Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
161
world. Archaeological work is ongoing; y ou can watch as scientists clean, identify , and
catalog new finds in the Paleontology Laboratory. An entertaining 15-minute film docu-
menting the recoveries is also shown.
5801 Wilshire Blv d. (east of F airfax A ve.), L os Angeles .
&
323/934-7243.
w ww.tarpits.org. Museum
admission $7 adults, $4.50 seniors 62 and older and students with ID, $2 children ages 5-12, free for kids
5 and under; free for everyone the 1st Tues of every month. Museum hours M on-Fri 9:30am-5pm; Sat-
Sun 10am-5pm. Parking $6 with validation, $8 without validation.
L.A. LIVE
The ne w L.A. LIVE “ entertainment campus ” is the keystone of L.A.
's
Downtown gentrification pr oject. This being Los Angeles, the envy-me capital of the
world, L.A. LIVE will ev entually become one of the largest and flashiest mix ed-use
entertainment complexes in the world, costing $2.5 billion to build and co vering more
than 6 city blocks (hence its nickname—T imes S quare West). I t's anchor ed b y the
NOKIA Theatre,
the
STAPLES Center
(where the Lakers and Clippers play their home
games), and the
Los Angeles Convention Center,
and is crammed with a doz en trendy
restaurants and cafes, two huge nightclubs, the
GRAMMY Museum,
a bowling center,
ESPN's West Coast br oadcast headquar ters,
JW M arriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels
(both within a 54-stor y to wer), luxur y condominiums, a 40,000-squar e-foot outdoor
plaza, and a 14-scr een movie complex. Whether it's worth the trip fr om Hollywood or
the beaches depends on y our interest in mega-size sports and entertainment complexes,
but I do r ecommend logging on to the L.A. LIVE w ebsite to see who 's playing or per-
forming while you're in town.
Figueroa St. (bt w. Venice and Olympic blv ds.), Los Angeles.
&
866/548-3452
or 213/763-5483. w ww.
lalive.com.
Six Flags California (Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor)
Kids
What
started as a countrified little amusement park with a couple of relatively tame roller coast-
ers in 1971 has been transformed by Six Flags into a thrill-a-minute daredevil's paradise.
The 15 world-class r oller coasters (mor e than any other place in the world) make it
enormously popular with teenagers and young adults, and the children's playland—Bugs
Bunny World—creates excitement for the pint-size set (kids under 48 in. tall.) B ring an
iron constitution; rides with names like G oliath, Déjà Vu, Ninja, Viper, and Colossus
will leav e y ou exiting with queasy expr essions. S ome rides ar e themed to action-film
characters (such as Superman The Escape and the Riddler 's Revenge); others are loosely
tied to their themed surr oundings, such as a gold r ush mining to wn. The newer thrill
rides are the
Terminator,
a wooden r ollercoaster with five belly-flopping hills and hair-
pin turns that opened in spring 2009;
Tatsu,
a “flying beast” that's the tallest, fastest, and
longest flying coaster in the world;
Scream!,
wher e riders ar e strapped into a “ flying
chair” and raced upside down seven times at 65 mph; and
X2,
the world's first and only
roller coaster where riders rotate 360 degrees forward and backward. Arcade games and
summer-only enter tainment (stunt sho ws, animal sho ws, and parades) r ound out the
park's attractions.
Hurricane Harbor
is Six Flags's tropical paradise. It's located right next door to M agic
Mountain and is open May through September. You really can't see both in 1 day—combo
tickets allow you to return sometime before the end of the season. B ring your own swim-
suit; the park has changing r ooms with showers and lockers. Like M agic Mountain, areas
have themes like a tropical lagoon or an African river (complete with ancient temple ruins).
The primary activities are swimming, going down the 23 water slides, rafting, playing vol-
leyball, and lounging; many areas are designed especially for the little “buccaneer.”
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