Los Angeles CA: Free Stuff While Wandering Print


If you know where to find them, there are many things for seniors to do in the high-priced Los Angeles area that don’t cost anything. Actually, some are even more fun than the usual pay-for activities.

And the weather is perfect for your visit. March and April daytime temperatures average 75º, with nights at 55º. Here are just a few of the freebees:

Olvera Street: The City of the Angels was born here more than 235 years ago. Today it's a tourist attraction that offers historic neighborhoods and Hispanic foods, dances and other events. It was often the setting for classic movies, including Charlie Chaplin’s 1921 The Kid, and Gene Kelly’s dance number in the 1945 musical, Anchors Aweigh.

The Griffith Observatory: The hilltop planetarium offers visitors up-close views of the skies, as well as Los Angeles spread out below. Movies made there include Rebel Without a Cause in 1955. There’s a bust there of James Dean, who died in a car crash the same year. Grauman’s: (now TCL Chinese Theater) This Hollywood Boulevard palace is Tinseltown’s most famed tourist stop. The front sidewalks feature foot and handprints of the biggest movie stars, including Chaplin, Harlow, Garland, Hope, Bogart, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and many still-active stars.

Hollywood Walk of Fame: More than 2,000 individual plaques bear names of famed movie, theater and TV personalities. Also along the walk, you’ll see fake Batman, Superman and other imitators of movie characters. You can take photos with them for free, but they’ll expect tips.

Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills: Prices may keep you from buying where the rich and famous get their exclusive baubles and clothes. However, it’s fun just to pretend as you window shop and hope to encounter celebrities.

La Brea Tar Pits: Next to the L.A. County Museum of Art, the pits contain bones of critters that lived a million years ago. Shed tears at the sculpture of a momma mammoth as she watches her baby sink into the black goo.

Venice Beach: Malibu and Santa Monica beaches are great for sand and surf. However, if you want to see SoCal at its funkiest, stroll Venice Beach Boardwalk, some 20 minutes from downtown LA. You’ll experience bikini-clad skaters, flexing musclemen, street musicians, cops on bikes and many other sights and sounds.