The dinosaurs are coming this holiday season. The South Coast Botanic Garden in the Palos Verdes Peninsula will host “Dinosaurs Around the World,” bringing 13 lifelike animatronic figures to the green space. Running Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, the exhibit will feature a broad array of reptiles, ranging from the 6-foot-long Australovenator to a nearly 30-foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex. Guests can see the dinosaurs on two walking trails. One is a short loop designed primarily for young children, which will feature a little more than half of the dinosaurs, while the other is a full jaunt around the garden. All the…

Business and leisure travel are showing signs of a pick-up after a weak start to the year. Scott Kirby, chief executive of United Airlines, told the Los Angeles Times that, with some easing of uncertainty surrounding tariffs, the economy and global politics, more people and businesses are gaining the confidence to hit the road again. The airline industry is perhaps the best real-time indicator of the U.S. economy, as travel is one of the first things that businesses and consumers cut back on when they sense difficult times ahead. Since June, however, United’s orders suggests there is more certainty as…

You might not think of John C. Reilly as a romantic — he’s best known for starring in comedies like “Step Brothers” and “Talladega Nights” — but these days, the actor is leaning into that side of himself. His new vaudeville show, “Mister Romantic,” came from a moment of deep reflection. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. “Three years ago, I was looking around the world thinking, ‘Man, it’s getting really divisive…

Tell someone about “The Cortège,” and it may inspire as much apprehension as it does curiosity. A theatrical procession running this month at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, “The Cortège” promises to explore grief, loss, mourning and our collective disconnection from one another. It’s a dramatic interpretation of a funeral, albeit one with jubilant street-inspired dance and a Sasquatch-like creature. And robots and drones. I arrived at “The Cortège” just weeks removed from attending a very real, deeply personal funeral for my mother. Did I want to revisit that space as part of my weekend’s entertainment, and would the show…

ARIEL, Wash. — Music thumps. Boots stomp. Smoke swirls. It rises like a dry mist from red-glowing cigarettes. It ebbs around an elk’s skull, five-point antlers still attached, and a muzzle loader hanging on the wall. A potbellied stove washes its warmth over strutting men, women and children. A skinned-out bobcat dangles from the ceiling. A two-man chain saw with a 12-horsepower engine roosts on a canopy over the bar. A sign says: “This Business is Supported by Timber Dollars.” Tab tops pop. Bartenders slide Budweiser and Rainier and Miller and Coors across the varnished bar top, 3,120 cans and bottles in…

The sun had just begun its descent when the Mane Street Band took the stage for their weekly Honky Tonk Sunday set at Pioneertown’s Red Dog Saloon. Young adults in hiking gear sipped beers beneath chandeliers shaped like wagon wheels as old timers with gray ponytails and cowboy hats chatted with a tattooed bartender. Outside, a group of parents sat around long picnic tables, ignoring their kids who were messing around in the dirt. It wasn’t easy to tell who was local and who was just visiting the high desert town founded nearly 80 years ago as a permanent movie…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> If you’re eager to mark the holidays this year with a Danish flair but Copenhagen seems a tad too far away, you might find the answer in Solvang. An answer that includes gnomes and a troll. That city, founded in 1911 by Danish immigrants, celebrates its Julefest — the winter holidays — with an emphasis on visitor-friendly Old World traditions. This year’s schedule includes a series of events and activities from Nov. 28 through Jan. 4 — roaming carolers, European-style night markets, candlelight tours and shops transformed into micro winter wonderlands. If you’re planning a winter road trip,…

Forget Malibu or the North Shore. Next summer, you can catch a wave in Palm Desert, 100 miles from the nearest ocean. After years of delays, DSRT Surf, the Coachella Valley’s second surf destination, is expected to open to the public in the summer of 2026. The new complex will offer inland surfers a steady stream of machine-powered waves in a 5.5 acre surf pool embedded in the sprawling Desert Willow Golf Resort. The complex, which will eventually include a 139-key hotel and 57 luxury villas, is the latest addition to a growing number of surf resorts opening across the…

Guitar ace Slash rose to prominence with an unmistakable look as the anchor of Guns N’ Roses. A true rock ’n’ roll persona, the artist was once rarely seen without a drooping cigarette and a top hat, the latter of which could barely contain his face-engulfing curly hair. Now, as of this week, he’s a theme park character at Universal Studios Hollywood. Share via Close extra sharing options Slash, or, rather, a skeletal facsimile of him played by an actor, will be available for photo opportunities and meet and greets at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, which runs most evenings through…

Dressed in torn cargo pants and beat up Vans, architectural designer and DIY influencer Ben Uyeda was stretched out poolside in a rare moment of repose on a recent Tuesday evening at Reset, his new hotel in 29 Palms. “This is the best time to watch the mountains,” he said, looking south toward the direction of Joshua Tree National Park. “Right now they look really jagged, but they’ll turn soft and orange as the sun sets.” A mountain glowing orange at sunset is visible from one of Reset Hotel’s 65 modular rooms. Sitting next to him were his collaborators Emi…

As the last bit of the afternoon sun beamed down on a patch of grass right outside Elysian Park, hikers unfurled yoga mats and stretched beside a busy street. Dogs tugged at their leashes. William Vazquez moved through the crowd, greeting familiar faces and welcoming new ones. He asked for a show of hands: “Who’s here for the first time?” William Vazquez, founder and president of We Explore Earth, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting individual well-being and environmental stewardship. At least half the group raised their hands. L.A. local Vazquez, who founded We Explore Earth, a nonprofit outdoor group, welcomed…

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE — With only the lazy Joshua trees and hovering buzzards out here to bear witness, this isolated expanse of high-desert plain could well be among the quietest places on the planet. By day, the summer heat hammers hard and the dull whistle of the wind is the only discernible noise. Come nightfall, the eerie silence is often pierced by the woeful bleat of a wandering burro. Classic stories from the Los Angeles Times’ 143-year archive But wait. There’s another sound. Along a line of wooden power poles running to the horizon in both directions, 14 miles from the nearest…

In “The Paper,” the much anticipated mockumentary spinoff to “The Office,” Alex Edelman plays intrepid accountant/reporter Adam Cooper, part of the team tasked with reviving local newspaper “The Toledo Truth-Teller.” Edelman was also a writer and consulting producer for the show, which premieres on Peacock on Sept. 4 with all 10 episodes, and says the project gave him “the thing that is rarest in Los Angeles”: routine. “It was a really wonderful routine,” he adds. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to…

Chuck E. Cheese is all grown-up. Sort of. Brea Mall is now home to a Chuck’s Arcade, the first location in California and 10th in the U.S. When the company unveiled the concept earlier this year, headlines branded it as an “adult” Chuck E. Cheese. There’s some truth in that, but it’s not the full story. Combine the word “adult” and “arcade” and recognizable spaces — say, Dave & Buster’s — instantly come to mind. Here in SoCal, we also have Two Bit Circus in Santa Monica, which marries retro and modern games with beer and cocktails. Chuck’s Arcade isn’t…

As September begins, legions of Californians have just wound up their summer travels, which often follow family traditions. Frequently there are lakes involved. Or islands. Or a national park. We’re asking readers to tell us about a place you keep going back to, how you keep the tradition alive and what makes it special. If you are able to share up to three of your own photos, even better. We may feature you in an upcoming story.

Downtown Ojai’s newest hotel, which is also its oldest, stands along Ojai Avenue like a rancher in his best string tie and leather vest. This property, now known as Hotel El Roblar, has been a fixture on Ojai’s main street for more than a century — party to multiple civic dramas, one fraud conviction, repeated closures and four decades of fitness retreats. Now, after years of negotiation and restoration, a new team of owners has reshaped the place to evoke Old California, celebrate the Ojai Valley’s wild side and lure Angelenos looking to escape the city. “There’s a hitching post…

Long before Zack Fox was making scene-stealing appearances in “Abbott Elementary,” releasing music and amassing millions of views on his sweat-inducing DJ sets, he was best known for his Twitter jokes. Fox, a graphic artist and emcee for Atlanta-based indie label Awful Records at the time, was posting absurdly funny tweets under the alias “Bootymath,” raking in tens of thousands of followers. His undeniable social media presence and comedic chops are what ultimately brought him to Los Angeles in 2017 when filmmaker, artist and producer Flying Lotus tapped him to co-write and star in his body-horror comedy “Kuso.” “Then I…

Pirating, as evidenced by centuries of stories and one of the greatest theme park rides, has long fascinated. Seafaring and sword fighting imply adventure. Dice games? Bluffing and strategy. And if you’re really lucky, maybe you’ll find a mermaid. Audience members seen during a production of “Pirates Wanted,” an interactive production from Last Call Theatre. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The Los Angeles Times) Last Call Theatre, a local interactive-focused performance group, has found a way to give us a taste of buccaneering — without the pesky consequences of being captured by the Royal Navy or succumbing to a rum-induced liver disease. For one…

I’ll never forget the moment I met 93-year-old DeLoyce Alcorn. It was last fall and he was in the midst of his weekly workout at the Strength Shoppe in Echo Park. The retired aerospace engineer, then 92, was wearing a fitted T-shirt that read “Be Strong. Be Resilient. Be You” as he strapped himself into the leg press machine. Alcorn extended his legs, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Then he began slowly, determinedly, pushing 312 pounds forward with his feet, completing multiple reps. (By contrast, I’m many decades younger and physically fit and currently push 220 pounds when leg-pressing.)…

Before Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011, he had a stereotypical view of the city. “When I came as a visitor, we always stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in the Marina, and every player, all [we] did was go to Rodeo Drive the day before the game or whatnot,” says Paul, who began his NBA career playing with the New Orleans Hornets in 2005. “That was all I thought L.A. was. I thought it was all very Hollywood, glitz and glamour, so I never wanted to come out here to live.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people…

At Whisky a Go Go, the Doors were the house band during the summer of 1966. Guns N’ Roses and Bob Marley and the Wailers recorded live albums at the Roxy. Van Halen got their start at shuttered nightclub Gazzarri’s. It’s undeniable that West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip is a legendary music mecca — particularly when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll. To celebrate the rich history and lore of the iconic 1.7-mile strip, the Sunset Strip Business Improvement District is hosting a free vinyl fair called Spinning Sunset on Saturday from 1 to 7 p.m. Part of the district’s annual…

Glacier National Park, Mont. — JOHAN looked up. Jenna was running toward him. She had yelled something, he wasn’t sure what. Then he saw it. The open mouth, the tongue, the teeth, the flattened ears. Jenna ran right past him, and it struck him — a flash of fur, two jumps, 400 pounds of lightning. It was a grizzly, and it had him by his left thigh. His mind started racing — to Jenna, to the trip, to fighting, to escaping. The bear jerked him back and forth like a rag doll, but he remembered no pain, just disbelief. It bit into…

Among the herd of aspiring actors who move to Los Angeles to pursue their Hollywood dreams, Manny Jacinto was sure to set modest expectations for himself. “In my head, I was going to come here a few times,” says Jacinto, who grew up in Richmond, Canada. “I was going to try pilot [season] once, fail, come back next year, fail again, and I was going to repeat that pattern probably for the next five years until hopefully, fingers crossed, I landed something.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and…

A sprawling social club centering on racquet sports — the ubiquitous pickleball and rising padel, a blend of tennis and squash — is making its way to downtown L.A. next summer. With the cheeky name Ballers, the club will be housed in the former Macy’s building at The Bloc, which spans 100,000 square feet. It will be equipped with 18 pickleball courts and four padel courts — marking the first pickleball and padel courts to open in the DTLA area, according to the founders. The club will also feature five golf simulators, two soccer pitches, a high-end retail shop, two…

