guy as a crocodilian, which blew Brad's mind because he didn't know that "crocodilian" was even a word. He proceeded to say "crocodilian" about twenty times throughout the day.

A boa that we got to touch

we touched this guy too

Are you an animal lover?  Be sure to also check out The Gentle Barn (#195) and The Wildlife Learning Center (#190)!

Have you been to the STAR Eco Station? What did you think of it? Leave me a comment below!

STAR Eco Station

#241: Lots of Food Truck Lots!

I must confess, Gourmet Food Trucks exhaust me. Just the thought of following them on Twitter, driving to wherever they're located, standing in line, and then eating my food on a street corner... It's enough to make me want to get Thai food delivered to my house and veg out while watching The Voice. Who's with me?

Don Chow Tacos

If you're like me (i.e. lazy), then a Food Truck Lot might just make you want to give food trucks another chance. What's so great about a Food Truck Lot? Instead of one food truck, you get a handful, and you can graze to your stomach's desire while knowing that this event will always take place at a regularly scheduled time at the same location.


This past Tuesday, we headed out to Santa Monica to check out Santa Monica's Food Truck Lot as they celebrated their 2 year anniversary. The lot is located on the corner of Main St. and Ocean Park next to the California Heritage Museum and it's open every Tuesday from 5 - 10 pm.  Bonus points for the large lawn where you can relax and enjoy your meal.

Don Chow Bowl

The selection of trucks changes weekly and is posted on their calendar.  When we went, the most popular trucks seemed to be the Lobsta Truck (lobster rolls) and LudoTruck (fried chicken). There was also the Buttermilk Truck, Coolhaus, Komodo, India Jones, Slammin Sliders, Don Chow Tacos and Fry Smith. We went with some tacos and a bowl from Don Chow and a couple of tacos from Komodo.

Komodo Tacos

Here are some tips for your outing:

• If you go, you might want to bring your own drinks since the trucks don't sell beverages. Otherwise, there's a small booth in the middle of the lot that sells drinks. 
• Bring a blanket to sit on if you're going to eat on the lawn. 
• Even though the Lot is advertised as opening at 5 pm, some of the trucks didn't open until about 5:30 pm. 
• If you ride your bike there, they have free bike valet service starting from 5:30 pm. 

Don't live close to Santa Monica? Here are some other Food Truck Lots: Gateway to Go near LAX, Westside Food Truck Central (although somewhat unreliable. I would check their Twitter page to make sure they're open on the day you want to go), Culver City Food Truck Fest, and On the Lot in Los Feliz.

Can you recommend any other Food Truck Lots in L.A.? Leave me a comment below!

Santa Monica Food Truck Lot

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