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It’s easy to spend a day exploring this engaging museum, the nation’s second largest of its kind. The dinosaurs always draw huge crowds, as do the dioramas of African and North American mammals, and the grisly 14.5-ft (4-m) long megamouth, the rarest shark in the world. The Gem and Mineral Hall contains a huge gold exhibit and a dazzling walk-through gem vault. Cultural exhibits explain and highlight the traditions of Native and Latin American civilizations. Children love the hands-on activities in the Discovery Center and the Insect Zoo.

This recently renovated museum celebrates the art, history, and culture of African Americans, especially in relation to California and the western US. The main exhibit traces the journey from Africa to slavery in the American South to final freedom on the West Coast. It includes memorabilia donated by singer Ella Fitzgerald and former LA mayor Tom Bradley. Temporary shows highlight particular artists, including emerging ones.

Filled with clever and engaging interactive exhibits, this highly entertaining science and technology museum has three themed galleries. The World of Life exhibit explains the processes living organisms undergo, Creative World focuses on the ability of humans to adapt to their environment through technology, and the Air and Space Gallery explores the great beyond. But it’s a 50-ft (15-m) long animatronic doll stripped down to her organs that steals the show and attracts crowds.

For many, spring wouldn’t be the same without baseball. The pilgrimage to Dodger Stadium to watch the “Boys in Blue” fight it out is an annual ritual for thousands of fans. Hunkered in the bleachers, munching on the famous Dodger Dogs, they watch their team (LA Dodgers) in action. The stadium opened in 1962 and is often called one of USA’s most beautiful ballparks. It has hosted eight World Series, many concerts, and even a papal mass.

In the 1880s, this was one of LA’s first suburbs and an elegant neighborhood with stately Victorian mansions along streets such as Carroll Avenue and Kellam Avenue. Many surviving buildings have been lovingly restored by their current owners. The 1300 block of Carroll Avenue has the finest, including the Haskin House at No. 1344 and the Foy House at No. 1325. They are open to the public only during tours run by the LA Conservancy (see LA Conservancy Tours).

Unlike those on Carroll Avenue, most other Victorian-era homes had a date with the wrecking ball. A few were spared destruction and were air-lifted by helicopter to form the Heritage Square Museum. Eight vintage beauties cluster here – five residences, a church, a barn, and a railroad depot that also happens to be a visitor center, all sporting gables and turrets. The Hale House, impressively restored, stands out from the rest.

Now the headquarters of the Historical Society of Southern California, this was once the home of the eccentric Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859–1928), who walked the entire 3,000 miles (4,830 km) from Ohio to LA in 1885. Best known as an outspoken California booster and preservationist, Lummis built his house with his own hands out of concrete and found materials, including boulders and railroad rails. The house is also known as El Alisal, the Spanish name for sycamore, which once grew here in abundance.

The oldest museum in Los Angeles was the brainchild of Charles Lummis, whose personal collection of Native American artifacts formed the basis of its holdings. It has one of the nation’s largest and most important collections of Native art and artifacts. Galleries provide a survey of the traditions of Native cultures from California, the Great Plains, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest. A famous collection of baskets are intriguing exhibits.

Southwest Museum

One of LA’s surprises, St. Sophia, the central church of Southern California’s Greek community, was masterminded by the Skouras brothers, a trio of movie impresarios. Behind its austere, gleaming white exterior is an exceptionally opulent hall of worship. The eye is drawn to the icon-studded, golden altar of the Virgin Mary while Jesus, surrounded by saints, looks down at the congregation from the 90-ft (27-m) high dome.

LA’s only surviving winery is tucked away in the industrial area north of the Los Angeles River. It’s hard to imagine that this bleak area was once blanketed with vineyards. When the founder of San Antonio, Santo Cambianica, arrived in 1917, he faced stiff competition from over 100 wineries. Prohibition put most out of business, but Santo survived making sacramental wine. Even today, fermentation continues to take place here. Taste the wines; the restaurant is a popular lunch spot (see Maddalena Restaurant).