Even if you’re not sure you’ve seen Alan Tudyk in the numerous films or TV shows he’s appeared in, you’ve definitely heard him. Tudyk has been endearing audiences with his vocal stylings ever since 2002’s “Ice Age” — he voiced characters like the Duke of Weselton in “Frozen,” Heihei the rooster in “Moana” and King Candy in “Wreck-It Ralph.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. Still, many fans know Tudyk best for…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Las Vegas — I turn a bend and see a figure in a cornfield. The gray sky is foreboding, a storm clearly on the horizon. When I take a step forward, I’m hit with a gust of wind and fog. Suddenly, it’s no longer a silhouette in the haze but a scarecrow, shrouded in hay, lurching toward me. Only I am not on a Midwestern farm, and there is no threat of severe weather. I‘m in a warehouse in Las Vegas, walking through a maze called “Scarecrow: The Reaping.” I jump back and fixate my phone’s camera on…

About 10 times each day, giant freight trains pass along a narrow section of track along the Sacramento River in far northern California where engineers on the locomotives regularly tense up with stress. “Every single time, it’s a near miss” of a train hitting a person, said Ryan Snow, the California state chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. “Multiple near misses, every single run. My nightmare is that a family that isn’t paying attention gets hit.” This particular stretch of track, which wends north from the town of Dunsmuir, is a renegade route for hikers to one…

Melissa Etheridge has always written what she feels, and what she’s feeling right now, at this moment in her life, is liberated. The folk-rock legend, best known for her raspy ‘90s anthems (cue “Come to my window …”), just finished recording a new album due out next year. A theme that permeates throughout her lyrics? Setting herself free. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. “It’s a lot about letting go of trying…

The Hollywood Premiere Motel doesn’t get a lot of rave reviews — in fact, it’s among the lowest ranked lodgings in the city. But thanks to its mid-century Googie design, it is the first motel to join the L.A.’s Historic-Cultural Monument List. The City Council approved that designation on Wednesday, singling out the 1960 motel and its weathered neon sign as prime examples from the glory days of roadside architecture. There was no opposition or discussion, nor did the motel owner, listed as Yang Hua Xi, take a position. “It may have a 1.7-star Tripadvisor rating, but we don’t judge…

With a playful spirit and a childlike sense of curiosity, it’s perhaps no surprise that the whimsically named Museum of Make Believe appealed instantly to a young audience. The Laguna Beach space, a 1,000-square-foot love letter to fairy tales, is a fantastical, mystical wonderland, where fables of lost love, ghostly pets and irresistible avarice are told via miniature installations and ornate, storybook art. Its founders, however, had a different audience in mind. “We built it for adults,” says Museum of Make Believe cofounder Amy Mitchell, who opened the space with her longtime partner, Geoff Mitchell, just over a year ago.…

State parks officials say they’re unveiling a lottery-style drawing system for select campsites in three of California’s most sought-after state park campgrounds: Malibu Creek, Morro Bay and McArthur-Burney Falls. The new system began this month at Malibu Creek, allowing would-be campers to enter a lottery for possible openings eight months away — in this case, from March 1 to April 1, 2026. Drawings are held seven months ahead of the stay, giving the winners 30 days to claim and pay for reservations. There’s a limit of one entry per visitor per drawing. ADA sites are included. Malibu Creek has about…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> For thousands of years, the Chumash people lived along California’s Central Coast and on its Channel Islands. Then the newcomers arrived — Spanish explorers, Catholic missionaries, Mexican rancheros, California settlers — and the Chumash way of life was dismantled, their people enslaved and their traditions, culture and language forbidden. So it’s hardly surprising that the main message at the new Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is as poignant as it is defiant: “We are the first people. And we are still here.” The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Elders Council commissioned New Mexico sculptor George…

After starring in several back-to-back projects over the past six months, Jack Quaid has been eager to finally settle in for a bit. “It’s amazing that I get to do this job, but I do find myself missing home a lot,” Quaid says from his Los Angeles apartment, which he shares with his girlfriend and “The Boys” co-star Claudia Doumit. “So it will be nice to really connect with the people I grew up with and the place I’m from.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on…

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Marlee Matlin always looked forward to Sundays. It was her father’s only day off, so her family made a weekly tradition of meeting up with close friends for breakfast at a local deli. Afterward, she and her family of five would do a season-friendly activity — apple picking in the fall or a Chicago Cubs game during the summer, perhaps — before wrapping up with a finale event they called “takeout Sundays.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> By now, many Disney fans have had a chance to see the officially released images by the company as well as close-up pictures taken by park guests. There have been quibbles, to say the least, with many a fan showing snapshots of the animatronic side by side with pictures of a much younger Disney. It’s important to note that the figure captures Disney in 1963. Disney died in 1966 at 65. The show has me thinking a bit on how the animatronic medium can be used best. Disney introduced its audio-animatronics in 1963 with the Enchanted Tiki Room,…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> It’s all about a California (and high-growth) state of mind. A park photographer, Kristin Wagner, photographs visitors as they enter Disney’s California Adventure, just below a recreation of the Golden Gate Bridge. (Don Kelsen/Los Angeles Times) In a period of grand expansion, Disneyland would start to become a proper resort — a metamorphosis that, while it didn’t work immediately, would be course-corrected and set up Disneyland for a new generation of growth. This era added Disney California Adventure, turning the destination into one that the Walt Disney Co. hoped would command multiday stays. What was new A former…

Few initiatives of the Trump administration more seriously undermine our understanding of the nation’s past than Executive Order 14253 from March 27, which promises “to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments.” The order directs the Interior secretary to cleanse all National Park Service sites of any signage that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” and instead “emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.” The Park Service staff was also instructed to purge gift shops of books that could be construed as critical of any American.…

Not so long ago, parking at the curb in Southern California was relatively simple: It was either free to park, or you had to feed change into a meter. Boy, times have changed! Now, any given meter might require quarters, a credit card, an app, your license plate number or any combination of the above. As the experience of paying for parking in Southern California grows more complex and confusing, I want to hear your stories about paying for public parking — the good, the bad and the ugly. Maybe you’ve come to love parking apps like Park Smarter or…

Picture this: A gaggle of 21-year-olds squeeze into a booth, pull the curtain and smile for the camera. After a series of mysterious analog rumblings, the booth expels a tiny strip of prints. The posers crowd in to savor the tiny film prints — and raise their cameras to snap digital images of them. While boomers blink in puzzlement, legions of digital natives have embraced the old-school ritual and machinery of the photo booth — and the people at San Francisco-based Photomatica are among those building empires on that enthusiasm. Their latest venture: a Photo Booth Museum in Silver Lake,…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Summer is here, and with it comes the annual desire to pack up and unplug somewhere, anywhere, else. But sandy beaches, far-flung tropical locales and mountain escapes often come with throngs of tourists and inflated pricing. Then there’s Palm Springs, where crowds empty out in the summer and luxury hotel prices dip to year-round lows. Before you shrug off summer in the desert, consider this: The Coachella Valley is picturesque all year, most restaurants have wide-open availability and keeping cool is easy when all you do is bop between the pool and blissful A/C. And unlike pricey beachfront…

Nathan Fillion straddles the line between everyman and hunk — and he’s built a career out of it. He’s a natural in roles that require both charisma and a touch of self-awareness, whether he’s solving crimes, commanding a spaceship or enforcing the law. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. Fillion played the wisecracking mystery novelist Richard Castle in ABC’s crime drama “Castle” and stars in ABC’s “The Rookie” as John Nolan, a…

“Let it go!” one person screamed at a massive TV screen. “Get him out of my villa!” shouted another. “Oh, we’re voting tonight!” declared another as they whipped their index finger in a circular motion as if to say, “We need to round up the troops and get ready for war.” It’s 8 p.m. at the Palm & the Pine and every single seat is taken, so some people have resorted to huddling outside to watch the action through a window. A small crew of bartenders are working double time to serve up wings, french fries and tropical-themed cocktails. Attendees…

Celebrity makeup artist and entrepreneur Patrick Ta admits that he is constantly falling in and out of love with Los Angeles — the place he’s called home for the last 13 years. “[But] right now, I’m obsessed with Los Angeles,” says the San Diego native. “I feel like I am experiencing new friendship groups. For me, what makes a place magical are the people that you surround yourself with, and this entire beginning of almost summer has been the best networking and relationship building that I’ve ever had in Los Angeles. I feel like L.A. is exciting me again.” In…

Kou Mariya hasn’t shown her work to her family. That’s because Mariya, not her real name, is living a dual identity, and to protect her privacy, only the most sacred of confidants — or business partners — can know her true persona. Mariya, to her more than 84,000 followers on YouTube, is a friendly, flirtatious vampire singer, as excited to chat about her digitized outfits and accessories as she is to sing a late ’90s pop song. She performs as an animated avatar using motion capture technology, which matches her facial expressions and body movements to the drawn figure. Mariya…

The historic Griffith Park Pool, built in 1927 and once the largest aquatic facility in Los Angeles, has been dry since 2020. Now, as summer heats up, residents are learning that it won’t be filled again. Instead, the city is laying plans for a $28-million project to demolish it and build two smaller new pools and a splash pad in its place while reconstructing the two-story pool house next door. City officials say they hope to begin the project in summer 2026 and complete it in January 2028. But for now, the city’s Recreation and Parks Department website simply lists…

The giant rainbow-colored headdress sitting atop a bison beckoned generations of Angelenos and other drivers heading into Nevada on the 15 Freeway. Sure, Las Vegas was only 40 minutes north, but at Buffalo Bill’s Resort and Casino, patrons could enjoy gaming, drinking, neon lights and entertainment without the Sin City prices and crowds. It’s an era that will soon end as Primm Valley Resorts — which operates Buffalo Bill’s on the desert strip known as Primm along the California-Nevada border — announced the resort’s imminent closure. “In order to deliver the best possible experience for today’s guest expectations, Buffalo Bill’s…

Veteran Los Angeles political consultant Rick Taylor said he was pulled aside by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents while returning from a trip abroad, asked if he was from California and then separated from his family and put in a holding room with several Latino travelers for nearly an hour. “I know how the system works and have pretty good connections and I was still freaking out,” said Taylor, 71. “I could only imagine how I would be feeling if I didn’t understand the language and I didn’t know anyone.” Taylor said he was at a loss to explain…

Like most busy working mothers who struggle with work-life balance, three-time Grammy Award winner Victoria Monét cherishes spending time with her 4-year-old daughter, Hazel, who she shares with ex-boyfriend fitness trainer John Gaines. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. Known for writing hits like Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next,” Blackpink and Selena Gomez’s “Ice Cream” and Chloe x Halle’s “Do It,” in addition to “On My Mama” from her debut album “Jaguar…

When William Rath mapped out his post-law school trip to Los Angeles in May, his itinerary included the city’s quintessential landmarks: gazing up at the Hollywood sign from Beachwood Canyon, taking a celebrity homes tour, scanning the Pacific Ocean for whales off the coast of Long Beach. But amid these classic stops, one destination rose above the rest. Erewhon, the luxury grocer, was a nonnegotiable — not for its groceries, but for the clout, the curiosity and the spectacle. Rath, a freshly minted graduate from the University of Oregon and influencer, made his pilgrimage to the Beverly Hills location, the…

While military strategists scramble to learn the damage done by U.S. bombs and missiles in Iran, many scholars and Iranian Americans are wondering what this means for the people and architectural treasures of Isfahan. The Isfahan area, which includes one of the three Iranian nuclear sites that the U.S. targeted Saturday, is also home to one of the country’s most historic cities, full of landmarks from Persia’s years as a regional power in the 17th century. Isfahan “is thought of as a sort of treasure, like a vestige of a different Iran,” said Jasmin Darznik, who spent part of her…

