In honor of Independence Day, I went to Independence Hall! No…I didn’t fly to Philadelphia for the weekend I went to Buena Park, California to visit an exact replica of the Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitution was debated and hammered out.

I went there once as a child. It’s part of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park. Back in the day, across the street from the Amusement Park was a “free park”. There was a burro ride, a lake with Adventure Island where us kids would play hide and seek for hours, and paddle boats. In the midst of all this child hood fun was Independence Hall but like most seven year olds I wasn’t interesting in “boring history”.

Well, like everything, things change. The burro ride, paddle-boats and adventure island is gone and now a parking lot is where they once were. On the other side of Independence Hall is Knott’s Soak City. But, Independence Hall is still there and still free.

In fact, you can park in the Knott’s Market Place free for three hours which allows ample time to visit Independence Hall.

Originally dedicated by Walter Knott on July 4, 1966, the Independence Hall replica was built as a permanent, free-admission reminder of two famous events: the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Walter Knott constructed the building for the millions of West Coast families unable to travel to Philadelphia to tour the original. The likeness is so exact that you can see fingerprints in the brick, just as in the original.

Independence Hall was so well recreated that the original Hall in Philadelphia asked for the Knott's blueprints during its recent renovation, and the replica also was used in the 2004 film National Treasure. Displays have included a replica of the Liberty Bell and a replica of the original "Star Spangled Banner," the flag which flew over Fort McHenry through a British attack during the War of 1812. An audio presentation, with speakers located at appropriate tables, recalls the debate which led to the United States Declaration of Independence.

The grounds around Independence Hall are very relaxing. I was there on July 3 and was one of only 3 people in Independence Hall while throngs and bus loads of people walked by to Soak City and the Amusement Park. A sad commentary on the importance of our history.

After visiting Independence Hall you can visit Knott’s Chicken Dinner famous for it’s down home American cooking of fried chicken, apple pie and all the trimmings. However, I opeted for Po’ Folks just down Beach Blvd next to the old Movieland Wax Museum where you can get typical southern food—fried chicken, fried okra, mashed potatoes, Hush puppies and Mississippi Mud Pie. What better way to celebrate Indepence Day with some down home American Cookin’

Knott's Independence Hall is open daily year-round from 10:00 a.m.to 5:00 p.m. In addition, on the fourth of July they do have people in patriot costume along with singing and fireworks. In February they have a Civil War encapment. So if you can’t make it to Philadelphia and you are in the Los Angeles Area, you can visit and exact replica of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell!

It was HOT in Southern California this weekend. I kept telling myself I shouldn’t complain since I survived worse heat and humidity in South East Asia, but I complained nonetheless. Partly, because my apartment is on the top floor, AC prohibited, and my apartment reaches 94 degrees during these hot spells. But I was able to escape the heat if only for a few hours with a new experience and a new adventure. This weekend took me to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center and my very first Opera, Tosca.

I’ve been to the Los Angeles Music Center numerous times for various plays at the Ahmanson Theater and the Mark Taper Forum, but I had not been to the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion. Those of you that know me, know that I love Musical Theater so its a wonder that I’ve never been to an opera. One of the things that kept me from opera was the fact that most are in Italian or German and I figured if I didn’t speak the language I wouldn’t really understand what was going on.

I did not realize that, at least at this Opera House, the English translation is superscripted above the stage! It was like watching a foreign film!

The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The Pavilion is an impressive building with its 3,197 seats spread over four elegant tiers, its chandeliers, its wide curving stairways and its rich décor. The auditorium's sections are the Orchestra (divided in Premiere Orchestra, Center Orchestra, Main Orchestra and Orchestra Ring), Circle (divided in Grand Circle and Founders Circle), Loge (divide in Front Loge and Rear Loge), as well as Balcony (divided in Front Balcony and Rear Balcony).

Construction started on March 9, 1962, and it was dedicated September 27, 1964. The Pavilion was named for Dorothy Buffum Chandler who “led (the) effort to build a suitable home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and rejuvenate the performing arts in Los Angeles. The result was Mrs. Chandler’s crowning achievement, the Music Center of Los Angeles County.

