We made it! Goodbye, 2022! Hello, 2023! Happy New Year from This Ugly Beautiful City! 2022 was such a rollercoaster ride! And not in a cheesy fun way like at Santa Monica Pier’s Pacific Park. There are dozens of year-in-review recaps that you can watch that will make you feel profound despair, but let’s remember some of the good that happened. We got out of our houses more often and…
tourism
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Venice 101: The Beach and Boardwalk
The Venice Beach and Boardwalk is a place I rarely go. I am afraid that even I don’t love everything about Los Angeles. Yes, it is true. As a person who has dedicated her time talking about how great this city is, I still have…
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Santa Monica 101: The Santa Monica Pier
This is where the iconic Route 66 ends. The song, (Get Your Kicks) On Route 66, popularized by Chuck Berry, talks about this super-connected interstate that winds its way across this country, ending at the tip of the Santa Monica Pier. In this post, I…
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This Ugly Beautiful City, a recap episode
In my previous post, I talked about This Ugly Beautiful City being a year old. During that year I covered a lot of ground. I zig-zagged from Hollywood to Culver City, Century City to DTLA. Now it is time for a recap. When a television…
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An Intro to Griffith Park
Once upon a time D.W. Griffith…..no that’s not right. Once upon a time, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith built California’s largest municipal park. Scratch that, it is not right either. … Once upon a time, Colonel Griffith J. Griffth built the second largest municipal park in…
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Farewell for Now Hollywood
You may ask yourself why? Why are we leaving Hollywood when there is still a lot to do? Why haven’t I talked about LACE, The Hollywood Museum, or Madame Tussaud’s? Why did I skip over the historic Cineramadome? And why haven’t I talked about the double-decker…
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Hollywood Bonus Features: Time travel
So you have done Hollywood 101; maybe you have done it a million times. Once you have walked the Walk of Fame and marveled at the footprints in cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, you do not need to write off Hollywood completely. You…
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Frequently Asked Question: Do you have any Los Angeles trip planning tips?
I think what baffles people most is how to go about planning their trip to Los Angeles. I feel like the question usually starts in spurts … “There is so much to do. I don’t know what to do. What should I do? My brain…