Chances are, you’ve seen (or heard) Judy Greer in one of her many roles over her prolific, multidecade career. She’s played Maggie Lang in “Ant-Man,” voiced Cheryl Tunt in the long-running animated adult sitcom “Archer,” and appeared as Jennifer Garner’s bestie in the 2004 rom-com classic “13 Going on 30” (the two are friends IRL too). She’s also joining the cast for the second season of Garner’s Apple TV series “The Last Thing He Told Me.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what…

When Janie and Stephanie Ellingwood went to a local brewery one night to watch a U.S. Women’s National Team soccer game with some friends, they didn’t think it would be a big deal to ask the staff to turn on the sound. The bartenders had always been friendly to the married couple, who frequented the bar at least a few times a week. And they were the only patrons in the small room, situated away from the main viewing area where the volume was on full blast. So they were surprised when the staff curtly shot down their request without…

The first time Gene Kozicki drove to Lompoc to see a rocket blast off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, it was night, and the whole scene reminded him of the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The road was blocked off. There were police. Flashing lights. A guy standing near Kozicki had a radio scanner, and they listened as a spartan voice counted down: Ten, nine, eight, seven … Over the hill, where the rocket was on the pad, all was dark. And then it wasn’t. “The sky lights up, and it’s like daytime,” Kozicki said. “This rocket comes…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Guests will be asked to pick a side at Six Flags Magic Mountain’s “DC Heroes and Villains” fest. (Six Flags Magic Mountain) The Valencia coaster park this summer is leaning into superhero properties. The likes of Batman, Superman, Catwoman, the Joker and more are taking part in an evening show that marries dance parties, stunt shows and audience participation. Its “DC Heroes and Villains Fest” runs weekends throughout the summer beginning June 20, with festivities starting at 5 p.m. There’s a plot each night, and it centers on villains trying to spoil a statue dedication to Batman. Audiences…

Third-generation actor and director Bryce Dallas Howard has a lot going on — so much so that when The Times caught up with her recently, she was just getting over laryngitis. “Last week, it was like I would open my mouth and it was air coming out,” she said, admitting that it’s challenging for her to be disciplined about, say, not speaking. But you can’t really blame her: Talking is part of the business. And there’s a lot of business to attend to. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> As you climb the staircase to Debbie Lin and Na-Moya Lawrence’s second-story Hollywood apartment, a smell begins to materialize. It’s earthy and calming — grounding, even — and by the time you open their door, the scent envelops you. That’s because Lin and Lawrence have set up their artisan perfume company, Samar, in a corner of their home studio space. Sitting on a small foldaway table is a precision scale where the duo weighs out mixtures. Shelves along the wall are lined with hundreds of little bottles of essential oils and aroma chemicals. “Have you smelled this?” Lin…

After running — or more like barely surviving — my first half-marathon about a decade ago in Las Vegas, I had no desire to participate in a long-distance run ever again. That was until I learned that Nike was hosting the Nike After Dark tour, a women’s race series designed to celebrate women and encourage them to get into the sport. The L.A. half-marathon — the tour’s only stop in the U.S. — was slated to include a concert with Grammy-winning rapper Doechii at the end of the 13.1 mile race. Given that Nike has built a reputation for curating…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Trinity Lake, at its fullest, has 145 miles of shoreline and is 2.5 million acre-feet of water. It is an artificial lake formed by the creation of the Trinity Dam, a massive earth-filled dam, in the 1960s. (Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times) The Trinity Alps is home to several campgrounds, resorts and limitless backcountry camping spots. There are several campgrounds around Trinity Lake, including Hayward Flat, Jackass Springs and Bushytail, which has showers. Rental cabins and resorts (and also a Buddhist retreat center where you can rent various accommodations) are scattered throughout the Trinity Alps for those…

There are many factors that led Taylor Jenkins Reid to choose space as the backdrop of her new novel, “Atmosphere,” a thrilling love story set at NASA in the 1980s. One may very well have been her L.A. commute. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. Specifically, her journey along the Dr. Sally Ride Memorial Highway, a portion of the 101 Freeway in Encino. “I am sure that it worked its way into…

When Debbie Allen opened the doors to her dance academy in 2000 inside of a revamped Marie Callender’s restaurant in Culver City, there was no other place in town like it that catered to disenfranchised Black and Latino communities. The school became a haven for dancers of all backgrounds wanting to learn from the multifaceted performer, who chasséd into the Hollywood scene with her career-defining performance as Lydia Grant in the 1980 musical “Fame.” Allen went onto become an award-winning director and producer for shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” (which she also stars in), “How to Get Away With Murder,” “A…

Standing near the ledge of a magnificent canyon in Utah’s Dead Horse Point State Park in the hours before sunset, my fiancée Gia and I looked each other in the eyes as we read our vows. But our officiant was nowhere in sight. That’s because she was darting around the rocks, seeking the perfect angle to capture the moment with her camera. We hired Aimée Flynn as our photographer, but she became our officiant as well. She was also our location scout, wedding planner and even our tour guide. On the short hike to our ceremony spot, she told us…

When you watch “The Matrix” at Cosm, you’re essentially seeing a film within a film. A shot inside an apartment becomes a glimpse into an entire complex. A fight scene on a rooftop is now one small part of a giant cityscape. Look to the left, and a once off-screen helicopter is suddenly entirely visible. Cosm has won attention and a fan base for its focus on sports programming. A domed, 87-foot-diameter wraparound screen surrounds audiences at the Inglewood venue, creating an illusion of in-the-flesh presence. Can’t make it to that NBA Finals or World Series game? Cosm wants to…

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration invited travel industry executives to the White House in May for a meeting on federal plans for the 2026 World Cup, a landmark event that under normal circumstances would draw massive international tourism to the United States. It was a welcome gathering by President Trump and his team for an industry eager to capitalize on a rare opportunity and capture tourism dollars. Welcome, at least, until Vice President JD Vance cracked a joke. “We’ll have visitors from close to 100 countries — we want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch…

What Felix Mallard has grown to appreciate about living in L.A. is that there’s a pocket of town to match every vibe — even if that vibe is “Aussie,” which his proudly is, having moved from Melbourne seven years ago. “There are a lot of places that remind me of home,” says the 27-year-old actor, who plays tough-shelled Marcus in Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia,” which returns for its third season next week. “The coastal cities and certainly some parts of Silver Lake and Echo Park feel very Melbourne. They feel very hipster. I mean, that word has changed so much…

“Vacation” and “sex” were once my two favorite words. Put them together and you’ve got the mecca of pleasure: a romp in Egyptian cotton sheets followed by a juicy room service cheeseburger. Can you say sex in Italian? I can — “sesso” — because my husband and I copulated our way across the country early in our relationship. On our honeymoon in Hawaii two decades ago, we barely left our room and nearly missed the luau. Every getaway back then offered foreplay with a view. And then we had a kid. Still, the lure of vacation sex beckons. And not…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Before our appointment at Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, a peaceful retreat off the Bodega Highway in West Sonoma county, a friend and I popped into a nearby gift shop. We told the owner that we were destined to try Osmosis’ storied treatment — a so-called “cedar enzyme bath” — and her eyes widened with excitement. “You’ll feel like you’re a plant being composted,” she said, adding that the spa’s recycled bath materials lined the path of a neighboring garden. When we were eventually led into Osmosis’ tidy changing rooms to disrobe, I smelled what she meant before I…

In a room inside a North Hollywood warehouse, dozens of pets are ready for their owners to take them home. Boots, a young black-and-white domestic shorthair cat, lies on his back, pawing playfully at the air. A trio of red, yellow and green parrots and cockatiels sit on wooden perches, oblivious to the piercing stare of a blue-eyed feline a few feet away. Princess, a senior Chihuahua, rests with her eyes closed and body curled into a tight cocoon, as a frenetic hamster named Ponby stands upright, his eyes bulging. There’s a naked guinea pig, a giant red macaw and…

Terry Crews is a man of many talents. In the 1990s, he played for both the Rams and the Chargers before becoming an actor and starring in projects like “White Chicks,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “The Expendables” franchise. Other roles on his resume? Old Spice spokesman, high-end furniture designer, accomplished painter and author of a memoir. Crews was also featured in People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive issue three times. But the gig that has made him internationally known, he says, is hosting “America’s Got Talent” for the last six years. The show, which is celebrating 20 seasons, returns…

“Conan O’Brien Must Go” wraps it’s three-episode second season on Thursday with a trip to Austria. (Pamela Littky / Max) If we had planned it better (and had the budget for it), this interview with Conan O’Brien would have been better suited to happen in Vatican City rather than a Zoom room. Our conversation coincided with the start of the papal conclave, the hush-hush assembly of cardinals who gathered to elect a successor to Pope Francis, and O’Brien can’t help but reference the event when explaining his slight delay: “Sorry, it took me a second to figure out there was…

Along with vacation necessities such as sunblock and a toothbrush, Southern Californians hoping to get away for Memorial Day weekend will also need to bring a hefty supply of patience to freeways and airports. A record-breaking number of people across the country are opting to travel rather than stay in for the long weekend— the official kickoff to summer, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California, or AAA. In Southern California, about 3.6 million are expected hit the road or hop on a plane, the third consecutive year of record-breaking travel for Memorial Day weekend. “Consumers continue to prioritize…

I am a photo fellow at the L.A. Times, and recently spent three days photographing for the Motel California project at the Skyview Los Alamos. What immediately struck me was how tucked away in the hills the motel was, even with its close proximity to the freeway. While only two hours away from L.A., I felt like I was in a totally different place. The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way. I captured the iconic yellow “Motel” sign by the pool, the turquoise Moke shuttle, and lots of unique…

Teahouses built for spending extended time in, open until the wee hours of the night, are popping up all over the city. Some are elusive, hidden in plain sight or only accessible via a mysterious membership. Others have gone viral on TikTok and have cover charges and waitlists to attend. Some reference East Asian tea ceremony culture, others lean California cool and bohemian. Jai Tea Loft owner Salanya Angel Inm prepares tea at her recently opened social gathering space in Koreatown. (Dante Velasquez Jr. / For The Times) Why the surge in places to drink tea? It might be because…

Life, death, crime, kitsch, nostalgia, immigrant aspirations and witty design — all of these elements converge in the world of motels, which didn’t exist before 1925. Here are five facts and phenomena from the century of history. The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way. Where Magic Fingers are found From the late 1950s into the ’80s, thousands of motels proudly advertised their Magic Fingers — a little collection of vibrating electric nodes under your mattress that would give you a 15-minute “massage” for 25 cents, inspiring creators from Kurt…

The motel, a word born in California, turns 100 this year. And for road trip adventurers, there have never been more options. You might stay at the legendary pink palace that is the Madonna Inn. Or Surfrider Malibu, where you can borrow a Mini Cooper and cruise along PCH. There’s Sea & Sand Inn, which clings to a breathtaking Santa Cruz clifftop. And Pioneertown Motel, a charming desert outpost with Old West vibes. In this guide, we jangle our room keys to explore the greatest motels across the state. Along the way, we stop to discover cool vintage history, iconic…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Denise McKinney says she has probably somewhere close to half a million matchbooks tucked away inside her Riverside home. She’s been collecting for years and will typically pick up whatever strikes her fancy, no pun intended. She has specialties now, like matchbooks with animals on them or matchbooks that advertise radio and TV stations, but she says her biggest collection by far is books from Southern California, including vintage motel matchbooks. The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens — and the coolest stops along the way. The president of the Angelus Matchcover Club says she…

