Los Angeles

Impressions of Los Angeles

Over the past three days in Los Angeles I have experienced several facets of the city for the first time as a native Californian.

The U.S. Travel Association International PowWow 2012 in Los Angeles is hosting 6,000 travel industry people and journalists for a five day conference.

The 8 am to 11 pm schedule is intense and keeping me off my computer. Next week I will catch up with detailed posts on so many of the places I have had the opportunity to visit.

This post is a sampler to share pieces of L.A. before I rush off to the Los Angeles Convention Center for another day of meetings.

City in the Sun

IPW12-1-Venice Beach 013

Saturday was sunny in downtown Los Angeles. I anticipated hot weather after Friday when the temperature was in the 90s. I wanted to be at the beach.

IPW12-1-Venice Beach 019

Daily Getaways are getting Americans moving.

One of the pre-conference activities was an opportunity to go to Santa Monica and ride a bike to Venice beach.

IPW12-1-Venice Beach 030

Street artist in Venice. Jim Morrison is a popular icon in this place.

IPW12-LA-2-San Pedro 045

Sunday was an opportunity to tour the new Dinosaur Hall in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

IPW12-LA-2-San Pedro 269

Then back to the Los Angeles waterfront where there was a large pod of dolphins feeding in San Pedro Harbor, one of the nation’s largest shipping cargo terminals. I could have gone to Beverly Hills, but I didn’t regret visiting the industrial waterfront after this natural spectacle of marine life.

IPW12-LA-2-San Pedro 412 

Seeing stars on Hollywood Boulevard.

IPW-12 Universal 030

Universal Studios was an over-the-top fun time. The new ride Transformers was quite the visual experience. I now have to do a little research to find out what the storyline is for Transformers.

The Universal Studios event ended at 11pm last night and after double dipping on rides and a few beers I left the park and snapped this photo of the Blues Brothers.

IPW-12 Universal 124

The front man grabbed me as I walked past.

Turns out this is my cousin’s son Brian Brigham, the Hollywood actor, singer and entertainer. I have not seen him in the past few years, yet he recognized me out of the hundreds of people filing by snapping photos.

Just another one of the magical moments of life in Los Angeles.

Blogger disclosure: All of these Los Angeles experiences are complimentary as a journalist delegate to the U.S. Travel Association International Pow Wow 2012 in Los Angeles April 21-25.

Tags:

Share This Post:

5 Comments

  • Jennifer April 24, 2012

    That is SO FUNNY. I can’t believe you ran into your cousin and he’s a “Blues Brother.” 🙂

  • Jamison April 24, 2012

    I live in Los Angeles and its a dump…. The first thing tourists see when they land is the worst airport in the world, LAX. The lack of public transit to and from the airport really derails tourism. The first impressions of LAX will make a lasting impression.

    Los Angelenos are not friendly to tourists… If a tourist asks a stranger for directions, they will probably ignore them. In addition, the traffic is a nightmare like a clogged artery.

  • clogged artery April 24, 2012

    I take offense at being compared to Los Angeles

  • Ric Garrido April 24, 2012

    I attended a media briefing on the $4 billion infrastructure development for LAX. A presentation by Los Angeles Metro showed the plan for public transporation to LAX hooking up with the city metro system in the next few years.

    No denying traffic is bad on the freeways.

  • Lyssa May 1, 2012

    I’ve been to LA a couple of times and have been stuck in some bad traffic jams on the expressway. Being from Chicago, I am used to that kind of horrible traffic, but I see how it could be surprising if you’re not used to it. It’s still not something fun to deal with on a vacation. Usually I would like to get away from crazy, hectic places like Chicago on vacation.

Comments are closed.

BoardingArea