Summer is here.  It doesn't begin officially until June 21, but with June glooms burning away to long sunny days, and the kids out of school, summer has already started.  The question now is what to do with your summer.  One answer:  Explore your city.

Los Angeles is an ever-changing puzzle box of delights--many of them free.  Plan summer city excursions with your kids and family.  The possibilities are endlessly varied.  A simple walk down Broadway or Hill Street, for example, carries you past historic landmarks and architectural treasures.

A city excursion doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.  It can be as light and effervescent as sun on water, as well as a fun learning experience for you and your kids.  Break your adventures over multiple weekends.  Map your general route or destination in advance.  Don't forget the sunblock, hat, comfortable walking shoes/sneakers--and your curiosity.

Some suggestions to kick-start your adventures:

LA's Central Library - FREE - A historic landmark that offers art exhibits, architectural tours, story time and free lunches for kids--and, oh, yeah:  books.

LA's City Hall - FREE - A portrait gallery of LA's past mayors, and an observation deck offering 360 degrees of stunning views of your city.

LA Times - FREE Tours - LA's venerable flagship newspaper offers free tours--check the website for details.

The Last Bookstore - FREE to browse - Bargain books and vinyl records, concerts, book signings, art exhibits, poetry readings and oh-so-much-more.  One of the hipster cultural hearts of renaissance LA.

Grand Central Market - FREE to browse - Classic produce stands and mom-n-pop stalls interspersed with hip new restaurants.  A long-time LA landmark not-to-be-missed.

Grand Park - FREE - Throw a frisbee, catch a concert or late-night outdoor movie, grab a bite at a food truck, meditate, read a book, or take a stroll.  One of LA's newest green spaces, where your tots are allowed to run through the fountain.

Bradbury Building - FREE ground level - One of LA's most iconic and dreamlike structures, used frequently in films and TV shows.  Check the Bradbury Building website for information about free tours on the ground-floor level.

Million Dollar Theatre - $10 - One of LA's first theatres, the beautiful and partially refurbished space has begun showing classic films in partnership with "Vintage LA".

St. Vincent's Court - FREE to browse - This Jewelry District gem is tucked away--you have to make an effort to find it.  Nosh deli treats while soaking in the old-world European atmosphere.

Olvera Street - FREE to browse - Wander one of LA's oldest thoroughfares, perusing the imported fabrics, toys and bags, eating delicious Mexican food, exploring one of LA's oldest adobe residences, and visiting the Church of Our Lady Queen of the Angels.

Chinatown - FREE to browse - Everything from bargain T shirts and sunglasses to live poultry, delicious Chinese cuisine, and lovely Chinese architecture and history.  Take the time to chat with the shop owners, some of whom have been in Chinatown for many decades.

Little Tokyo - FREE to browse - Japanese food and imports, a large Japanese supermarket, the Japanese American Cultural Center--and a ukelele store!

Summer is here--where will it lead you?

Leslie is the author of Downtown Los Angeles in Photographs 2013 and Downtown Los Angeles in Photographs 2014--Broadway, available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
  

Author Update:  "Downtown Los Angeles in Photographs 2014" will focus on Broadway, one of L.A.'s oldest and most important thoroughfares.


The street owes its existence to Lt. Edward Ord, who named it Fort Street.  From 1849 until 1890, Fort Street connected L.A.'s downtown with Fort Moore.  In 1890, the thoroughfare was re-christened "Broadway".  And, yes--the name was a nod to New York City's Broadway.


One of North Broadway's cross streets is "Ord"--named in honor of the famed surveyor.  Fort Moore is gone, but an impressive (if decaying) monument to the fort remains atop Hill Street.  Pedestrians on Broadway who wish to visit the monument can climb a narrow staircase connecting Broadway to Hill.


Today Broadway stretches from Lincoln Heights, a neighborhood north of Downtown Los Angeles, past the sprawling rail yards and newest downtown park, through the last vestiges of "Little Italy" and through still-vibrant Chinatown, through the Civic Center, and thence flowing through L.A.'s famed theatre, jewelry, and fashion districts, finally terminating well south of the downtown in Carson.


"Downtown Los Angeles in Photographs 2014" will be, like the original book, a
collection of black-and-white photos showcasing the city's "noir" beauty, featuring historical information as well as noting anticipated changes. For Broadway is under revitalization, particularly along its historic theatre corridor.


Broadway's Chinatown remains largely untouched, a bustling community that welcomes foreign and domestic tourists.  "Downtown Los Angeles in Photographs 2014" will focus heavily on this fascinating enclave, where the old and new, the traditional and modern, exist in sometimes dream-like congruence.


Chinatown is perfumed with the scent of freshly cut oranges, and incense burning in rooms off shop. There is very little you cannot find in Chinatown.  Tanks of live crabs.  Glass cases of roasted pig.  Bakeries--among the best in the city--and jewelers, and banks, dentists and optometrists, cultural centers and benevolent societies.


One hears the frantic clucking of chickens behind a fence on which a sign proclaims "Pollos Vivos" ("live chickens") and "No Entry".  No entry for the public; no exit for the fowl.
 
Everything seems to be for sale.  Cardboard boxes overlowing with colorful produce--fruits and vegetables and berries.  Herbs.  Vitamins.  Irish caps.  Heavy-metal T-shirts.  High-end sunglasses.  Lucky bamboo plants.  Fresh flowers. Birthday cakes.  Fortune cookies by the bag.  And everywhere, everywhere, merchandise stamped with the adorable visage of "Hello Kitty".


Bookended by the last remnants of "Little Italy" to the north, and the Great Dragon Gate to the south, the Chinatown section of Broadway welcomes drivers and pedestrians to Downtown Los Angeles.  Tourists snap photos and queue at the Chinese restaurants.  Elderly locals take morning constitutionals, or sit languidly on benches, smoking.


In the central plaza, a golden statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen welcomes visitors entering the plaza from the Broadway side.  Here is the district's heaviest concentration of traditional Chinese architecture and decor.  Red-pink paper-lanterns strung across the courtyards link restaurants, gift shops, and importers.


Esther, a shop owner, runs two stores in the plaza, one she describes as more American, the other more traditionally Chinese; the latter is presided over by a large, lucky Buddha statue.  "Sincere Imports" has been open since 1937, when Esther's father-in-law opened it.  Esther took over the store in 1980.


While instructing an employee on the benefits of using water-and-newspaper to remove grease from the shop windows, Esther holds forth about the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities.  "The Year of the Horse" is nigh.  She recommends that the author photograph Chinatown's neon and its glowing lanterns at night, particulary during the new year festivities.


In research there is no substitute for talking to primary sources.  Esther directs the author to a somewhat hidden gem:  The Chinese Historical Society, tucked away in a tiny purple house on Bernard, just west of an abandoned gas station.  Esther also holds forth on stories of treasure hidden by Chinese residents long in the past "in vases inside of vases" and then buried by construction when the nearby freeways were built ...


     [Look for "Downtown Los Angeles in Photographs 2014"
later this year at Amazon.com or through the author's website:  www.leslielemonauthor.com.]