Listen. That’s the low hum of the highway you hear behind me, offset by the rumble of the ice machine down the breezeway. We gather today to celebrate the motel, a uniquely American creature, conceived in California through the unholy embrace of the automobile and the hotel. Since that beginning in 1925, motels have multiplied like bunnies. They have been implicated in countless crimes and liaisons. They have been elevated by some savvy architects, undercut by assorted chain operations and frequently left for dead by the side of the road. The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s best roadside havens…

Spiritually, Gabby Windey is all about Sundays in a hardcore, no-exceptions, day-of-rest sort of way. The “Long Winded” podcast host became the breakout star of “The Traitors” this year after winning the reality TV competition with a series of bold outfits and stereotype-smashing strategic moves. Her stream-of-consciousness podcast monologues continue to boost her star, frequently going viral on Instagram and TikTok for their vocal fry realness. Now she’s booked and busy beyond belief, a mixed bag for Windey. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to…

Is there anything more like a fairy tale than thousands of glowing lanterns floating heavenward into the night? Long before the luminescent spectacle awed viewers of Disney’s 2010 film “Tangled,” real-life lantern festivals have been taking place around the world. In China, sky lanterns were first used as a means of communication in warfare during the Eastern Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Since then, sky lanterns have taken on a more ceremonial and celebratory significance, marking occasions such as the end of Chinese New Year and the coming of spring. Yet, as wondrously beautiful as these floating mini…

Howdy! I’m Jaclyn Cosgrove, an outdoors reporter at the L.A. Times. My job is to explore the mountains surrounding Los Angeles to find the best hikes, campgrounds and other adventures for you to tackle. I also write Between a Rock, where we feature outdoors survival stories every month, and The Wild, our (free!) weekly outdoors newsletter where I feature the absolute best things to do around L.A. and Southern California. In short, I’m outside a lot! Would you like to join me sometime? How about later this month? The Times will host its fourth subscriber hike at 9 a.m. May…

The highly coveted High Sierra Camps in Yosemite National Park that have been closed since 2018 will remain closed this summer because potable water and toilets won’t be available, according to park officials. “This decision was made in collaboration with the National Park Service [NPS], which manages the utilities necessary to run the camps,” according to the park’s website. “Impacted guests have been contacted and can book alternate accommodations within the park and will be offered priority booking for next year’s lottery.” Every year, more than 13,000 people stay at the Yosemite camps — five separate locations that offer various…

The Disneyland Resort’s new “World of Color” show begins with some regal nostalgia. Standing before a lagoon in Disney California Adventure, we hear the voice of Walt Disney, and see a host of Disney’s animated classics — “The Little Mermaid,” “Pinocchio,” “The Lion King” and more — projected on fountains to a patient, stately interpretation of “Rainbow Connection” from Boyz II Men. We are prepped for a show of romanticized remembrance while we hear Disney recite the original dedication speech for Disneyland. The park, he tells us, is hoped to be a “source of joy and inspiration,” only when he…

Some advice: If you love something, set it free — even the Miu Miu heels. This was the notion that two friends, Quinn Shephard and Francesca Goncalves, were discussing in a sun-kissed setting (a “pool somewhere,” Shephard recalls). They wanted to barter their old clothing, but that was a sticky prospect in Los Angeles — the scene is riddled with suspicious stares from thrift store employees and digital cold wars with teenagers on Depop. There’s pomp and circumstance at every turn. Kristen Vaganos and Kate Mansi help a shopper try on some shoes. (Yasara Gunawardena / For The Times) “So…

There’s an oft-repeated Disneyland creation myth: Artist and animation art director Herb Ryman was given 48 hours to draw an early, heavily detailed and romanticized map of the theme park, which would be used to help sell the project to investors. Although that’s all true, Ryman’s work — one of the most famous and important Disneyland drawings — was far from the first map of Disneyland, as it is often colloquially referred to. Ryman’s work was in fact an iteration of sorts, based upon years of master planning from Walt Disney and early collaborator Marvin Davis, a cinematic art director…

Airbnb wants to do your hair, cook your dinner, massage your back and possibly photograph your honeymoon. All these services, and several more, are part of a new bid by the company to further expand beyond its roots as a lodging broker. The company unveiled Airbnb Services — which includes 10 initial categories — while relaunching its experiences program and introducing a new app design at a media event in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Rather than heavily emphasizing lodging, the redesigned app more strongly integrates all of its offerings and encourages more interaction among guests and hosts. This new approach…

When vacationing in Los Angeles, you can truly choose your own adventure. Those in search of luxury can stay in a five-star hotel, sleeping on a plush bed, soaking in a deep bath tub and lounging on a balcony with sweeping mountain views. But, among the mountains that surround L.A., a different kind of luxury is within reach. There you can sleep above the clouds, swim in deep river pools and watch the sun set over the same mountains seen from those nearby hotel balconies. And often, it’s free. L.A.’s proximity to public lands offers the unique opportunity to slip…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> I’m at peace with the idea that I won’t be visiting space in my lifetime. The cost of space tourism is out of reach for me and the vast majority of Americans. Yet on a recent Saturday afternoon, thanks to a mix of virtual reality and old-fashioned theatrics, I am on the moon. Looking to my left, I see strange, abstractly blue lights emerging from the gray, rocky moon landscape. Ducking down, I can spot the stars and piece together various constellations. Ahead, I watch the vehicle I’m standing in — technically a shipping container — move through…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> While Cercle’s in-person shows over the years have required fans to get on an airplane and travel to historical and remote destinations such as the Sisteron Citadel in France, Barbolla wanted Cercle Odyssey to be more accessible to fans. “We wanted to bring nature to the city,” he says. It was also a goal for Barbolla to make the massive production as sustainable as possible, so he used projected screens instead of lead screens. That way his team only has to travel with the custom-made canvas they use for the projections, which “is very small” and can be…

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> Across the six players on the tennis court at noon on a Friday in Beverly Hills, I clock two Cartier watches and one Rolex. There’s tennis skirts paired with chunky cable-knit sweaters and white sneakers and tote bags with collegiate embroidery. From behind sunglasses and baseball caps, members appear to be in their mid-twenties to early thirties. But no matter how much the scene may resemble a legacy country club at first glance, this meetup exists almost in opposition to the city’s handful of expensive clubs with yearslong wait-lists and lengthy membership requirements. Kacper Owsian greets someone to…

Nature enthusiasts walked among colorful native flowers growing wild at Elizabeth Lake and Munz Ranch roads. (Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times) For me, springtime means taking road trips to document the wildflower fields through Southern California. But this season has not been a good one. Due to the lack of rain in the crucial winter months, the areas that are sometimes covered in poppies, lupines and other blooms — the Arvin Cross area in Arvin, Walker Canyon in Lake Elsinore and the Antelope Valley, to name a few — are more barren this year. I thought I’d have to…

Throughout the evening on Sunday, I was placed in a foreign jail, joined a folk-rock band for a sing-along uprising that involved a killer bear and ran up multiple times against selfish, greedy taskmasters, once in a comedic production in a jazz club and another time in the back room of a seedy dance space. A scene from “That’s Jazz Baby!” from immersive team Spies Among Us. “Our big goal going in was making a simple, understandable, funny piece and hoping everything else fell into place after that,” says Spies Among Us founder Prescott Gadd. (Chiara Alexa / For The…

ALCATRAZ ISLAND, Calif.  — The exhibits on Alcatraz Island, the infamous federal prison that decades ago was shuttered and preserved as a national park site and tourist attraction, invite visitors to imagine what it was like to be a guard or an inmate confined to the lonesome, foggy rock in the middle of San Francisco Bay. But on Monday, a day after President Trump posted on social media that he wants to reopen the nearly century-old prison as a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” many tourists were imagining a very different role: what…

Onscreen, multihyphenate screenwriter-director-producer Paul Feig is best known for fun and funny films such as “Bridesmaids,” “Last Christmas” and “A Simple Favor.” And offscreen, he’s known for his impeccable sense of style, enthusiastic embrace of cocktail culture (his Artingstall’s gin brand makes frequent cameos in his movies) and, it turns out, a penchant for all things spicy. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. “I am so much about hot, hot heat,” he…

Beyoncé kicked off her highly anticipated “Cowboy Carter” tour this week in Los Angeles at the SoFi Stadium, where she’ll be gracing the stage five times through May 9. Share Share via Close extra sharing options As expected, the Beyhive (a.k.a. her most dedicated fans) showed out with their western-inspired outfits, which were heavily influenced by the Grammy Award-winning country album. Attendees wore bedazzled cowboy boots and hats; chaps; fringe and leather; red, white and blue; outfits inspired by Beyoncé’s past tours and video looks; and, of course, denim on denim on denim. Before the second show on Thursday night,…

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” That’s one of Walt Disney’s most popular quotes, often used in the context of the theme park marvels imagined by the company he created. Over the decades Walt Disney Imagineering, the secretive arm of the Walt Disney Co. devoted to theme park experiences, has dreamed up a room full of singing birds and flowers, brought to life a mini New Orleans, captured the idealism of space flight and re-envisioned modern transportation, to name just a few of its many varied accomplishments. For its latest trick, Imagineering will attempt to resurrect a life…

As Savant Young carefully wipes down his charcoal gray 1973 Mazda RX-3 inside the Vintage Japanese Motor Union clubhouse, he pauses to apologize for being so focused on his car. “It gets so dusty in here,” he explains, gesturing around the space that’s situated in a mural-lined industrial pocket of Boyle Heights. Young smooths a microfiber cloth across the hood, then leans in closely to inspect it. His meticulous attention to detail isn’t just about presentation. It reflects a deep, lifelong passion for cars. “From the time I was 5, every Christmas I’d get racetrack sets and RC cars,” says…

DUNSMUIR, Calif. — Less than a half a mile from the city limits of this Northern California railroad town is a natural wonder so enchanting that locals compare it to geologic features in Yosemite or Yellowstone. “The most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen,” said Stephen Decatur, who works in disaster preparedness for the city of Dunsmuir. City Manager Dustin Rief agreed, adding: “And I’ve traveled all over the world.” Fed from glaciers on Mount Shasta’s majestic slopes, Mossbrae Falls cascades out of lava tubes and down mossy cliffs into the Sacramento River in ethereal curtains of mist, sending rainbows dancing in all…

Bob Gurr has often joked that if it’s at Disneyland and it moves, he likely had a hand in its design. Gurr first started working for Disney in late 1954, just months before Disneyland would open in July 1955, and is one of the figures instrumental in the look, feel and tone of the park. Gurr was the pivotal designer behind the Autopia cars, the Disneyland Monorail, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and the tomb-like ride vehicles — the “doom buggies” — of the Haunted Mansion. But there’s one of his designs that’s often overlooked by fans, and it holds a special…

Taylor Tomlinson, the comedian and writer who has hosted the CBS talk and variety show “After Midnight” for two seasons, has lived in Los Angeles for nine years. But thanks to a robust stand-up schedule (her now-in-progress “The Save Me Tour” has 76 dates booked across North America and Europe through January, including an L.A. hometown show scheduled for Aug. 10 at the Greek Theatre), she’s only around L.A. for about 20 Sundays a year. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to…

In L.A., there are two types of locals: those who have a Google Maps list filled with recommendations ready to go for every scenario. And those those who panic at the very thought of having to curate an itinerary, whether it be for an overzealous auntie who’s in town and wants to see “all the sights!” during a weekend trip, or a group of friends who want to grab dinner and drinks but all have different dietary restrictions and budgets. If you fall into the latter group, we want to help. We’d like to be your personal L.A. concierge, if…

