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San Gabriel Valley

Off the beaten track L.A.

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Dead tired by now from visiting so much of southern California?

Then, dear reader, go a few minutes west of Pasadena or north of downtown Los Angeles to Glendale, home of Forest Lawn, 1712 Glendale Avenue, on the border of Glendale and Los Angeles.

In case you have any doubts left about just how creative and wacky Southern Californians can be, Forest Lawn will appease your concerns.

Yes, indeed. Your doubts will completely vanish.

In surprisingly good taste for such a place, Forest Lawn offers a combination of cemetery and amusement park.

Dr. Voyageur kids you not.

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As long as your breath can still fog a mirror , Forest Lawn is free, so come along. (If not, make sure your dead hand crutches your purse or wallet. Plots here cost big time.)

As can be expected, statues and stained glass are everywhere, and the landscaping is extensive.

But, what really brings the crowds—both dead and alive—are the larger than life biblical depictions, including a stained glass version of the Last Supper, which towers over you, and a huge—make that HUGE—painting of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Various other exhibits invite, and a large dose of faux Michelangelo gets thrown into the mixture. You may particularly enjoy the fountains.

The alive and the living dead must restrict visiting to between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Some "attractions" are open just between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. For more information and to confirm times and prices, check the Forest Lawn website for the Glendale location.

Forest Lawn, running out of plots to sell in Glendale, opened other parks, including one on the border of Burbank and Los Angeles, near Warner Brothers Studio. This offers a patriotic motif with—in a bow to local demographics—Mexican culture featured.

Forest Lawn is the blunt of many jokes, but it is not at all tasteless.

Its manicured lawns and lack of headstones (there is a small ground-level marker over each grave) make for a park like setting. This type of cemetary design has been much copied, but no one does it better.

This is the in place to be buried in L.A.

For more off the beaten track L.A.:

Go to >> San Gabriel Valley, Huntington, Pasadena
Go to >> Knotts Berry Farm
Go to >> Burbank

For additional L.A. information:

Go to >> Introduction to your visit
Go to >> L.A. at night
Go to >> Disneyland
Go to >> Links to the most useful information

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