Adventures Around LA: Obscura Day

A visit to some Valley relics, meteorite fun, and velvet paintings are some of the offbeat outings to join.

Ask just about anyone living in Southern California to describe a piece of interesting artwork in their neighborhood, or a local legend, or some combination of the two, and you're bound to hear tales that astound and intrigue.

In short? SoCalers adore the offbeat, and treasure those things that do not conform, and value all of the vivaciously individual hot spots and happenings that make our region the sort of place where one can never, ever claim boredom.

Delighting in the beautiful and outlandish, Obscura Society LA makes it a regular practice on weekends to go in search of plucky puppet theaters and modern ruins and repositories of fast-food signage. Saturday, April 16, however, is Obscura Day LA, which means a whole caboodle of quirky and memorable outings will all happen at once with the Atlas Obscura Society chapter at the lead.

So finding which you'd like to join, even if there are four or five you'd like to sign up for, is paramount. They're strewn across the city, like so many pretty petals, but dally not on staking your spot: This annual day has a way of filling up with urban adventurers seeking art, ideas, and a transcendent experience, if transcendence can be found on a Saturday day trip (it often can be).

There are "15 awe-inspiring events" to choose from, so peruse the whole roster. A visit to a letterpress studio, a wander through the Workman-Temple Homestead, some exploring of the old zoo in Griffith Park, and some time spent at the beloved Bob Baker Marionette Theater are some of the Obscura-fun events.

The LA-based society isn't alone in its April 16 jaunts; there are 160 Atlas Obscura-helmed happenings in 35 states, as well as 25 countries.

Which means this: While you're connecting with LA's lively localness, other people elsewhere will be doing the same in their cities. 

The Scene

Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.

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And isn't that what is so often recommended? Area roots run deep, and those roots are strengthened, in part, by loving what is so particularly, and unusually, Southern California in spirit.

Which is a pretty unusual place to begin with. Ready to start, adventurers?

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