In order to receive approval for construction from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Mrs. Chandler promised Kenneth Hahn that the building would be open free for the public for one day a year. The result was the Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration, a Christmas Eve tradition sponsored the Board of Supervisors. The program is broadcast on KCET-TV and an edited version of the prior year's show is syndicated to public television stations via PBS

The opening concert was held on December 6, 1964 with Zubin Mehta conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic with soloist Jascha Heifetz. The program included Fanfare by Richard Strauss, American Festival Overture by William Schuman, Roman Festivals by Ottorino Respighi, Beethoven's Violin Concerto.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, under Music Director Roger Wagner, was the other founding resident company at the Pavilion. Before creation of the Los Angeles Opera company, the New York City Opera came regularly on tour and performed in the Pavilion. One such tour, in 1967, consisted of two performances of Madame Butterfly, one of La Traviata, and two of Ginastera's Don Rodrigo, each with Plácido Domingo singing the main tenor role.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held its annual Academy Awards in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from 1969 to 1987 and, according to the Academy's web site showing the locations of all Awards ceremonies, again from 1990 to 1994, in 1996, and, finally, in 1999.

Since the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale have moved to the newly-constructed and adjacent Disney Hall which opened in October 2003, the Pavilion is home of the Los Angeles Opera and the Music Center Dance.

The Los Angeles Opera company, which made its debut in 1986 with a production of Verdi's Otello starring Plácido Domingo, traces its roots back to the Los Angeles Civic Grand Opera, which was formed in 1948. It presented staged productions through the 1950s. Shortly after its third production at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company abandoned its own production projects and recreated itself as the Music Center Opera Association by bringing opera from other cities to the Music Center, notably the New York City Opera. The NYCO brought productions to Los Angeles every fall from 1966 to 1982.

In 1984, the Music Center Opera Association hired Peter Hemmings and gave him the task of creating a local opera company which would once again present its own productions. This led to the forming of the Los Angeles Opera.

Since its inception, Los Angeles Opera has served nearly one million students, senior citizens, and other audiences through its internationally recognized Education and Community Programs. The Company also presents free dress rehearsals of select operas for such groups as low-income seniors and Los Angeles County schoolchildren. Los Angeles Opera's participatory In-School Opera Program, which serves as a national model, brings Company artists into area schools to work with students from elementary through high school levels producing performances as well as providing an opportunity for students to learn about opera. Teachers of all grade levels are also invited to learn about opera through a special year-long seminar series.

Support groups such as Hispanics for Los Angeles Opera, African-Americans for Los Angeles Opera and the Opera League of Los Angeles seek to increase involvement in, and attendance at, Los Angeles Opera performances and special events.

The Opera which I saw last night was Puccini’s Tosca which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was dark, tragic, and bittersweet….all of the things which I love and make for good theater! I was especially taken back by the aria sung by Tosca…not only was the music enchanting but the lyrics were moving poetry.

Prior to each opera there is a lecture in the lobby which I found to be a great help in explain the history of the opera and the plot. This lecture is free to all ticket holders at each performance.

As is always the case, I love attending theatrical and artistic events…theater, opera, symphony! I enjoy getting ready and driving to downtown. I enjoy the glamour and glitz of the whole production, the lobby, the chandeliers, the lighting, and the décor. Going to out to the theater is truly a whole experience for me…not just the show, but the whole evening!

I love museums. Ironically, when I travel, I hardly ever go to them because to adequately see a museum takes up a lot of time, time which I do not always have when travelling to distant areas. However, when I have the time and am not rushed I love museums and Los Angeles has their fair share of museums. This weekend was a double treat because not only did I get to visit a museum I got to spend time with an old friend from my college days!

I have a few very close friend, unfortunately, the times between seeing them are often months and in some cases years. But they are always there, in my memory and in my heart. And when reunified it is as if no time has went by and you pick up right where you left off. My friend Dan is one such friend! The museum we went to was the Los Angeles County Museum of Art or LACMA as we call it here in Los Angeles.

