The Wedding of Sharon & Rob
Things To Do
Our Recommendations
A Google map of our favorite spots to visit while you're in town!
Griffith Park
With over 4,210 acres of both natural chapparal-covered terrain and landscaped parkland and picnic areas, Griffith Park is one of the largest municipal parks with urban wilderness areas in the United States. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Griffith Observatory, and the Hollywood Sign. Due to its appearance in many films, the park is among the most famous municipal parks in North America.
Pasadena
Nestled at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, Pasadena has a different vibe than what most people think of LA. A mere 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles, with a walkable vibrant downtown, historic landmarks, a world class university, lush botanic gardens nearby, leafy streets, it feels more like a smaller midwestern or east coast city but with palm trees, and near-year-round sunshine. It is the perfect place to spend the day exploring. Don't miss the world famous Huntington Library, the site of our first date. The Huntington was the former country estate of railroad tycoon Henry Huntington, and is now a world class botanic garden, art museum (in Huntington's mansion) and a research library of archives antique manuscripts and books, including one of the original Gutenberg bibles.
Seal Beach
There are countless beaches all up and down the Southern California coast, and you can't go wrong with any of them. But we both particularly recommend Seal Beach on the Long Beach/Orange County border. With easy access from the 605 freeway, Seal Beach is a little warmer, with gentler waves than most other SoCal beaches, for those not used to navigating the pounding surf of the Pacific. Downtown Seal Beach is a quintessential small beach town. One downside: the calmer, warmer waters make it an ideal habitat for stingrays. But as long as you do the "California shuffle," shuffling your feet in the sand when you move in the water, you'll be fine!
Museum Row
Also known as Mid-Wilshire or Miracle Mile, this is the true center of gravity for a lot of what LA has to offer visitors. It's close enough to where we live that we often make the 2 miles walk. Rob requires his earth science students to visit the world famous La Brea Tar Pits, site of the largest ice age fossil deposits in the country. Next door is LACMA, one of LA's three major world class art museums. Next to that is the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. There are other museums across the street including the Peterson Automotive museum, and there are many fantastic restaurants nearby.
The Queen Mary
We very nearly had The Queen Mary as our venue. One of the last ocean liners of the golden age of luxury steamship travel, it is now permanently docked in Long Beach harbor. Long Beach also has a lot to do, including the Aquarium of the Pacific, and opportunities for paddling and kayaking in the Belmont Shores area on the east end of LB.