The 24th summer of movies under the stars at Hollywood Forever Cemetery will begin Memorial Day weekend when Cinespia screens “The Big Lebowski” on May 24. The next night comes a 30th anniversary presentation of “Clueless,” followed by a May 31 screening of “Blue Velvet” and tribute to director David Lynch, who died in January. Cinespia, which is teaming with Amazon MGM Studios and Prime Video to present the summer series, is selling tickets now for those three shows. The organization hasn’t released the rest of the schedule yet, but typically screens about 30 movies per year at Hollywood Forever…

Charlie Sampson competes in the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City in December 1982. (Denver Post / Getty Images) Bull rides, rope tricks and a crowd just as focused on history as the thrill — the inaugural Charlie Sampson Rodeo is set for June 28 in Norco, Calif., and it’s already shaping up to be a high-octane event, as well as a tribute to the Black cowboys who helped shape American history. Born and raised in Watts, Sampson made history in 1982 as the first Black man to win a world championship in professional rodeo. Now 67, he’s launching this…

Seven years ago, after visiting Los Angeles nearly every summer to spend time with relatives and friends, I took the plunge and finally moved from Las Vegas to L.A. Two weeks later, I got into my first car accident. A driver slammed into the back of my car while I was at a stoplight during rush hour. When I told my co-workers, they made sure I was OK (I was, thankfully) and then said, nonchalantly, “Welcome to L.A. You’re a local now.” Of course, I didn’t feel like a true local until years later when I had solidified my L.A.…

Shooting stars will usher in Earth Day starting late Monday night as the Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak — and Californians will have some of the best views in the country. The annual meteor shower event will be most visible in April and is named after the constellation Lyra, the harp, located near the point in the sky where the Lyrids appear to originate. The shower is one of the oldest on record, with observations dating back more than 2,700 years. The peak of the event will be Monday night into the early morning hours of Tuesday, Earth Day.…

On a Saturday night in Beverly Hills, nearly 150 stylish people filter into a grandiose ballroom for an exclusive event. Martinis are flowing and skinny French fries are arriving on small plates. Upbeat music booms over the speakers, and laughter fills the lively space, which is adorned with marble walls, a massive wine cellar and a nearly $2-million Swedish sports car on display. But these guests aren’t just here to mingle and sip on fancy cocktails. They‘re here to play Rummikub. Nearly 150 people attended RummiKlub’s game night in March at Gravitas in Beverly Hills. (Alex Papke / For The…

Making a comedy-music album based on secrets shared by internet strangers might not seem like an obvious step for Jordan Firstman, who stars in FX’s “English Teacher” and Rachel Sennott’s new HBO show that’s being called the “It” pilot of the season. But there is nothing about Firstman’s career that feels textbook Hollywood — and that’s what makes him such a compelling figure. That, and all the jokes. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on…

The Disneyland Resort is turning 70 in July, and it has never missed an opportunity to throw a party — especially one rooted in nostalgia. For the year-long event, a number of fan favorites are making their return, in addition to some new shows and tweaks to favorite attractions. The festivities officially launch May 16, although not all offerings will be available right away. Some will be rolled out to coincide with Disneyland’s official birthday on July 17. The celebration is planned to last through summer 2026. Here’s everything you need to know about the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration —…

For some, it’s as routine as paying at the checkout counter. For others, it’s as nerve-racking as a root canal. Which experience you have depends largely on one thing: where you were born. We’re talking about international travel. Since President Trump took office, Western travelers trying to enter the United States have been getting a taste of what it can be like to be a traveler from the Global South. German tourist Lucas Sielaff was handcuffed and shackled at the border in Tijuana, held in detention for 16 days and then deported at his own expense, apparently because he misspoke…

“Star Trek” is a franchise that’s always seemed ripe for exploration in a theme park. Space travel, aliens, magic-like technology and, perhaps most importantly, an underlying belief in human-centered optimism. Encounter someone who saw “Star Trek: The Experience” in Las Vegas, which opened in the late ’90s and ran for about a decade, and expect nostalgic reflections of running aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and taking part in transporter illusions. But since the latter shuttered, “Star Trek” has essentially lacked a major theme park-like attraction in the U.S. Guests at Universal Studios’ new Fan Fest Nights will get to explore the…

A funny thing happened almost a decade ago when I told my girlfriends that I was embarking on a two-week anniversary trip with my husband. Eyebrows were raised. One friend shook her head and said, “That would quickly become problematic.” Another said she never goes on vacation solely with her husband anymore because they always fight or he is “too needy sexually.” Still another told me I was brave because that was “too long,” and buried issues would start to rear their ugly heads. And these were the “happy couples” in my friend group! I was intrigued by their reaction.…

Growing up in Westchester, Amanda Gorman’s Sundays were dedicated to one thing: church. “I went to a historically Black church and I feel like it’s always an occasion to go to church as an African American,” says 27-year-old Gorman, who became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history in 2021. “You’re dressing up in your Sunday best and you’re going to be there for several hours.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.…

On a recent Saturday afternoon in the Arts District, a group of seven friends — plus a tiny dog — contorted and twisted their bodies to fit inside a light brown, 8-foot-tall box that had a mirrored door inscribed with the words “Memory Archive.” Once they were all mostly inside, they looked up toward a Canon DSLR camera that was peeking out of a small hole.They posed — smiling brightly, forming their fingers into peace signs and heart shapes, and holding the dog in the air like Baby Simba — as the shutter clicked eight times. They then stepped out…

Orlando, Fla. — There is no theme park land quite like Dark Universe. Don’t expect warm reassurance as you enter the space, which is tucked inside Universal Studios’ showstopping new Florida park Epic Universe. Coffins, a crypt and a creepy statue of a young girl are what greet us. Round the bend, and the world opens up; a steaming, fog-shrouded well gives way to a gray-toned castle. Magic? No, this is something more foreboding, albeit a bit mystical with its electrical volt shocks that hint at an afterlife rather than a happily ever after. Dark Universe is one of five lands at…

After telling me to close my eyes, the voice instructs me to notice the sounds around me. I hear the drone of Tibetan bowls mixing with an insect chorus, scattered yawns and what sounds like a flowing brook. Upon opening my eyes, I discover the ‘brook’ is, in actuality, a horse releasing a powerful stream of urine. Kiki Ebsen is the owner of the Healing Equine Ranch in the Santa Monica mountains. (Jennifer McCord / For The Times) The, uh, water feature is thanks to August, a stallion. He’s one of five horses who have joined a group of about…

The stalactites and stalagmites of Sequoia National Park’s Crystal Cave, a sprawling subterranean wonder that’s been closed for four years, will be accessible again this summer. But to get in during the open season of May 23 through Sept. 7, you’ll need tickets, which are available now. The guided tours are considered strenuous with steep terrain. (Sequoia Parks Conservancy) Visitors will walk through the cave on 50-minute guided group tours, inspecting mineral formations and hearing about the cave’s history and rare geology. Rangers describe the trail — a steep half-mile to reach the cave, then a half-mile loop inside —…

New Zealand-born actor Antony Starr, best known to American audiences as arch-villain Homelander from the Prime Video superhero parody “The Boys,” says that although he’s lived in Los Angeles for the better part of a decade, his busy shooting schedules have kept him far afield for long stretches. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. “The Boys,” now in the middle of production on its fifth and final season, shoots in Toronto, and…

There were no vacancies beneath the old neon Farm House Motel sign last Saturday — no guest rooms at all, in fact. But the 1950s Riverside property, now known as the Farm House Collective, was busier than it has been for decades. By 10 a.m., when a ribbon-cutting marked the Farm House’s rebirth as a mini-mall, food hall and music venue, the parking lot was full. The motel’s old carports next to the guest rooms were enclosed and became indoor retail spaces. (David Fouts / For The Times) By midday, Steve Elliott of Smokey Steve’s barbecue had sold about 160…

In our Between a Rock series, we share thrilling tales from local adventurers about close encounters in California nature, whether it’s a story of being stalked by a mountain lion or getting snowed in on a simple day hike.

It was May of 2020, in the thick of the pandemic. There was nobody around, literally no one anywhere on any of the trails. I worked as a full-time trauma nurse. People couldn’t even imagine the things we saw every day, all day long. I lived and breathed running. If I had to work a 12-hour shift, I’d get up at 3 in the morning, go run 16 miles before work, go to work and then sometimes run on the treadmill or go to the trail. Between a Rock is a Los Angeles Times series that shares survival stories from…

To television viewers, Kat Dennings is probably best known for playing down-on-her-luck characters — first in a six-season run as Max Black on the CBS sitcom “Two Broke Girls,” and, more recently, as Tim Allen’s estranged-but-reunited daughter on ABC’s “Shifting Gears,” which aired its first-season finale earlier this month (all episodes are available for streaming on Hulu). But to hear her tell it, there’s hardly a down-on-your-luck aspect of her real-life ideal Sunday itinerary, which starts with double belly rubs for her two cats, ends with drifting off to “Columbo” and includes an eclectic lineup of museums, rare-book-browsing and dinner…

In the early 1990s, Kelvin Anderson Sr. built a makeshift recording studio in the back of his Long Beach record store, a vinyl-filled paradise called the World Famous VIP Records on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. He wanted to give youth a creative outlet in the gang ridden neighborhood. Word quickly spread around the city, and aspiring artists started sprinkling in. Folks like Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Nate Dogg — who were part of a trio dubbed 213, the Long Beach area code at the time — famously cut their first demo…

The all-things-puppetry extravaganza that is the yearly Bob Baker Day at Chinatown’s Los Angeles State Historic Park has landed on its themes and parade-leading grand marshal for its 2025 edition, set for April 13. Animated characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star will launch the festivities at 10 a.m. with a parade that will span the grounds. The “SpongeBob SquarePants” stars are not the first animated characters to lead the processional. Back in 2023, Pinocchio from Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning film led the walkaround. SpongeBob will be joined by Logan Hone and his Feel Good Music Train, Tierra Del Sol’s large-scale…

The ball pops up in the air and soars into an arc, drifting against the blue sky, then comes down with a plunk on the glass wall behind Jon Guerra. Out. “Your swing is too hard,” Guerra says to me. Guerra, who goes by Coach Jon, is sending lobs across the net toward me and three other students at the Padel Courts, a hideaway just off Sunset Boulevard in Little Armenia. We’re learning padel, a racquet sport played with foam paddle rackets on a tennis-like court surrounded by tempered glass walls. And it’s proving to be quite a challenge. “Don’t…

Possessing valid documentation is the second item on the State Department’s checklist for U.S. tourists traveling internationally. It’s required for pilots, too, as an estimated 257 passengers found out the hard way last weekend. United Airlines Flight 198 left Los Angeles International Airport at 1:47 p.m. Saturday for a roughly 14-hour journey to Shanghai, China. However, the plane was instead diverted to San Francisco as the pilot “did not have their passport onboard,” according to an airline spokesperson. The plane landed in the City by the Bay at 5:05 p.m. The plane was delayed more than 3 hours before taking…

Mark Duplass offers a warning before he starts talking about his ideal Sunday. “Be prepared,” he says. “There’s not gonna be a lot of leaving the house today.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. The actor-director-producer has settled into a comfortable rhythm with his wife, Katie Aselton, their two kids and their pack of rambunctious dogs. For them, home is Valley Village, a neighborhood the couple quickly fell in love with. “It’s…

