LA Insight: Leaving LA

1. When you can only get out of LA for a weekend, where do you like to go?

Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto/San Gorgonio Mountains

2. Where do you stay when you go there? (lodging and/or region)

On the cheap, the Atipahato Lodge. Small, cute place, near town. Some units have kitchenettes. Longer term/more money, a rental "cabin", like this one.

3. Where do you go on vacation to get as far out of the LA lifestyle?

I really like northern Arizona, especially Sedona (which can be a little LA-ish) and nearby, Jerome, an old mining town that is as far from LA as you could hope to get. This is NOT counting, of course, our trips to Sicily to visit my wife's relatives. That is truly far, far, away from LA.

4. For longer vacations, 1-2 weeks, where have you been that you would go back to?

I would like to return to England again, and spend more time out of London and in the smaller villages. The same goes for rural France.

5. Where do you dream of going, but haven't been?

I have always wanted to visit Yellowstone, but have not yet made it. It is definitely on my list of Top 10 Places to Visit, though.

6. Where have you been on vacation where you thought "I could settle here"?

Boston and environs, (Concord, Lexington, Salem, etc.) has always seemed like a place we could live. Charlottesville, Virginia made quite an impact, too. Nice college town nestled in the rolling hills. Monticello on the hill and all that.

7. What place in Los Angeles makes you feel like you're already on vacation?

The Getty Center always gives me a feeling of being on vacation, even though I live only a few miles away. Pasadena can do the same. And, of course, anywhere up in the mountains, especially when you can';t see the LA skyline.

8. Where in Los Angeles would you warn tourists to stay away from, even though a lot of them end up there?

I would guess most people would tell them to avoid Hollywood. I would probably say Disneyland. I think too many tourists end up in the manufactured "Hollywood" of Universal Studios and Citywalk, and now, Hollywood Blvd. itself, post-Hollywood and Highland.