It's My Best Thing: My Best LA Things

Remember that article circulating around the internets about Los Angeles vs. New York City? (my apologies, but I can't seem to track it down at the moment, but I will post it in the comments if I ever find it) The problem with that article is that it barely scratched the surface of what's great (and also what's not so great) about LA. Everyone knows the traffic sucks, everyone knows the weather is wonderful. How about some actual unique-to-LA examples? Having lived here for 7 1/2 years, I've certainly had time to discover (or avoid) a lot of these "LA things". Here are a few of my best, worst, and yet-to-experience "LA Things":

Five "LA Things" that I have never done and never intend to do:

- Go to Coachella
- Eat a bacon-wrapped hot dog
- Get a DUI
- Patronize Santa Anita Park / Hollywood Park / any animal-racing track
- Visit Madame Tussaud's or the Ripley Museum on Hollywood Blvd.

image source: blog.nastygal.com

Five "LA Things" I'm a little embarrassed to have done, but will chalk it up to being 21 / new to the city:

- Took a picture with one of the characters on Hollywood Blvd.
- Visited the Hollywood Museum
- Brought out-of-town guests to CityWalk
- Waited in line to get into Hollywood clubs, none of which still have the same names that they did at the time
- Drove through Beverly Hills with a star map looking for celebrity homes

immediately regretting that decision

Five "LA Things" I've done once (and am glad I did), but will probably not do again, or at least not do again for a while:

- Evening at the Magic Castle (overwhelmingly claustrophobic)
- Angels Flight Railway (somewhat anti-climactic)
- Ice-skating in Pershing Square (well, we attempted, but it was so packed we would've had to buy tickets for 3 hours later)
- Shop at Santee Alley
- Page museum / walking around by the tar pits (I think it was probably just a coincidence that I got sick, but I can't deal with the smell of the tar)

Angels Flight

Five "LA Things" I've never done and would really like to do:

- Eat at Providence (#1 on a list of about 50 restaurants I really want to try)
- Visit the Museum of Jurassic Technology
- See the Hollyhock House and Watts Towers (see below)
- Attend the Oscars (preferably as a nominee ;-) )
- Monday night supper at Little Dom's

image source: domicileid.blogspot.com

image source: flickriver.com

And finally, here is a list of 20 "LA Things" that I can't get enough of, and would gladly do over and over:

- Spending the day at Point Dume in Malibu
- Visiting the Griffith Observatory
- High Tea (and photo-taking) at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena or Jin Patisserie in Venice
- Concerts at The Hollywood Bowl
- Movies at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
- Bootie LA
- Riding bikes along the Ballona Creek Path and out to the ocean
- Brunch & shopping at the Farmers' Market at the Grove in particular, or any farmers' market
- Hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains
- Dancing & drinks at the Edison downtown
- Sunset drinks at High Lounge in Venice
- Ordering off the "secret" menu at In-N-Out
- Getting sushi at Katsu-ya in Studio City
- Weekend jaunts to Vegas with the girls, or Wine Country with Boyfriend, or San Diego with the fam,
Joshua Tree with friends, Lake Arrowhead with the "cabin" crew, etc.
- Zumba overlooking the ocean
- Diddy Riese!
- Horseback riding at Sunset Ranch (would like to go elsewhere sometime!)
- Getting massages at The Massage Garage
- Spending time with my cousins in The Valley, particularly over the High Holidays when it's still so hot out that we can enjoy the pool
- Attending PaleyFest & other panels/screenings

Point Dume in Malibu

Griffith Observatory

Beck / Spoon / MGMT @ the Hollywood Bowl

BootieLA!

hiking

Diddy Riese!

There are so many more interesting places and activities LA has to offer that didn't make this list. To name just a few, the Getty Center and LACMA are huge attractions, Universal Studios and Disneyland can be very fun - albeit expensive - full-day activities, the Venice canals make for a lovely stroll, Union Station and the Bradbury building are beautiful examples of LA architecture.