POINT REYES STATION, Calif. — With fog-kissed streets featuring a buttery bakery, an eclectic bookstore and markets peddling artisanal cheeses crafted from the milk of lovingly coddled cows, Point Reyes Station is about as picturesque as tourist towns come in California. It is also a place that, at the moment, is roiling with anger. A place where many locals feel they’re waging an uphill battle for the soul of their community. The alleged villains are unexpected, here in one of the cradles of the organic food movement: the National Park Service and a slate of environmental organizations that maintain that the herds…

There are technological and biological wonders inside the sleek San Gabriel offices of Seamus Blackley, which are evasively named — intentionally so — Pacific Light & Hologram. Best known as the creator of Microsoft’s Xbox video game console, Blackley can’t talk about his latest computer work — he’ll discuss it only under a “Friend-D-A,” a playful twist on a nondisclosure agreement. But he can chat about the 1970s Dodge camper one sees when entering the building. Complete with chalkboard-like scientific diagrams, the vehicle once belonged to Richard Feynman, the late Nobel Prize-winning Caltech physicist. Blackley has long been campaigning to…

My mother, Donna, died unexpectedly earlier this month. On a recent Tuesday morning, she got up as normal, and even went to the salon. That evening, she was in the hospital. Thirty-six hours later, she was gone. These have been among the most difficult weeks of my life. I spent the first half of March at home near Chicago to grieve with my family and will likely be visiting often throughout the year to continue the process. I’ve never liked the past tense — grieved — as that implies a conclusion to something that changes us, alters our course and…

Tucked away from heavy foot traffic and noisy crowds, the Delta One Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport offers a different kind of travel experience. Customers can enjoy hot towels, zero-gravity massage chairs and caviar-topped ice cream while waiting to board their flights. They also have access to private security lanes and baggage check, eliminating the need to wait in lines. The lounge opened in October and is part of Delta Airline’s most premium offering, an airport and in-flight experience known as Delta One. Available on several international routes and from Los Angeles to New York and Boston, a Delta…

Can hotels legally ban children? With spring breaks starting momentarily and summer vacations not far away, the question is puzzling a wide scope of California travelers — parents booking their next family vacation as well as adults looking for a child-free escape. And the answer is complicated. The issue flared in February when the Alila Marea Beach Resort in Encinitas, part of the Hyatt hotel empire, announced it would exclude children as overnight guests, thus becoming the self-described “only adults-only oceanfront resort in Southern California.” This move at a high-profile beachfront property sparked a debate about state law and hotels’…

Long before Leslie David Baker took on the role of Stanley Hudson — the grumpy pretzel- and crossword-loving salesman on the long-running comedy “The Office” — he was working as an administrator for the health department in his Chicago hometown, while doing commercials and community theater on the side. It wasn’t until he turned 40 that he decided to go full throttle on his acting career and move to Los Angeles. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to…

Walking barefoot across the cool tile floor, her silver face gems twinkling in the sunlight, sound bath practitioner and energy healer Maya Andreeva distributed paper cups filled with brown liquid to the 20 mostly youngish adults seated on yoga mats and blankets on the ground. They had gathered this Saturday morning on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in the courtyard behind the Japanese skincare store Albion Garden to attend Echoes of the Heart, a two-hour cacao, breathwork and sound bath workshop that promised to guide participants toward “deep self-exploration, energetic healing and profound relaxation.” “Just allow yourself to feel the intention within…

The Hollywood Premiere Motel hasn’t won any prizes lately. It has a 1.5 star rating on Trip Advisor, which ranks it 112th of 118 motels in Los Angeles. “Never again,” writes one reviewer. “I prefer to sleep in my car,” writes another. But the motel’s chances of being named a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument? Strong. In fact, the Hollywood Premiere might become the first motel on the city’s monuments list. The motel, which stands at Hollywood Boulevard and Serrano Avenue, is a 1960 throwback whose neon sign rises over a gritty stretch of Hollywood Boulevard. On Thursday, the L.A.…

Adam Devine (“Workaholics,” “Pitch Perfect”), who reprises his role as youth pastor Kelvin Gemstone on the HBO televangelist comedy “The Righteous Gemstones” for a fourth and final season that begins airing (and streaming on Max) Sunday, won’t share many details about how the Danny McBride–created series ends, besides that it goes out big. “It ends with a bang,” Devine said in a recent interview with The Times. “And I think people are really going to love it.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go,…

Is this the moment for a spring break in Mexico or Canada? The idea might seem iffy as the Trump administration confounds its neighbors by toggling tariffs on and off and throwing countless jobs into doubt. Yet for travelers, industry veterans say, this seesaw experience won’t make an immediate difference to the cost of flights or lodgings in Mexico or Canada. Because the tariffs are based on goods crossing borders, not people, they don’t directly affect airlines and hotels. But the tariff battle may also bring indirect effects that could bump up travelers’ costs, anxieties or both. In all three…

To walk through Leicester Square in central London is to endure a pummeling of the senses. Its jostling tourists, the glaring lights of its supersized casino and M&M‘s store, and a backing track of buskers’ out-of-tune guitars put it among the worst places in one of the world’s best cities. The area also symbolizes an inevitable truth about London: Without the thronging masses of tourists, and the attractions designed to amuse them, the city might disintegrate completely. Though most Londoners (this one included) would go to great lengths to avoid admitting it, the capital badly needs its millions of incomers…

As the Trump administration continues to slash the federal workforce, the National Park Service — which has lost nearly 10% of its staff to the sweeping cuts — just reported that 2024 set a record high for visits to its parks. Nearly 332 million people showed up to hike, camp or simply get a breath of fresh air in America’s national parks last year. That’s 6 million more visits than the year before, and a million more visits than the previous record, set in 2016. The news comes as park supervisors scramble to figure out how they’ll keep the parks…

Catalina Island, which has plenty of horses in its history but stopped offering rides to visitors in 2008, is bringing trail rides back. The fledgling, Avalon-based Catalina Horseback Adventures offered its first guided rides Feb. 22. Most rides take 45-90 minutes and include hills, valleys, clifftops with ocean views and occasional encounters with deer and island foxes. This move draws on island tradition that goes back to the 1930s, when Catalina’s owners, the Wrigley family, set up a ranch known as El Rancho Escondido, which grew into an Arabian horse-breeding operation. The working ranch continues, 12 miles outside Avalon, and…

On the golf course just outside the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, thousands of people stride across the grass, phones in their hands and eyes on their screens. “Who has a shiny Oshawott they can trade? What about a Blitzle? Any Pansages?” one person asks. “I’ve got a Snivy!” someone shouts back. “I’ll trade a Panpour,” another counters. Attendees were decked out in gear featuring Pokémon and Poké Balls. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) To an outsider, the scene might sound like an episode of “Storage Wars” — gibberish over a megaphone — and look a bit like a…

Melissa Fumero’s sons, at 5 and 8 years old, are almost at the age that they can prep breakfast for themselves. When the time comes, it will be a help for the busy mom, who also doubles as the queen of network television. The actor is perhaps best known for playing the over-eager, by-the-rules Det. Amy Santiago in the police comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. But she…

When Dylan Anderson was eight years old, he discovered an old telescope of his grandfather’s. The pirate-esque rig was dusty from years in the garage, but Anderson was instantly intrigued. “I was like, ‘Hey, what’s this?’ ” the now-18-year-old member of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society said. “I saw Jupiter and its four moons, and I was hooked.” You’ll hear similar stories from a lot of astronomy enthusiasts, who say that seeing their first big planet was what sparked a lifelong enchantment with the stars. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the line to see Jupiter, with…

To set foot inside the Gallery, a new restaurant and bar in downtown, is to be whisked into a world fit for a theme park. Walk in via its bar, and gone are views of Olympic Boulevard. In the place of windows, you’ll find a fantastical, idealized take on a major city, a skyline vision that looks ripped from an animated film. Stroll into the dining room and at first you may see a blank canvas, only soon its walls and tables awaken to place you underwater, in nature or surrounded by a scalding hot warehouse where lava flows over…

According to travel experts, early spring is the ideal time to begin planning your summer vacation. Some of the more anxious among us (OK, me) might even push that to pre-spring, as in late February or early March, if only to provide a beacon of hope during the year’s gloomiest months. Lord knows we could all use a beacon of hope right now. I just fear summer vacation may no longer be it. President Trump and world’s richest man Elon Musk seem determined to make any upcoming vacation plans as difficult, expensive and potentially dangerous as possible. In a quest…

As the Trump administration continues its campaign to slash the federal workforce, more than 700 year-round National Park Service employees have taken buyouts, according to an internal email sent to supervisors late last week. That brings to at least 1,700 the number of year-round permanent staff members that the service — arguably America’s most beloved federal agency — has lost this month. The number equates to roughly 9% of the agency’s workforce. In addition, remaining staff members have been banned from traveling for work purposes — unless it’s to support national security or immigration enforcement — and some staffers have…

There’s a big bloom coming to the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch, along with many tiny flutters. On March 1, the property alongside I-5 opens for its annual springtime seasonal celebration, with color and scent supplied by 55 acres of ranunculus flowers that typically bloom for six to eight weeks. Dating back to the 1960s, this roadside spectacle has become one of Southern California’s most familiar rites of spring, along with the hunt for wildflowers in the desert and renewed rivalry between Dodgers fans and Padres people. Admission to the fields (via timed-entry tickets) is $22 per adult, $20 for…

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif.  — On a clear, cold day in mid-February, we had spent hours on backcountry skis trudging up and across a remote mountainside in the eastern Sierra when we noticed that the trees directly above us were much smaller than the others we had passed along the way. Still panting from the workout, I looked down the steep slope — something I had carefully avoided up to that point — and saw more suspiciously small trees stretching below us. “Avalanche,” said my ski partner, Howie Schwartz, a veteran backcountry guide. “Huge one, back in the ’80s, reached all the…

With a toddler, a Shih Tzu and several chickens, actor Poppy Liu has a full house. “I’m raising so many beings,” said the “Hacks” star, who recently appeared in the Netflix drama series “No Good Deed” and will star alongside Tessa Thompson in the streamer’s upcoming series “His and Hers.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. “I love having chickens because it feels grounding to eat eggs from my own backyard,” she…

Following a loud public outcry about job cuts at the National Park Service — and a relentless media campaign from outdoors enthusiasts across the country — it looks like the Trump administration has reconsidered. A plan to eliminate thousands of seasonal workers at the beloved federal agency appears to have been reversed. Last month, prospective seasonal employees — the people who collect the entrance fees, clean the trails and restrooms and help rescue injured hikers — received emails saying their job offers for the 2025 season had been rescinded. This week, a memo sent from the Department of Interior to…

At the southern edge of the Mojave Desert on an unusually warm Saturday in February, dozens of people mill throughout the living space of a 2,300-square-foot three-bed, two-bath house with a connected two-car garage. A couple gliding past the open kitchen marvel at the room’s “good natural lighting.” In the hallway outside the expansive main bedroom, a tall bearded man compares the space to a “luxury Airbnb experience,” while two grade-school-age boys play with a light switch on the wall, flicking the ceiling fan on and off. “I’ve never seen a house like this,” one of them says, “but I…

Last July, San Diego resident Trisha Malone applied for a disability exemption at a booth just outside the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks. The Disability Access Service, or DAS, pass she wanted would have allowed her to avoid waiting in time-consuming lines for popular Disney rides. Malone met with personnel representing Disney for her DAS application interview. In that public setting, they solicited private medical information from the disabled woman. After a short exchange, Malone was rejected, as her disability did not meet new, stricter DAS standards. That denial was detailed in a 32-page class-action complaint Malone filed against…

