Los Angeles

LA runs deeper than her blonde beaches, rolling hills and beemers-for-days would have you believe. She’s a myth. A beacon for countless small-town dreamers, rockers and risk-takers, an open-minded angel who encourages her people to live and let live without judgement or shame. She has given us Quentin Tarantino, Jim Morrison and Serena and Venus Williams; spawned skateboarding and gangsta rap; popularized implants, electrolysis and Spandex; and has nurtured not just great writers, performers and directors, but also the ground-breaking yogis who first brought Eastern wisdom to the Western world.

LA is best defined by simple life-affirming moments: a cracked-ice, jazz-age cocktail on Beverly Blvd, a hike high into the Hollywood Hills sagebrush, a swirling pod of dolphins off Point Dume, a pink-washed sunset over a thundering Venice Beach drum circle, the perfect taco. And her night music. There is always night music.

The list of things to do in Los Angeles is as long as the city is vast. If your time in town is limited, you could spend days in the museums alone and never even make your way to Hollywood. Expect to put in a few miles between hitting up Venice Beach and exploring a hip Eastside 'hood. But that's the great thing about this city: there are so many things to do and see.