Tourist Tuesday: Classic Los Angeles Drives

It's Tourist Tuesday today. Instead of dreading the drive from Hollywood to the beach, if I put on my tourist cap, the long drive becomes an adventure.

Sunset Strip to Beach – Starting at the Directors Guild on the corner of Fairfax Blvd., drive West on Sunset Blvd. from Hollywood to the beach. The Sunset Strip features famous nightclubs I used to go to years ago (The Whisky a Go Go, The Viper Room, House of Blues), hotels and outdoor cafes. Next go through the beautifully manicured lawns and huge houses of Beverly Hills. You'll see major Halloween decorations on lawns. Drive through the curves of Holmby Hills (see the people selling maps to the stars homes). Be careful of ‘Deadman’s Curve’ (made famous by Jan & Dean, the popular rock duo of the late 1950s). Driving through Bel Air you will see UCLA and its beautiful campus on the left. Feel free to pull in and walk around. From there, drive through Brentwood (note the Archer School on the right, made famous in the film ‘Chinatown’) to the Pacific Palisades (passing Will Rogers State Park). Head to the beach in Santa Monica or if you have time, Malibu.

Santa Monica to Malibu along PCH – Take a leisurely drive north from Santa Monica on the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. On the way you will see where you can rent a kayak, surfboard or bike. In the summer, the beaches are full of surfers and sunbathers. In October the beaches are quiet and serene. On the drive you pass the Getty Villa (famous for Roman art), Temescal Canyon (a great hiking spot) and the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine. Just past the center of Malibu is the spectacular campus of Pepperdine University. North of Pepperdine, PCH becomes less crowded and more scenic. You will find Zuma Beach and then further north Matador Beach. You could end the drive at Malibu Seafood and have some fresh fish for lunch.