A westside friend long ago suggested walking the length of Wilshire Blvd, in order to get far better views of interesting detail than one gets when driving.
Early this January, on a week-long visit to LA, Lisa and I, on a whim, started walking east on Wilshire, from Fairfax. The idea was to walk to the eastern end of Wilshire...and to do the Fairfax to SM part at a later date. We only made it to Alvarado, because a friend who works downtown was waiting for us to get together for lunch at Clifton's.
The walk was definitely worthwhile; we saw quite a few things that I'd never noticed on hundreds of drives from Fairfax to the start of Wilshire, and got to see quite a few more in far more detail than before.
How about getting together a group of members of this bulletin board to do the downtown-to-Fairfax walk, or a Fairfax-to-SM walk some Sat. or Sun? Wouldn't it be especially nice if a certain member who writes for LA Magazine and another who's writing a book on The Blvd were part of the group?
Dave
PS We'll be in LA from 6/23 to 7/15; many of our Sats are already committed, but we're free virtually every Sun.
Wilshire Blvd Walk?
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davidk6
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Wilshire Blvd Walk?
Marxist Philosophy: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
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Lynxwiler
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Funny you should mention it, I did the Wilshire walk several years ago and it changed my life. Besides the temporary blisters from tackling it from Grand Ave all the way to Saint Monica, it was the inspiration for my growing Wilshire ephemera collection, the Wilshire history book and (indirectly) the Wilshire driving tour I'm helping the LAConservancy with.
The idea to tackle it from downtown to Fairfax covers the best parts as it's Eastern end is more rich in visual history and still-standing landmarks. Sunday may open a few more church doors, so that would be a good day to take another long walk through what used to be Mr. Wilshire's barley field.
FYI: I saw some of the still-in-progress pages for the Wilshire book today. Great photos!
The idea to tackle it from downtown to Fairfax covers the best parts as it's Eastern end is more rich in visual history and still-standing landmarks. Sunday may open a few more church doors, so that would be a good day to take another long walk through what used to be Mr. Wilshire's barley field.
FYI: I saw some of the still-in-progress pages for the Wilshire book today. Great photos!
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davidk6
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Go Know!
Featured Outing
Wilshire Walk XXIV
Sunday, October 30 2005, 8am
Sponsor: Wilderness Adventures
Downtown
Starting Downtown
Santa Monica
Ending in Santa Monica
Come celebrate our 24th year as we walk from One Wilshire in downtown L.A. to the sea at Santa Monica. Pass through multicultural L.A. city blocks. Tired feet may sign out anywhere along the route and board a bus back to parking.
Directions: Meet at 8am at Figueroa and Wilshire in downtown Los Angeles. Bring money for lunch and the bus. Rain cancels.
Leader: Bobbie Peyser
http://angeles.sierraclub.org/outings/Featured.asp
Wilshire Walk XXIV
Sunday, October 30 2005, 8am
Sponsor: Wilderness Adventures
Downtown
Starting Downtown
Santa Monica
Ending in Santa Monica
Come celebrate our 24th year as we walk from One Wilshire in downtown L.A. to the sea at Santa Monica. Pass through multicultural L.A. city blocks. Tired feet may sign out anywhere along the route and board a bus back to parking.
Directions: Meet at 8am at Figueroa and Wilshire in downtown Los Angeles. Bring money for lunch and the bus. Rain cancels.
Leader: Bobbie Peyser
http://angeles.sierraclub.org/outings/Featured.asp
Marxist Philosophy: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
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Futura Girl
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and don't forget to pick up a copy of lynxwiler's Wilshire book before you walk...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 8556/ll-20
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 8556/ll-20
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Lynxwiler
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That was a great lunch. Thanks again Dave. Sorry you couldn't make it out here for the LAConservancy's tour -- it was wonderful! I think I spent at least two hours at Johnie's alone!
So far, Amazon still has the best price on the Wilshire book. That price will go up after the book hits general bookstores so pre-order it sooner rather than later.
So far, Amazon still has the best price on the Wilshire book. That price will go up after the book hits general bookstores so pre-order it sooner rather than later.
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davidk6
- Special Secret Modern Agent
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- Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2003 12:33 pm
- Location: LA one month in winter and one month in summer; NJ suburbs of NYC the rest of the year
Re: Wilshire Blvd Walk?
Marxist Philosophy: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend; inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
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