Every once in awhile, in between travels, it’s nice to take advantage of what your own city has to offer. Living in Los Angeles, the options are endless. Last weekend’s adventures took me all over the city, and I crossed three must-see tourist activities off my L.A. bucket list. If these are not on your L.A. list, they should be; add them now! Let’s start with the Cinespia’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery Movie Screenings, one of the most unique experiences specific to Los Angeles and the booming entertainment industry here. The movie screening was The Virgin Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppola. They tend to show scary/creepy movies to go along with the cemetery theme. We packed a picnic of food and wine and soaked up the beautiful summer night. The full moon was enormous and lit up the sky, really setting the scene! The next day I checked out the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, famously known as LACMA. The featured exhibitions varied widely, but some of them really jumped out at me, including Noah Purifoy, Junk Dada, African Textiles and Adornment, and Japanese Paintings and Prints. The Urban Light display outside of the museum is quite the sight! There are 202 resorted cast iron antique street lamps donated by The Gordon Family Foundation as a gift to Transformation: The LACMA Campaign (see picture). After the museum, I ventured over to the La Brea Tar Pits, conveniently located right next to LACMA. (I love when things work out logistically while exploring!) Apparently, the Tar Pits attraction is the world’s most famous Ice Age fossil excavation site; I had no idea. There are multiple excavations going on, and after the excavations, the Ice Age creatures are put on display inside the museum. This was fascinating to learn about! Some of the creatures that used to roam Los Angeles include saber-toothed tigers, mastodons and jaguars, oh my! The final stop on the tour of my town was the Griffith Observatory. I hiked the trails to the observatory a few years ago, which were moderate to challenging, and I would highly recommend them. The Griffith Observatory is known as Southern California’s gateway to the cosmos! Visitors can look through telescopes, explore exhibits and enjoy spectacular views of Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign. All in all, I learned SO much about my city and added some culture, history and art to my life. So grab someone who is “up for whatever” and loves to explore, as it’ll make the experience even better and you’ll make some new memories, which is what life is all about! — Rafie Iannello, account director, Pacific Rim