On a recent weekday evening, I found myself in a romantic position for which I have had zero training for: a dating coach. Yet there I was, at an East Hollywood bar, listening and analyzing a conversation among two prospective partners. The pair had already debated local hiking spots, yet when one said she leaned homebody and the other favored nights out, our trainees needed help. A sudden lull in the chat caused a panic, and a coach for the other team called for a pause. “Time for a sidebar,” she said, as we all huddled around our dating cadets…

• Yoga adds flexibility and strengthens lower body joints, which makes it a great addition to your hiking routine. • Try these structured events in L.A. and Orange counties that combine the activities. • We’ve also found trail-adjacent yoga classes, including in Runyon Canyon and Griffith Park, so you can plan your own workout. “Isn’t this grand?” Laurie Hang Hutter swept her arms across a swath of open green space near the hummingbird garden in Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. Palm trees swayed in the distance and gave way to clear views of the Hollywood sign and the eastern Santa…

Artist David Hockney was a driver: after visiting and then moving to Los Angeles in 1964, he zipped around the Hollywood Hills in his red 450 SL Mercedes, perhaps to Chateau Marmont, his spot in Malibu or the studio at multimedia workshop Gemini G.E.L. on Santa Monica Boulevard. “For David in the 1960s, Los Angeles was an enigma — a unique city different from his native London or even from New York City where he had his first encounter with ‘America,’” says his close friend and fellow artist Doug E. Roberts. The drives were a way not only to catalog…

About five years ago, when Meredith Hagner (whose characters range from clueless to maniacal in “Search Party,” “Vacation Friends” and “Bad Monkey,” to name just a few) fully committed to giving up her rent-controlled Williamsburg apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y., to make a home on the West Coast, she thought she knew exactly where she wanted to live. “I told my husband [actor Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn] I’d try out L.A., but I’ll only do the Eastside because that’s the closest to [where I lived in New York City]. And he was like, ‘When we have…

Of our five senses, smell might be the most ignored. And yet the role it plays in our lives is inescapable. Smell activates many parts of our brain, including our limbic system, which plays a key role in memory recall. That’s why the aroma of baking bread might bring you back to your grandma’s kitchen or a whiff of freshly cleaned clothes might bring you back to long nights at the laundromat when you were younger. The Times asked readers to share the scents they consider synonymous with Los Angeles, and their responses painted a vivid olfactory portrait of the…

Summer online reservations for Yosemite National Park have been postponed indefinitely. After the park announced several months ago that a new system was in the works, the online reservation page now reads, “Yosemite National Park anticipates sharing details about this year’s reservation system early in 2025.” The implementation of a new system has apparently been delayed to first get the approval of the Trump administration, according to park officials. A park spokesperson was unavailable to respond to a Times email asking when reservations would be accepted. Currently, no reservations are needed to visit the park during the weekdays, except for…

Much of Angeles National Forest reopened Thursday after a weeks-long closure because of wildfires and red flag warnings, but some beloved trails and campgrounds will remain inaccessible while the land recovers from the blazes. The areas that burned in the Eaton fire in January and Bridge fire in September will remain closed, an area that makes up about 17% of the 700,000-acre forest. Both fires’ closure orders are set to expire Dec. 31, 2025, although the U.S. Forest Service has the authority to extend those orders if necessary. One of the biggest losses to L.A’s outdoors community is the closure…

While it’s true that who you know can matter just as much as talent, for Topher Grace, the connection that ultimately launched his career was formed in New Hampshire, not L.A. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. While attending a New Hampshire boarding school in the late ’90s, Grace appeared in his first play and befriended a girl who worked on the set designs. Later, after he had moved to L.A. to…

As the Trump administration rushes to cut spending and eliminate federal jobs, even the people who work at the national parks — among the country’s most beloved and least politicized institutions — find themselves directly in the crosshairs. Last week, the seasonal workers who staff 433 national parks and historical sites, including Yosemite, Death Valley and Joshua Tree, began receiving emails saying their job offers for the 2025 season had been “rescinded,” with little further explanation. The move set off panic in the ranks of park employees, and threw into limbo the vacation plans of hundreds of millions of people…

The first home Bozoma Saint John bought in L.A. was a condo in Marina del Rey. “It was the first time I bought anything on my own, and it was such a boost to my confidence,” said the entrepreneur, marketing executive and star of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” “L.A. has been an interesting place for me from a real estate standpoint.” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. Saint John has called…

The world inside a downtown L.A. warehouse seemed to come to a halt, and all I saw was a blur of colors, where pinkish-red hues bled into shades of yellow and purple. And I was surprised at what I felt: rested but not tired. This was a deep, calming state, one in which I was wide awake but unable to zero in on a specific thought or concern. Even if only for a moment, worries, loneliness and to-do lists felt as if they were sailing by. Everything I have a tendency to dwell on was present but also slightly out…

As historic fires continue to burn across Southern California, a number of Los Angeles brands have started selling limited edition merchandise to raise crucial funds for relief efforts. Pulling from themes of unity and strength, brick-and-mortar stores, as well as online shops and a few celebrities, have designed items for shoppers to rep their beloved neighborhoods and help their L.A. community at the same time. “We love and embrace, laugh and cry with our community and customers every single day” says Bernard Denney, co-owner of the West Los Angeles shop Only the Lonely which has released a line of items…

Since the Palisades Fire broke out on Jan. 7, it has burned almost 24,000 acres through Pacific Palisades and several neighborhoods along Pacific Coast Highway. Many of those acres were populated by homes, and others popular hiking trails throughout the Santa Monica Mountains. Firefighters continue to make progress on extinguishing the Palisades fire, which was 63% contained as of Tuesday afternoon. But it will take months to account for the scale and reach of damage it has caused. Though there’s not yet a clear verdict on how the Palisades fire started, it may have been somewhere near Skull Rock. To…

An accounting of the damage of the Eaton fire is still ongoing. Since starting in early January, it has burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Altadena and, as of Friday, killed 16 people. Now that the fire is 65% contained, we can begin to examine the damage and trail closures in the surrounding mountains as well. The fire is believed to have started in Eaton Canyon, a beloved hiking area, before spreading east and west into Angeles National Forest. More than two dozen trails, many of them popular, interconnected day hikes, appear to have…

When Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion reopens Saturday in its classic, non-holiday form it will essentially mark the completion of a nearly yearlong refurbishment project, one that added significant backstory and lore to one of the resort’s most famed and mysterious attractions. A fixture at the park since its 1969 opening, the Haunted Mansion has been the subject of regular tinkering, its illusions evolving and changing as technology — and culture — advances. This update will be no different. One of the Mansion’s signature scenes has been remade, and now has a much more somber story to tell. Walt Disney Imagineering, the…

The operators of Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner are offering one-way $10 fares between any two of the train’s 29 stops from San Diego north to San Luis Obispo. The rare offer is intended “to assist those impacted by the Southern California wildfires.” The Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency unveiled the coach-fare offer Monday afternoon as the region struggled with two large wildfires — the Palisades and Eaton fires — and braced for winds that might spread the flames. Travelers can check schedules at pacificsurfliner.com and use code V505 when booking to receive the discount. Tickets must be purchased…

January is usually an easy month to book a Southern California hotel room. Not this year. Driven by the fires that have uprooted hundreds of thousands of L.A. County residents, legions of displaced families and individuals are grabbing rooms in surrounding counties, especially along the coast and in the desert. Beyond those under mandatory evacuation, many more, including many families and anxious pet owners, have left because of poor air quality or general wariness of the county’s precarious state. “It’s been insane,” said Marie Corbett, group sales manager at the 14 West boutique hotel in Laguna Beach. “I’ve had people…

The Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles reported that its members “are currently taking in thousands of Angelenos who have been displaced by the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires,” often at discounted rates. Many of the hotels are also taking in pets, the association board said in a statement Wednesday. Five people have died, but officials say the death toll is likely to be higher. More than 6,000 structures have burned and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster…

“I’m gay so I can’t do the guitar solo,” quips Sam Buck. A grin plays across his face as the unmistakable jangle of Tim McGraw’s “I Like It, I Love It” wafts through the room. Members of the audience chuckle knowingly — the tall, bearded musician could absolutely shred it if he wanted to, but on this night, fun trumps virtuosity. Buck stands under the soft glow of Tiffany-style fixtures, his guitar slung casually over his shoulders and his brown cowboy hat casting a shadow over his black denim jacket. Behind him, silver tinsel sparkles, a Nashville-glam backdrop to the…

I’ve never felt weird about paying strangers to touch me. Massages, facials, martial arts — it’s all just bodywork to me. That is, until I booked my first professional back scratch with Julie Luther, the founder of Soft Touch ASMR Spa in Pasadena. Something about being touched softly made me nervous. In part, because that’s the kind of physical interaction you expect from your closest companions. I have childhood memories of loved ones tracing patterns on my skin and playing with my hair. Between meetings and mindless scrolling, that kind of touch feels increasingly scarce, almost indulgent, as we grow…

Last summer I had a chance to strike a deal with the devil. I sat, contemplating my choice — what I could live without to acquire the one thing I most desired. This was no arbitrary crossroads. Over the past 40 or so minutes I had confessed long-held goals and romantic yearnings while revealing details of my most intimate relationships. They were now being weighed against me. All, I was told, could be mine, minus what I would sacrifice. The contract would be binding, necessitating a drop of blood. I was left alone, a tiny lancet sitting before me. The…

SANTA CLARA, Calif. —  Not everyone got the email. But the word spread, along with the dread. California’s Great America — Northern California’s best-known theme park — appears set to scrap its winter run for the 2025 season, according to a message sent to some seasonal pass holders, potentially spelling an end to the annual Snoopy Christmas ice show and other festivities that have become seasonal staples for ardent fans. The message, sent Dec. 19, said the park’s upcoming season would run from April 5 through late October, and that “seasonal events will not be part of the 2025 calendar.” As…

Jaclyn Cosgrove covers the (great!) outdoors at the Los Angeles Times. They started at The Times in 2017 and have written about wildfires, culture, protests, crime and county government. In 2022, they managed For Your Mind, a yearlong mental health project. Cosgrove is originally from rural Oklahoma and is a proud Oklahoma State University graduate. They fell in love with the Southern California landscape when they moved here in 2017. They are always looking for the next adventure and welcome your ideas. If their phone goes straight to voicemail when you call, it probably means they’re in the mountains with…

Has it occurred to you that civilization might be overrated? Me too. So I’ve been thinking about the natural world — actually, the many natural worlds contained within California, and how whole they can make us feel. With that and the new year in mind, here are a dozen seasonally suitable classic California adventures. These are places where you can huddle with a loved one or steer clear of people entirely. If you’ve been in the state a while, you’ve probably tried a few of them. Maybe you’ve meant to try a few more. And maybe 2025 is the year…

A phishing text message warning of a legal threat and financial penalties has been hitting users and even non-drivers of Los Angeles County’s Metro ExpressLanes. The spam has led to a flood of complaints from Metro ExpressLanes users, who have been calling the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority seeking verification and advice, Metro authorities have noted. Metro officials said they posted a warning about the fraudulent text messages on their homepage as soon as they became aware of the scam. “The ExpressLanes system has not been hacked, and no customer information has been compromised,” the message said. Metro ExpressLanes…

For years, Justine Lupe bopped back and forth between Los Angeles and New York. It wasn’t until the pandemic that she decided it was time to stop living out of her suitcase in hotels and short-term sublet apartments. “The world was in upheaval,” the actor says. “My idea of what my life was felt like it was [too].” In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. In 2021, she and her fiancé, Tyson Mason,…

