Besides the D land Resort, favorite places to visit in S. California

[Blake]

Great suggestions so far. I would at least add:

The L. A. County Arboretum in Arcadia

[bayouguy]

Carpinteria State Beach.
Santa Barbara Zoo.
Fillmore Railroad.
San Diego Zoo.
UCLA football at the Rose Bowl.
A library, any library.
A Los Angeles Kings game.
A farmer's market.
Sitting at a good coffee house.

[calsig31]

Dodger Stadium.

[ShelbyH]

Legoland

[jcruise86]

Great suggestions so far. I would at least add:

The L. A. County Arboretum in Arcadia

Good one! This place seems like an inter-planetary zoo for trees. I saw many amazing plants here that I didn't know existed. We also like Descanso Gardens.

And, ShelbyH (above), Legoland is a very nice park with some shady trees and rides that my 6-year-old loved!

[indianajack]

If you have kids 10 and under, then definitely Legoland!

[SoCalbma]

Everything you guys listed is the same as mind.

I would have to say

- Santa Monica Pier and the Third Street Promenade.
- Redondo Beach Pier
- Hollywood and Highland.
- Go watch a live-taping of a TV Show.
- Any of the three or four SoCal water Park - Raging waters, Knotts Soak City, Hurricane Harbor.

[Acpisme]

Hmm, that brings the Hollywood Bowl to mind! A wonderful venue for outdoor concerts and events. I remember my grandmother taking me there for Easter sunrise services when I was little. It does cost depending on the concert or event. We are going to try and make the Garrison Keller performance of a Prairie Home Companion there in July and the John Williams concert in August.

[Sparky]

I have several, but, at the moment, I'm going to talk about just one of them, Paramount Ranch. At times I have jokingly referred to Paramount Ranch as "my other Disneyland", because for many years when I lived closer to it, I spent a lot of time there and had some great experiences there both at special event and watching film shoots. I spent much time there on the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman set when it was filmed there in the 1990's.

Paramount Ranch was the location ranch for Paramount Studios from the 1920's through the mid-1940's. In the 1950's, under private ownership, it was used for many of the television Westerns of that time. Now, it is owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It is open daily to the public, there are occasional special events there, and, it is still an active filming site (although, we don't get as much filming these days.) I am an NPS Volunteer who helps to document and record both the past and present history of the site. June of this year marks the 30th anniversary of my association with the site. Hard to believe! In the course of the research that I do, I have made a number of exciting historical finds. Of course, as a Disney fan, I always hoped to find a Disney connection. But, for many, many years that didn't happen. Then, one day serendipity happened and I made an unexpected, but, very happy discovery. I was watching The Love Bug and thought some of the El Dorado racing scenes looked like Paramount Ranch. My friend, Disney Archivist Dave Smith confirmed that they shot some scenes on the old racetrack on the site. For a bit of trivia, many years after filming for The Love Bug at the ranch, Michelle Lee returned to direct an episode of Dr. Quinn! Later, I discovered that Herbie Rides Again also shot some scenes there. A few months ago I was at the ranch and was startled to see a bunch of Herbie's there. It seems that a bunch of fans with their own Herbie cars decided to get together there. How lucky for me to happen to be there that day! Sometime after the Love Bug discovery, I learned of a stuntman special for Disney Channel that had shot there. That's a whole long interesting story in itself! In more recent times, Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire shot an episode there and the Studio tested a 3-D camera system there. I have a gut feeling there may be Disney connections yet to discover. Perhaps the high point for me was contributing to Huell Howser's California's Golden Parks "Paramount Ranch" episode by contributing some photos used on the show being on camera in at the very end.

The Park Service has history walks through the Western town movie set once or twice a month. Another Volunteer sets up a nice display of historical photos of the ranch (including some of my photos) most Saturdays between about 9am to 2pm. Annual events at the ranch include the Science Festival, which was just held, and, the upcoming Topango Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Festival on May 20th (there is an admission fee for this one, most events are free.) In the summer, once in July and once in August, the Silents Under the Stars takes place. These fun programs include screenings of classic silent films with live accompaniment. Other fun events pop up from time to time. Info may be found by going to the National Park Service's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area website. Click on the "Outdoors" Calender of Events link to find all of the activities for Paramount Ranch and all the other SMMNRA parks. You may also find a link for Paramount Ranch or other parks to help plan regular day visits. Paramount Ranch has been a huge part of my life, and, as with my Disney fandom, has afforded some incredible experiences and opportunities to rub shoulders with some legendary actors and entertainers over the years and watch them work. It is a small piece of Hollywood history and is the only movie ranch available to the public on a daily basis. Check it out!

