Beverly, you're beautiful!
The Great Los Angeles Walk hit Beverly Boulevard for its 12th edition, and hundreds of passionate Angelenos -- fueled by love of city and community and eager to walk across the city -- hiked from downtown's Japanese American National Museum (in Little Tokyo) to the ocean on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Together, we kicked things off in the morning with a welcome from the museum's CEO, Ann Burroughs, who noted that we were standing on historic ground — the spot where hundreds of Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to internment camps, during a dark moment in United States history. (Given the events of the past year, it was worth a reflection on the dangers of losing democracy.) Then, back for another year, author and legendary endurance swimmer Diana Nyad, who brought along members from her organization, EverWalk, gave the crowd a pep talk and reminded everyone why it's so important to explore the world on foot.
From there, the crowd walked past the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA and the west on Temple, navigating around a completely separate downtown walk that had been organized by the United Way. We passed the Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall, then headed west of downtown, through Historic Filipinotown. As 1st Street turned into Beverly, we navigated the bridge next to the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre, then made our way to Valerie Confections for morning pastries (although no hot chocolate as had been promised!). Then it was on to East Hollywood; Koreatown; Larchmont; Hancock Park; La Brea; Fairfax; and Beverly Hills. After a lunch stop at Bristol Farms in Beverly Hills (the old Chasen's Restaurant!), we turned down Santa Monica Boulevard. In Beverly Hills, we encountered loads of construction — forcing us to take a detour through a nearby alley, which proved to be serendipitous as we saw some truly interesting and (in the case of one Gaudi-inspired building) unconventional homes. As we marched toward Santa Monica, we felt the cool ocean breeze, and then celebrated at the Santa Monica outpost of Plan Check.
All told, it was more than 17 miles, and nearly 50,000 steps.
Here are some highlights from the day:
Selfies before the walk
Just part of the crowd at the Japanese American National Museum
CEO Ann Burroughs speaks
And they're off!
"Go For Broke" monument
Marching uphill on Temple
At the music center
On Hope Street, next to the DWP
More, passing the DWP building
Disney Hall!
Heading down 1st
Tricky bridge where 1st turns into Beverly. Some went up, some went left, some went right.
Bob Baker Marionette Theater
L.A. mural
Historic Filipinotown mural
Jeepney
Original Tommy's
Above and below: Murals near the Gabba Gallery
Snack break at Valerie Confections
Still can't figure out what this means.
Walkers, as seen from a Hancock Park garage sale
Active Coyotes in Area
Larchmont
New Beverly Cinema
El Coyote
Message on Beverly
Pan Pacific Park
CBS Television City
Doggie daycare
They're installing this ugly metallic frame on the Beverly Center
Sideshow Bob tree
Bristol Farms Beverly Hills
Formerly Chasen's
Chasen's booth
Beverly Hills
Intriguing, Gaudi-inspired home
Slow down for Walkers!
So true.
Ube donuts!
Santa Monica celebrates
Just some of the finishers at the end! (Others were already at Plan Check, while some hadn't made it yet)
Thanks again to Diana Nyad (above, at the end point in Santa Monica.) Send us links to your photos! And we'll add some roundups below.
Great LA Walk Photos by David Rock Tanaka
See you next year -- Saturday, November 17, 2018, for lucky walk #13!
No comments:
Post a Comment