gary@ISM780.UUCP (08/01/85)
You didn't say *how* near the UCLA campus, and in L.A. anything
shorter than a 30 min. drive away is generally considered close!
However, just south of UCLA -- well within walking distance -- is a
somewhat quaint but trendy area called Westwood Village. There are
lots of shops, restaurants, theaters, and "street artist" of various
sorts there -- roughly L.A.'s answer to Harvard Square (no flames please).
Beyond that, you need wheels.
Luckily the best bus service in the entire L.A. area runs between
UCLA and the coastal communities of Santa Monica and Venice. You can
take the bus to some beaches, the Santa Monica pier, and Ocean Front
Walk in Venice, which can be amusing. The best time to walk Ocean
Front Walk (I think of it as the Venice Zoo) is Sunday, where you'll
find freaks, winos, celebrities, bag ladies, muscle beach types, disco
roller skaters, various religious cult types, street artists (blues,
rock and classical musicians, magicians, jugglers, comedians, etc.),
sidewalk vendors, cyclists, tourists, etc. A walk from Rose Ave. to
Marina Del Rey (if you like looking at yachts) and back would take
most of the day. (BTW, Venice is to L.A. what L.A. is to Cal. what
Cal. is to the rest of the country -- sort of the fringe of the
fringe of the fringe, but worth the trip.) You might consider renting
a bike at the beach and riding along the bike path; this way you
could tour from the S.M. pier to the Marina in a day.
If you have a car, you might drive down Sunset Blvd. (which runs
along the north end of the UCLA campus) to Will Rogers State Park,
where there are hiking trails, a W.R. museum, pollo, and nice picnic
grounds. Sunset will take you to the coastal highway #1. Driving
north and west you go through Malibu, and by the best beaches in the
area (e.g., Zuma; Leo Carillo; County Line). Highway 1 will take you
to Point Magoo State Park, a very beautiful hiking area of chaparall,
canyons, grasslands, and coastal mountains. Unfortunately, the best
time to visit there is in the spring when So. Cal. is fairly green.
This time of year it's pretty dry (take lots of drinks) but it would
be a good day hike anyway. My favorite spot is the top of Magoo peak,
about 1200 feet, right next to the highway, where you can see Catalina
to the south and the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara to the
northwest.
Hollyweird isn't worth the trip in my opinion, but if you go east on
Sunset to a street named Sunset Plaza Drive (next to the Playboy Club),
you can drive up the hills to a spot where you can see for miles and
miles -- on a clear night it's a spectacular view. (BTW, at the peak
there's a hairpin curve just above a dead end street named Blue Jay
Way, made famous by the Beatles in the song by the same name).
There are many many good places to eat on the west side (Westwood,
Santa Monica, Venice), so best consult a phonebook. If you haven't
tried sushi, you might be very surprised how good (and "non-fishy")
raw fish can be; I know lots of people who *thought* they would hate
who were surprised to find they like it. (And no, I've NEVER seen
pink tofu, excuse me!) The Thai and Mexican food is good here also.
As for the weather, it rarely rains between June and November, so
the air doesn't get washed and yes, it's hot and smoggy in Aug., but
not as bad as in Sept. That's one reason why I would suggest staying
close to the beach where the offshore breezes keep the air quality
fairly good. The farther east you get, the more you need a gas mask.
(I do think, though, that LA gets somewhat of a bad rap for its smog;
it's at least as bad in places like Chicago, Denver and even Phoenix.)
Anything else of interest I can think of would require a long drive,
so I won't mention them.
Enjoy.
Gary Swift, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp., Santa Monica, Ca., (213) 453 8649
{decvax!cca | yale | bbncca | allegra | cbosgd | ihnp4}!ima!ism780!garydjw@lanl.ARPA (08/06/85)
What is all this rot about UCLA in an article about Los Angeles? Everyone here in New Mexico knows that the Los Alamos National Laboratory is, ( much to the chagrin of a famous eastern university and another not so famous local university ) operated by the University of California. So you'll have to come here to Los Alamos to go to the University of California at Los Alamos... See you in New Mexico; no passport required. Dave