LACMA shares the same land area as the La Brea Tar Pits. I remember as a child going there with my parents and enjoyed the tar pits but thought the art museum was God awful boring! I returned to LACMA in 1989 for Humanities Class and had to do a report on Art of the 1920’s. Well, it’s been 19 years since I’ve been there and a lot had changed. The expansion and acquisitions have grew enormously as well as my soul, knowledge and thirst for the humanities. It was also a nice place to meet up with my friend as it is condusive to talking, conversing, and enjoying something new together.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the official and world-renowned art museum of the County of Los Angeles, California located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. The museum is adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits.

LACMA is the largest encyclopedic museum west of Chicago. Its holdings include more than 250,000 works spanning the history of art from ancient times to the present. In addition to art exhibits, the museum features film and concert series throughout the year.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art was established as a museum in 1961. Prior to this, LACMA was part of the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art, founded in 1913 in Exposition Park near the University of Southern California. In 1965 the museum moved to a new Wilshire Boulevard complex as an independent, art-focused institution, the largest new museum to be built in the United States after the National Gallery of Art.

The museum was built in a style similar to Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Music Center and consisted of three buildings: the Ahmanson Building, the Bing Center, and the Lytton Gallery (renamed the Frances and Armand Hammer Building in 1968). The board selected LA architect William Pereira over the directors' recommendation of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the buildings. The LA Music Center and LACMA were concurrent large civic projects which vied for attention and donors in Los Angeles.

The museum's Pavilion for Japanese Art, designed by maverick architect Bruce Goff, opened in 1988, as did the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden of Rodin bronzes. In 1994, LACMA purchased the adjacent May Company Department Stores building, an impressive example of streamline modern architecture designed by Albert C. Martin Sr. LACMA West increased the museums' size by 30 percent when the building opened in 1998. On a side May Company Department Store on Wilshire and Fairfax, was where my mom worked when she first moved to California from Chicago in 1956!

LACMA's more than 250,000 objects are divided among its numerous departments by region, media, and time period and are spread amongst the various museum buildings.

The Modern Art collection is displayed in the Ahmanson Building which was renovated in 2008 to have a new entrance featuring a large staircase, conceived as a gathering place similar to Rome's Spanish Steps. Filling the atrium at the base of the staircase is Tony Smith's massive scuplture Smoke (1967). The modern collection on the plaza level displays works from 1900 to the 1970s, largely populated by the Janice and Henry Lazaroff collection. The plaza level galleries house African art and a gallery highlighting the Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies. The second floor of the Ahmanson Building has Greek and Roman Art galleries.

The Art of the Americas Building has American, Latin American and pre-Columbian collections displayed on the second floor and temporary exhibition space on the first floor. The Hammer Building houses the Korean and Chinese collections.

The Contemporary Art collection is displayed in the 60,000 square foot Broad Contemporary Art Museum (BCAM), opened on February 16, 2008. BCAM's inaugural exhibition featured 176 works by 28 artists of postwar Modern art from the late 1950's to the present. All but 30 of the works initially displayed came from the collection of Eli and Edythe Broad.

Surrounding the BCAM building the museum courtyard is a 100 tree palm tree garden, designed by artist Robert Irwin and landscape architect Paul Comstock. Some of the 30 varieties of palms are in the ground, but most are in large wooden boxes above ground. Directly in front of the new entrance to LACMA on Wilshire Boulevard is Chris Burden's Urban Light (2008), an orderly, multi-tiered installation of 202 antique cast-iron lampposts from various cities in and around the Los Angeles area. The lamp posts are functional, turn on in the evening, and are powered by solar panels on the roof of the Grand Entrance.

As you can see, the grounds, building, and collection are enough to keep you busy for days on end. I msyelf and partial to Antiquities, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic art periods so many of the exhibits I skimmed through. After admiring the art we sat at one of the two cafes enjoying beverages and remeniscing about old times and discussing current times.

Adjacent to LACMA are the La Brea Tar Pits and George C. Page Museum…but those are for another Trip of the week! Visit Rhoades Less Traveled next week for a visit to the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion at the Los Angeles Music Center and my very first Opera “Tosca”.

Last weekend was Memorial Day, the official kick off to summer. However, it felt more like fall around here in Los Angeles with rain and chilly temperatures. But this weekend we were back on track with picture perfect weather; the type of weather perfect for a barbeque at the beach.

