“How much fun can you handle in one afternoon?†challenges the Santa Monica Conservancy as it kicks off its family-friendly “Adventures in Santa Monica Tour,†Sunday, August 15, 11am – 3pm. The tour includes ten sites that are unusual, hidden, or not usually open to the public. Participants will ride the hydraulic floor at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, explore artist studios in a historic airplane hangar, tour the apartment/offices above the carousel, and meet Popeye at his creator’s grave in the Woodlawn Cemetery, to name a few. Check in will be at the Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main Street in Santa Monica.
Participants can choose which sites to see. Docents will be stationed at each to describe its history and significance. Other sites include Inkwell Beach, Gabrielino/Tongva Springs, Angel’s Attic, LivingHomes pre-fab “green†house, and the California Wash Mural. The tour also includes a free carousel and Ferris wheel ride for each tour-goer at the Santa Monica Pier.
“We are offering people a new way of looking at Santa Monica – a place of interesting contrasts; from the site of a Native American village to a modern pre-fabricated house that looks to tread gently on the earth, as did the Tongvas; from a once segregated beach to the Pier that is alive with many nationalities and tongues; from a meeting with Popeye in a tranquil cemetery to studios where artists create their work as jets zoom overhead; from a museum of dolls, toys and dollhouses to a Civic Auditorium that once rocked with music, applause and Oscar presentations,†says tour docent coordinator, Kay Pattison.
Tickets are $20 for members; $25 for the public. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult. Parking is not included but a special one-day-only, discounted parking pass is available for $10 per car. For more information call (310) 496-3146 or go to www.smconservancy.org where tickets and pass may be purchased online. Tickets and parking passes will also be sold after 11am on August 15 at the Civic Auditorium.
The Santa Monica Conservancy is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the architectural, cultural and historical heritage of Santa Monica.
