MEET THE HEART OF LA: Many a fancy coffee table book would claim that our region has many hearts, and many a fancy coffee table book would be right. But for all accounts and purposes, downtown, El Pueblo, Chinatown, and its environs serve as a history-rich heart. Some 150,000 SoCalers, give or take, will get to know more about that history, the vibrant today, and get some bicycling and/or walking exercise, too. It's the final CicLAvia of the year, and it rolls, literally, on Sunday, Oct. 6.
HAPPY 10TH, WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL: You say you want your dose of downtown a day earlier? And you want to wish the Frank Gehry-designed concert hall at 111 S. Grand a happy first decade? You can. Part of Grand Avenue will be shuttered for in-the-street dancing, live music, and other celebratory haps. Figure that this is a way to limber up before your big pedal the next day. Saturday, Oct. 5
SCARY STUFF: Several of the major Halloween attractions have made their dastardly debuts, but there's still another biggie to go. That's Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary, which makes its bow adjacent to its famous bow on Thursday, Oct. 3. Mazes, characters, and other theme-y, scream-worthy stuff is afoot, and all around a ship that's already said to be quite haunted. Eerie doings, ahoy!
INDIECADE GAME FESTIVAL: What if a sizable chunk of Culver City was transformed into an arcade? And you could play over 200 games and try out indie-cool stuff and meet the gamers who made the indie-cool stuff? And what if there was music and physical outdoor games, too, and loads of game-y goodness to enjoy? These aren't hypotheticals we're asking here. This is all going down, and it is going down on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6.
LA CHOCOLATE SALON: Wandering around on a fall Sunday afternoon, snacking on chocolates sounds pretty perfect, in our books, and many other books, too. Especially when those sweets hail from top chocolatiers who know their way around an offbeat filling or a salty-herb topping. Call this a candy-nice October outing for the grown-ups and call it thirty bucks at the door. Lips shall be smacking in Pasadena on Oct. 6.
