Do you consider yourself to be an explorer?
We know, yes, you most certainly are, every time you have to dig in the storage room for the holiday decorations or through a cabinet for last year's receipts. We all have to go adventuring, now and then, in our own homes, usually for the most humdrum, gotta-get-this-done reasons.
But the wide and wild world beyond our front door holds many rather more alluring and offbeat treats, finds that the people behind Atlas Obscura are keen to cultivate, appreciate, and share with other curious types. The group -- it isn't just in California -- hosts excursions to unusual and thought-provoking spots around the world on the regular, but there is an annual holiday that is observed in an eventful, and event-filled, way: Obscura Day.
That day falls on Saturday, May 30 in 2015, and the Southern California chapter has, count 'em up, 18 big happenings. They range from learning about falconry near Palmdale (yes, coo away, there shall be falcons) to a peek around Griffith Park's old zoo to a hop by of the Bunny Museum to a stroll-through of the Valley Relics Museum in Chatsworth.
The only sad face moment comes in deciding what to do, because completing all 18 go-outs on the roster, or even two or three, is just not going to happen. The visits are too in-depth and the geography is to sprawling-SoCal-ish.
But whatever you do land upon, trust that you may be delighted, or a little perturbed, or a little joyful, or a little intrigued, or left to mull over what you've learned and seen. Offbeat adventuring is never about pat 'n tidy experiences but rather surprises of all sorts.
Don't be taken by surprise by this, though: While events have ticketed admission, there is a free come-one/all party at the close of the day at Vista Hermosa Park. Hobnob with other explorers and share your accounts of the day.
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.
Will you meet a new pal with a common interest? The sort of interest some unadventurous sorts find rather strange, rather perplexing? Be bold, explorer: Obscura Day is the day to find out.