This week my adventures took me to Laguna Beach. There’s a lot to see and do in Laguna and I couldn’t do it justice in just one article. Laguna Beach includes 7 miles of coastline with some of Southern California most scenic beaches and coves you'll find along the Southern California coast. The best tide pools, diving opportunities, and best sunsets on this region of California coast are right in Laguna Beach.  Home to mansions and quaint cottages that line bluffs above the sandy coves, for over 100 years, tourists have flocked to a little piece of paradise to scuba dive, to paint the colors of nature which seem more vibrant there and to enjoy natural beauty not seen elsewhere. In addition there cultural festivals, the Sawdust Art Festival, Pageant of the Masters, and ample state parks and wilderness to explore. So with the beautiful weather and water, this week I focused on the tide pools of Laguna and the “beaches”.

Laguna Beach holds the distinction of having one of the greatest number of localized beaches of any city on the California coast.  The list includes the northern beaches of Irvine Cove, Crescent Bay, Shaw's Cove, Boat Canyon, Diver's Cove, Picnic Beach and Rock pile. Central Beaches include Main Beach, Sleepy Hollow, St. Ann's Street, Thalia Street, Oak Street, Brook's Street and Mountain Road Beach. Southern Laguna Beach (South Laguna Beach) beaches include Bluebird Canyon, Pearl Street, Wood's Cove, Moss Point, Rockledge, Victoria Beach and Treasure Island.

Laguna got its name long ago from the Ute-Azteca Indian word for lakes, Lagonas. Spaniards who arrived later called it Canada de las Lagunas (Canyon of the Lakes) and in 1904, the area became known as Laguna Beach.  Around the same time artist Norman St. Clair traveled from Los Angeles to capture the scenery on canvas. His artist friends were so impressed with his paintings and reports of a balmy year-round climate that they joined him. (He and his wife actually lived in Laguna off and on prior to 1912.) The plein-air artists who painted in the style of French impressionists, settled and by the late 1920’s, half of the residents were artists.

Following the artists came the Hollywood filmmakers who found Laguna to be every bit as appealing on the silver screen as it was painted on canvas. Many of Hollywood’s famous stars like Bette Davis, Mary Pickford, Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin and Mickey Rooney maintained homes in Laguna Beach. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and John Steinbeck also went to Laguna for inspiration and relaxation, frequenting landmarks like the White House and the Cabrillo Ballroom.

With summer arriving there is nothing better than a BarBQ at the beach. My “spot” for this American Tradition was Laguna's "Window to the Sea", Heisler Park located in the heart of downtown Laguna. Boardwalk area with pathway to Heisler Park, volleyball and basketball areas, picnic tables, children's play area, protected tide pools. Laguna Beach has some of the best diving spots in Southern California.

After Barbequing some Corn on the Cob Oaxaca style and salmon it was time to explore the beach. Just north of Heisler Park is a Divers Cove. This area provided a small sandy beach to prepare for going out to the water. Here you will find divers and snorklers. Snorkeling in California is dismal compared to places such as the Caribbean, Australia, and South East Asia however; Laguna reefs are about the best in Southern California outside of the Channel Islands.

The other draw to the beaches at Laguna is the tide pools. All along the beaches one can find reefs and craggy rock formations that when the tide recedes leaves tide pools.

Tide pools are pools that are left behind when the ocean (or any body of water) recedes at low tides. You'll most often find them in places with rock formations on the shore. Sandy beaches without rocks generally do not offer best viewing for tide pools. In California the tides are around 6 hours apart. You'll discover two high and two low tides per day. 

During low tides you may see many plants and animals in the pools and around them. Some may be there all the time, and some may be trapped in hollows of rocks when the water recedes. Some of these included starfish, cucumber fish, crabs, and a wide variety of shellfish and small fish mixed with a plethora of plant life and seaweed. 

While Laguna offers a variety of activities such as shopping, dinning, art, and culture, most of it’s unique beauty can simply be found by spending a day down at the beach—exploring tide pools, diving or snorkeling, and having a barbeque along the beach while other surf. It is the quintessential “California Scene”.