Endless hours of plants to discover. I've never seen so many types of plants in one place. A great place to spend the day getting inspiration.

Salton Sea is not technically LA, but is a by-product of its history and my first-choice escape from the city: one of the world's largest inland seas and lowest spots on earth, a man-made lake in the midst of the Colorado desert, a resort area in the twenties turned in one of the worst ecological disaster of the past century.

Authentic southern Italian thin-crust pizzas. My favorite is the scrumptious Santo Stefano.

Soak up some Dwell homes and Abbot Kinney lifestyle 

The best ramen I had in LA, maybe anywhere. Even my food-critical son loved it.