We'd gotten a few telegrams, and emails, and alerts, over the last few weeks, that summer, actual summer, was thinking of paying Southern California an honest-to-heat-wave visit.
Nothing really took, temperature-wise, and those El Niño-like July rains made some wonder -- or hope -- if we wouldn't casually slip on into fall.
But summer's message service was on point; it is actually going to show up this year, and, with it, lots of sweltering and high temperatures from Orange County to the desert to the far reaches of the upper Valley.
So where can you go to stave off the predictable sweat and three-digit-y hotness? Try...
The Indoor Ice Rinks: Nope, they don't shutter for summer, a season when the frosty fun places see some great, gotta-cool-down business. Ice Land Ice Skating Rink in Van Nuys has public sessions throughout the weekend, and, for sure, you can rent your blade-bearing footwear there. Pasadena Ice Skating Center also has public skating sessions during mid-August, but check the times before digging out the mittens. And Anaheim Ice? You can twirl where some serious hockey action goes down.
A Grown-Up Pool Night: Swimmin' holes throughout LA County will stay brisk 'n busy throughout the heat wave, but if you're looking for a strictly adult experience, complete with a beachy sunset and ukulele lounge, make for the 10-buck, 18-and-over Sunset Swim night at the Annenberg Community Beach House. There's coconut bowling, too, and DJ tunes, on Friday, Aug. 14.
Outer Space: We wish we could tell you that rides on the Space Shuttle Endeavour were a thing -- they're not, at this juncture -- but you can go to the coldest cosmos, via the planetarium shows at The Griffith Observatory. There are three in rotation, and the topics shall instantly melt your inner core. "Centered in the Universe" is "a journey of cosmic exploration and discovery," "Water Is Life" is about H2O, and the northern lights is the subject of "The Light of the Valkyries." Tickets are $3 to $7 bucks, but visiting the observatory itself? That's free, and also like a trip to space.