[StaceeyL]

Hollywood. Honestly, even if you live close to it take a tour. I take my kids to movies at the El Capitan and visit the soda fountain with them, but I love the feel of old Hollywood. Yeah, it's sort of dirty, but take the double decker bus tour at least once.

[Director_Guy]

Vasquez Rocks.

[sediment]

Dodger Stadium.

Now that the Pressler of Baseball is gone, I agree.

[Retrocool]

A library, any library.

This brought a tear to my eye. LA and OC have some of the most wonderful libraries anywhere in the country, including the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Branch in downtown, the Anaheim Public Library's Central Branch just north of Disneyland on Harbor (terrific midcentury architecture, too), and the Santa Ana Public Library's Main Branch. All three are excellent resources, especially for local history research.

---------- Post added 05-05-2012 at 07:01 PM ----------

I have several, but, at the moment, I'm going to talk about just one of them, Paramount Ranch. At times I have jokingly referred to Paramount Ranch as "my other Disneyland", because for many years when I lived closer to it, I spent a lot of time there and had some great experiences there both at special event and watching film shoots. I spent much time there on the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman set when it was filmed there in the 1990's.

Paramount Ranch was the location ranch for Paramount Studios from the 1920's through the mid-1940's. In the 1950's, under private ownership, it was used for many of the television Westerns of that time. Now, it is owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It is open daily to the public, there are occasional special events there, and, it is still an active filming site (although, we don't get as much filming these days.) I am an NPS Volunteer who helps to document and record both the past and present history of the site. June of this year marks the 30th anniversary of my association with the site. Hard to believe! In the course of the research that I do, I have made a number of exciting historical finds. Of course, as a Disney fan, I always hoped to find a Disney connection. But, for many, many years that didn't happen. Then, one day serendipity happened and I made an unexpected, but, very happy discovery. I was watching The Love Bug and thought some of the El Dorado racing scenes looked like Paramount Ranch. My friend, Disney Archivist Dave Smith confirmed that they shot some scenes on the old racetrack on the site. For a bit of trivia, many years after filming for The Love Bug at the ranch, Michelle Lee returned to direct an episode of Dr. Quinn! Later, I discovered that Herbie Rides Again also shot some scenes there. A few months ago I was at the ranch and was startled to see a bunch of Herbie's there. It seems that a bunch of fans with their own Herbie cars decided to get together there. How lucky for me to happen to be there that day! Sometime after the Love Bug discovery, I learned of a stuntman special for Disney Channel that had shot there. That's a whole long interesting story in itself! In more recent times, Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire shot an episode there and the Studio tested a 3-D camera system there. I have a gut feeling there may be Disney connections yet to discover. Perhaps the high point for me was contributing to Huell Howser's California's Golden Parks "Paramount Ranch" episode by contributing some photos used on the show being on camera in at the very end.

The Park Service has history walks through the Western town movie set once or twice a month. Another Volunteer sets up a nice display of historical photos of the ranch (including some of my photos) most Saturdays between about 9am to 2pm. Annual events at the ranch include the Science Festival, which was just held, and, the upcoming Topango Banjo and Fiddle Contest and Festival on May 20th (there is an admission fee for this one, most events are free.) In the summer, once in July and once in August, the Silents Under the Stars takes place. These fun programs include screenings of classic silent films with live accompaniment. Other fun events pop up from time to time. Info may be found by going to the National Park Service's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area website. Click on the "Outdoors" Calender of Events link to find all of the activities for Paramount Ranch and all the other SMMNRA parks. You may also find a link for Paramount Ranch or other parks to help plan regular day visits. Paramount Ranch has been a huge part of my life, and, as with my Disney fandom, has afforded some incredible experiences and opportunities to rub shoulders with some legendary actors and entertainers over the years and watch them work. It is a small piece of Hollywood history and is the only movie ranch available to the public on a daily basis. Check it out!

Cool info! I will have to check this out when I get a chance!

Map and Site Information: Paramount Ranch - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

[christine11276]

I didn't see The Whaley House on anyone's list. Has anyone gone there? I love it.

[jcruise86]

I have several, but, at the moment, I'm going to talk about just one of them, Paramount Ranch. . .

After your excellent Paramount Ranch post, Sparky,
I'm curious about the other places on your list of several!


And this is certainly not for everyone, but have any of you
taken a Dearly Departed tour of L.A.?

It's run by Scott Michaels who used to work on the infamous Graveline Tours.
That might be fun for some people who come into town for Knott's Scary Farm.