Now that he has a baby, Kyle Mooney doesn’t leave a certain L.A. radius much if he doesn’t have to. And he’s content with that. The “Saturday Night Live” alum spends most of his time in Pasadena, Glendale, Highland Park and, most of all, Eagle Rock, where he lives with his wife and their infant daughter. “I felt like the ‘artsiness’ of it was something I could relate to,” says Mooney, explaining why he was drawn to the neighborhood. “Highland Park [now] feels a little bit like what Silver Lake did when I was in my 20s, but we were…

Southern Californians can expect to see high wait times at the airports and congested traffic on the freeways during the holidays this year. And because Christmas and New Year’s days both land in the middle of the week, the weekends before the holidays are expected to be the busiest times to travel. But the good news for road warriors is that gasoline prices are down nationwide. About 119.3 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Saturday and Jan. 1 using all modes of transportation, according to the American Automobile Assn. About 107 million travelers — or…

In the summer of 2023, Alix Max, new to town with a cigarette in their mouth, was shooting pool on the patio of 4100 Bar in Silver Lake. They were pretty good, too — good enough to catch the eye of two regulars, Andrea Lorell and Julianne Fox, who recruited them to join their practice group. Their proposal was simple: “We have this group chat, and we play together and get better. The goal is to beat men at pool.” It’s a plotline that could be lifted from the classic billiards film “The Hustler”: an up-and-coming pool prodigy, James Dean-cool,…

Snow has been slow to arrive in Big Bear this year, but the long-term forecast calls for big changes. Bear Mountain resort in Big Bear is adding its first new chair lift in 30 years, a six-seat, high-speed lift that will carry its first customers Thursday. The new Midway lift (also known as Chair 5) holds up to six skiers at a time. Its features include a short conveyor belt that carries skiers and boarders to the spots where the lift will pick them up for a ride of about 2,500 feet. “This is our bright, shiny, new toy for…

Mark Olson at the gym. (Mark Olsen) “Throughout my life I’ve been a skier, weightlifter, hiker and runner, including many local 10K races. Following open-heart aortic valve replacement surgery in late 2023, I embarked upon a cardio rehabilitation program introduced by the cardio center: I do a mix of of high-intensity resistance training, free weight exercises, machine resistance training, cardio on the treadmill or stationary bike, lap swimming and yoga. I do all of this at my local 24 Hour Fitness, where 20 years ago I was able to snag the greatest deal of my life — a lifetime membership…

As an L.A. native and a professional traveler, I know getting a ride to LAX is rarely fun. But even I was tested in summer 2023 after an Uber and then a Lyft canceled on me when I needed to be at the airport in an hour and a half. Trying not to throw up for fearing of missing my flight, I drove myself to the familiar parking lot next to the In-N-Out on Sepulveda. I checked in by app, photographed the spot so that later my dad and nephew could retrieve my car, and galloped to the airport shuttle.…

When David Brown moved from Chicago to Los Angeles this summer, one of the first things he did was download an app that aims to “fight big-city loneliness.” The 35-year-old sales director had seen an Instagram ad for Timeleft, which matches users with strangers for dinner via a personality algorithm. Since he only knew a handful of people in his new city, he decided to give it a shot. On the night of his first dinner, Brown, a self-described introvert, was “super nervous” as Timeleft provides participants with limited details about who they will be dining with, including their job…

About a year ago, longtime friends Laura Baginski and Susie Lee reconnected at their 30-year high school reunion. As the two women caught up with each other about their careers, motherhood and everything in between. They vented about how they missed going out and had been struggling to find a spot that played music they liked and didn’t start late at night. That lengthy conversation is what inspired the duo to start Earlybirds Club, a joyous dance party for “middle aged-ish” women, nonbinary and trans people who want to go out, and also be in bed by 11 p.m. because…

SALTON SEA, Calif.  —  In a state boasting epic mountain ranges and stunning coastlines, the Salton Sea is not typically considered an outdoor-lover’s paradise. California’s largest inland lake, which straddles Riverside and Imperial counties, is in fact beautiful. The 35-mile-long sea shimmers, a cascade of colors in the desert, when the sun sets over the Santa Rosa Mountains. But after its heyday as a popular resort destination in the 1950s, the sea has become one of the state’s most critical environmental challenges. The Salton Sea is shrinking as less water flows in from the Colorado River, surrounding farms use more…

Before me stands a glistening silver box — sleek, elegant and with boldly defined protruding vertical lines, giving it an ever-so-slight vintage Art Deco look. A golden vent rests at its top, the figures on its grille appearing like alien hieroglyphics. This, I am asked to pretend, is an elevator, which will take me from Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade and into Earth’s orbit. I step inside and stand on an assigned number. Four windows surround me, and one sits below me. They are, in actuality, OLED TVs, sitting inside oval, astronaut-white frames. Soon, I am awash in ambient, serene…

• Big Basin Redwoods State Park, near Santa Cruz, is recovering after fire scorched almost the entire park in 2020.• Of 115 miles of trails and fire roads in the park, 31.5 are open. More are to reopen soon. • Many post-fire redwood shoots are 10 to 20 feet tall. Walking among them is an lesson in earthly renewal. It’s a life, death and disaster hike. Yet it’s also a stroll in the park. The route in question is the Redwood Loop Trail, part of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains. One lap around the 0.63-mile…

Best for: Ultra-luxury travelers who want extra privacy What it’s like inside: Though it doesn’t come cheap, PS is the ultimate commercial-yet-feels-private airport experience. Travelers begin their journey at a facility completely separate from the rest of the airport, with an entrance that is off Imperial Highway. Say goodbye to typical LAX traffic. Upon arrival, guests are whisked away to one of two secluded, luxury experiences — either the “Private Suite,” a fully enclosed oasis for a group, or “The Salon,” a sophisticated shared social lounge. PS representatives then take care of every logistical element pre-flight, including monitoring for delays…

One of the Disneyland Resort’s new holiday offerings is a show featuring the young guitar-slinging character of Miguel from “Coco.” But it’s ultimately rooted in a culture and history that long predates the 2017 film. Show director Tobi Longo pulled from her childhood, her family roots and a cultural heritage in working with her peers to bring the mariachi-focused performance to life. In turn, its primary influence was not the Disney/Pixar film, but Las Posadas. The latter — think a festive procession that travels among the community — are traditionally staged in Mexico between Dec. 16 and 24. In their…

Molly Baz ended up in Los Angeles by chance. In March 2020, she was vacationing in L.A. with her family when government officials issued a stay-at-home order due to COVID. She didn’t feel comfortable going back to her crowded apartment building in New York. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. “So I just ended up extending my stay out here and then we just never went home,” says Baz, a recipe developer,…

Disneyland is turning 70 next year, and the theme park has never missed an excuse to throw a nostalgia-fueled party. The coming months will be no different, and arguably the star of the festivities will be Walt Disney himself, albeit in robotic form. The Disneyland Resort’s 70th anniversary happenings launch May 16 and are expected to extend through summer 2026. To celebrate, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure will be resurrecting some fan favorites — the buoyant and gleaming nighttime parade Paint the Night will return to Disneyland — and the park will also get a new, technically advanced show that…

On May 20, 2016, my wife and I visited Yosemite National Park. Before we set out on a trail, I talked to a park ranger. I told her that I was looking for a picture of water reflecting the trees. The ranger, a third-generation Yosemite employee, stated that Lukens Lake was one of the most beautiful places in the park. “I think you get the best views in the park,” she said. Highway 120 had opened the day before, and it was only a one-mile hike from the highway-adjacent trailhead to the lake. We’d been to Yosemite before. At that…

There’s no single smell that defines Los Angeles. Certain scents are often linked to the bustling streets of downtown or the verdant banks of the L.A. River, while others are tied to the more secluded, quiet corners of places like Mount Washington or Bel-Air. The city’s essence shifts subtly as you move through it, with each location offering a different sensory experience that reflects the multitudes of Los Angeles. Our sense of smell is often overlooked, but it’s the one thing that can bring back memories of a place faster than anything else. There’s the rich, loamy aroma of the…

TONOPAH, Nev. —  Business is so good at the Clown Motel, you might expect more of its painted faces to be smiling. But as Vijay Mehar has learned in his years as owner of the creepiest motel in Tonopah, Nev., happy clowns are not what most of his customers want. What they seem to want is fear, loathing, painted faces, circus vibes and hints of paranormal activity. Basically, Mehar said recently, “they want to be scared.” So aiming to lure more people off Main Street (a.k.a. U.S. 95) to visit this 31-room motel in the dusty, stark middle of Nevada, Mehar…

Tiffany Haddish names her pets after things she wishes she could have more of. Namely, sleep. Her dog Sleeper and cats Sleepy and Catonic (whom she adopted from the set of the cat-themed movie “Keanu”) make her house in L.A.’s Crenshaw district a home. That and her underwear. “I’ve spent six months here or there doing movies, but my animals and my underwear, my trophies, everything’s in L.A.,” she says. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy…

Prospective new owners intend to revitalize the vintage Mt. Waterman ski resort in the Angeles National Forest — in part by selling exclusive access to coveted powder days to well-heeled customers and ferrying them to the mountains in chartered helicopters. But there’s a snag: The federal agency that has the final say on what can be done at the homey 390-acre resort hasn’t approved such a plan and said it would be hesitant to sanction anything that smacked of exclusivity. “I’m pretty confident we would not allow … any kind of exclusive use,” said the U.S. Forest Service’s Justin Seastrand,…

“Code Green” has the trappings of a modern escape room. We enter what we are told is a hidden bunker-turned-research lab. It’s dark, but there are clearly challenges that surround us: patterns in the walls, a cork board filled with notes and images connected by string and, before us on what appears to be a concrete table, a small puzzle board with many of its twisted pieces — something akin to strange, otherworldly tools — missing. The trend today is escape rooms with a heavy narrative — see “The Ladder” from L.A.’s Hatch Escapes, a multidecade corporate mystery — and…

Los Angeles is teeming with beautiful places to walk, but for many of us, our favorite paths are those that are closest to home. These are the walks we do again and again, when we need to shake out our blues, get a new perspective or just enjoy some of our city’s famous sunshine. So it comes as no surprise that when we asked readers to share their favorite walks, many of you responded with a path in your neighborhood. L.A. really is a walking city. Explore our ground-level guide to the people and places keeping our sidewalks alive. As…

Holiday gift shopping? It’s chaos. The Grove on Black Friday? Good luck finding parking — it’s a two-hour wait just to squeeze into a spot. And big box stores? Just no. If you’re looking for something less stressful and more creative, there’s a better option: Museum Store Sunday, sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (this year, it falls on Dec. 1). Since 2017, Museum Store Sunday has grown into a global event, bringing together over 2,100 museum stores worldwide — including 28 right here in L.A. County — for a day of discounts, special events and gifts-with-purchase (the deals…

Manuel García-Rulfo moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago, and now the Guadalajara-born actor says he feels more like an Angeleno than a transplant. “I love this city. It’s cool. It has so much to offer,” he says with a charming smile. In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends. It’s fitting then that he’s in the most quintessential of L.A. shows. García-Rulfo is readying his fourth season as defense attorney Mickey Haller in…

The president was Eisenhower. The Dodgers belonged to Brooklyn. The cost of a Los Angeles-London round-trip flight was $720 — a staggering amount in 1956. Yet in his off hours, a young Manhattan lawyer named Arthur Frommer pressed ahead with a wild idea. As a U.S. Army serviceman in postwar Europe a few years before, Frommer had seen the wonders of the continent and the purchasing power of a dollar abroad. He realized that many Americans could do the same, if only they knew where to go and how to pinch pennies. He’d hatched the idea of a guide, tested…