About seven years ago, my father moved from California to Dillsboro, Indiana, just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. He had always wanted to try small town life, and chose Dillsboro since one of his closest friends lived there with her family. The town was good to him. He made some amazing friends, and formed a wonderful…
For many people, visiting Los Angeles means the beach, Hollywood, or Beverly Hills. Too many overlook downtown, or DTLA as it's called by locals. That's a shame, as downtown offers some truly awesome sights, especially those with cultural significance. In this itinerary, we bring the incredible arts scene of downtown LA into the center of…
Sometimes, it seems that the places closest to us are the biggest unknowns. I've lived in Los Angeles for the majority of my life, and yet it is only now as a writer that I am beginning to see many of the sights here in my hometown. Over the past year, I have explored ancient…
Sitting just across the Santa Barbara Channel (for which they get their name) from the coast of Southern California, the Channel Islands are tantalizingly close - and yet a world away from Los Angeles life. Eight in total, only one seems to be a target for visitors. Catalina (made famous by the song, "Twenty-six miles…
A cloudy California coastal morning gives way to blue skies and sunshine as the marine layer retreats into the vastness of the Pacific. The deck of the Monterey Bay Aquarium begins to fill with eager visitors searching for life in the Bay: otters, seals and sea lions, and, for the very lucky, dolphins or whales…
The last time I was here I was maybe eight years old. I was not the same person and this was not the same Watts, a neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles best known for a series of riots in 1965. But these are the same Watts Towers. The soaring man-made pinnacles, the tallest of…
Solvang looks like any other Danish village. Wildflowers line streets filled with buildings looking like they are straight out of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Heck, there is even a statue of Anderson in the local park! Bakeries are everywhere, serving danishes and butter cookies. The sun is shining, and the nearby Mission Santa…
It's all Southern Californians are currently talking about, what with baseball season barely underway and the Lakers far out of the playoff picture in the NBA. It is a natural phenomenon breathtaking to behold, and on such a scale that it can be seen from space. No, not fires, although that's a good guess, sadly.…
In November of 2018, three fires devastated parts of California, in what has seemingly become a dark annual ritual. While the main story has been - and should be - the incredible loss of life and property from the blazes, I also wanted to tell the tale of a place that is very special to…
Outside of the Mediterranean, there are a few areas in the world with a Mediterranean climate: the cape of South Africa, Chile, and the California coast. Perhaps that's why, when oil tycoon J Paul Getty wanted to build a replica Roman villa on the cliffs of Malibu to house his art collection, nobody called him…