Exploring Downtown LA

As part of an epic (if I do say so myself) anniversary gift to Zack, I planned several fun adventures/weekend trips for us to do this year.  This past weekend, we did our first one, which was a walking tour of downtown LA's architecture.  While I've spent quite a bit of time in LA in high school and college, and know my way around pretty well, Zack has only been to a few places and was never a big fan.  LA is kind of that way: you love it or hate it.  I absolutely love it: the beautiful temperature, the diverse neighborhoods, the amazing restaurants, the crazy fun nightlife, and my group of friends I've made over the years.  Sure, the traffic sucks, but you avoid certain areas at certain times of days, and understand that it might take awhile to get from one corner to the other (which, since they are miles apart, shouldn't come as a surprise).  Since I knew I could lure Zack in to any activity that involved architecture, I figured I could attempt to convince him of LA's charms through a weekend based around the walking tour.

The tour, hosted by the Los Angeles Conversancy, is a few hours long, and gives a great orientation on LA's history and early architecture.  While tours are sometimes a little boring for me (I'm not an auditory learner), I enjoyed the many photography opportunities along the way.  My favorite was the Bradbury building, featured in many movies, including 500 Days of Summer (where Tom meets Autumn) and Blade Runner.  We also walked through Grand Central Market, where we returned to after the tour for an amazing lunch, as well as visited Bunker Hill and Angel's Flight.

Post tour we continued our exploration of DTLA with a stop at the recently opened Ace Hotel.  As a big fan of the Ace in Portland, Palm Springs, and New York, I was dying to visit the newest CA location.  The views of downtown, the tasty drinks, a good crowd of enough people but not too many, and the Stumptown coffee downstairs exceeded all my expectations... I loved it.  As with other Ace hotels, the design details were perfect; I kind of died over the gold tables downstairs and on the patio.  The pool was mini but nice, and the views included the Staples Center, out to Culver City, and a nearby rooftop where we watched some skateboarders mess around.  Luckily the Ace, lunch at Grand Central, and the Art Deco architecture worked their magic... Zack left with happy thoughts and the statement, "LA's not that bad."  I'm sure the lack of traffic on the way home didn't hurt either. ;)