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.

You have to cross this bridge when you're driving to downtown from East LA. It gives you an amazing view on the River, old industrial buildings and the high rises of downtown Los Angeles. Remember that famous scene from Grease? This is the place. I'm still trying to figure out how to get my car in here.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, founded by Bob Baker and Alton Wood in 1963, is the oldest children's theater company in Los Angeles and the longest-running puppet theater in the United States. As soon as you step through the doors you are transported into a magical realm frozen in time. Be prepared to be swept off your feet and surrender your age as soon as the artfully designed marionettes come to life. At the end of every show, the theater offers free ice cream and coffee in the birthday party room opposite the main theater where Bob Baker is available to chat and show you how to operate a marionette.

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.

Crispy rice salad with the works forever.