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American Airlines Flights from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on American Airlines, which operates 2 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Los Angeles (LAX), departing between 9:35am and 1:45pm. Usually a Boeing 757 is flown for this route, with in-seat power sources available. Generally, a movie is offered on this route, as well as audio programming. The average travel time from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Los Angeles, CA is 5 hours and 42 minutes.
During your Los Angeles vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Craft & Folk Art Museum
This gallery, housed in a prominent Museum Row building, has grown into one of the city's largest. "Craft and folk art" encompasses everything from clothing, tools, religious artifacts, and other everyday objects to wood carvings, papier-mâché, weaving, and metalwork. The museum displays folk objects from around the world, but its strongest collection is masks from India, America, Mexico, Japan, and China. The museum is also known for its annual International Festival of Masks, held each October in Hancock Park, across the street. Be sure to stop in the funky, eclectic Museum Shop (tel. 323/857-4677) to peruse the wearable art, folk art books, and various handmade crafts.
Schindler House
A protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright and contemporary of Richard Neutra, Austrian architect Rudolph Schindler designed this innovative modern house for himself in 1921 and 1922. It's now home to the Los Angeles arm of Austria's Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). The house is noted for its complicated interlocking spaces; the interpenetration of indoors and out; simple, unadorned materials; and technological innovations. Docent-guided tours are conducted at no additional charge on weekends only.The MAK Center offers guides to L.A.-area buildings by Schindler and other Austrian architects, and presents visiting related exhibitions and creative arts programming. Call for schedules.
J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center
Since opening in 1997, the Richard Meier-designed Getty Center has quickly assumed its place in the L.A. landscape (literally and figuratively) as the city's cultural acropolis and international mecca. Headquarters for the Getty Trust's research, education, and conservation concerns, the postmodernist complex -- perched on a hillside in the Santa Monica Mountains and swathed in Italian travertine marble -- is most frequently visited for the museum galleries displaying collector J. Paul Getty's enormous collection of art. Always known for antiquities, expanded galleries now allow the display of Impressionist paintings, truckloads of glimmering French furniture and decorative arts, fine illuminated manuscripts, contemporary photography, and previously overlooked graphic arts. The area that's open to the public consists of five two-story pavilions set around an open courtyard, and each gallery within is specially designed to complement the works on display. A sophisticated system of programmable window louvers allows many works (particularly paintings) to be displayed in the natural light they were created in for the first time in the modern era. One of these is van Gogh's Irises, one of the museum's finest and most popular holdings. Trivia buffs will enjoy knowing that the museum spent $53.9 million to acquire this painting; it's displayed in a complex that cost roughly $1 billion to construct.Visitors to the center park at the base of the hill and ascend via a cable-driven electric tram. On clear days, the sensation is of being in the clouds, gazing across Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean (and into a few chic Brentwood backyards). If you're like me and don't remember a thing from your college art appreciation class, plunk down $3 for a self-guided audio tour that gives a brief overview of the 250-plus works in the collection. The 45-minute architectural tours, offered throughout the day, are also worth looking into. Dining options include several espresso/snack carts, a cafeteria, a self-service cafe, and the elegant (though informal) "Restaurant" offering table service for lunch (Tues-Sun) and dinner (Fri-Sat), with breathtaking views overlooking of the ocean and mountains (reservations are recommended, though walk-ins are accepted; call tel. 310/440-7300 or make reservations online at www.getty.edu).Realizing that fine-art museums are usually dreadfully boring for kids, the center provides several clever programs for kids, including exploratory games such as Perplexing Paintings and The Getty Art Detective; a Family Room filled with puzzles, computers, picture books, and games; mythical storytelling sessions on weekends at 11am, noon, and 1pm; weekend family workshops; and self-guided audio tours made specifically for families.Entrance to the Getty Center is free -- they don't need your money -- but parking reservations are required weekdays (though we've heard of people getting in without one on slow days). College students with current ID and those arriving by public transportation, motorcycle, or bicycle do not require reservations. Reservations are not required after 4pm or all day Saturday and Sunday. Cameras and video cams are permitted, but only if you use existing light (flash units are verboten).
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Los Angeles area, including:
Cal Mar Hotel Suites
Tucked away in a residential neighborhood just 2 blocks from the ocean, this garden apartment complex delivers a lot of bang for your vacation buck. Each unit is an apartment-style suite with a living room and pullout sofa, a full-size kitchen with utensils, and a separate bedroom; most are spacious enough to accommodate four in comfort. The building was constructed in the 1950s with an eye for quality (attractive tile work, large closets). While the furnishings aren't luxurious, they're all quite modern and very clean, and everything is well kept. It's easy to be comfortable here for stays of a week or more, especially since it's so well located -- a mere bock from the Third Street shopping promenade and a short walk to the beach -- and covered parking is free. The staff is attentive and courteous, which helps account for the high rate of repeat guests. The garden courtyard has an inviting swimming pool and plenty of chaises for lounging. Tip: Request a room on the second floor to avoid the sound of stomping feet.
Venice Beach House
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this two-story, ivy-covered 1911 Craftsman bungalow is now a homey bed-and-breakfast on one of funky Venice's unique sidewalk streets, just a block from the beach. The interior has a very lived-in look -- shelves of vintage books, antique furnishings, hardwood floors, faded Oriental rugs -- that adds charm for romantics but won't live up to the expectations of travelers who like their lodgings to be flawless (or aren't keen on sharing a bathroom). What's more, the inn hums noisily with activity when there's a full house -- seekers of absolute quiet and designer appointments will not be comfortable here. Still, the huge repeat clientele base doesn't seem to mind these minor caveats. My favorite room is the upstairs Venice Pier Suite -- light and airy, with a wood-burning fireplace, king-size bed, private bathroom, and sunny sitting room. An expanded continental breakfast with homemade baked goods is served in the sunroom overlooking a splendid garden.
Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood
This 12-story Hollywood landmark is located on an unabashedly touristy but no longer seedy section of Hollywood Boulevard -- across from Grauman's Chinese Theatre and along the Walk of Fame. Host to the first Academy Awards in 1929 -- not to mention a few famous-name ghosts -- this national landmark is Hollywood's only historic hotel still in operation today. It celebrated its 75th anniversary with a $15 million renovation that has harmoniously melded the Roosevelt's historical highlights with modern hotel luxuries. Much of the 1927 Spanish-influenced sunken lobby remains the same -- the hand-crafted columns and dramatic arches are magnificent -- but the guest rooms have been completely -- and tastefully -- renovated with colorful extralarge bathrooms, dark-wood platform beds with luxurious Frette linens, and all the latest high-tech accessories. Rooms on the upper floors have unbeatable skyline views, while cabana rooms have a balcony or patio overlooking the Olympic-size pool, whose mural was originally painted by David Hockney. Theodore's Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, and the poolside Tropicana Bar is your new best friend, offering refreshing cocktails and great brick-oven pizzas. Also here is Feinstein's at the Cinegrill, a cool, dark, tier-leveled supper club hosted by celebrity performer Michael Feinstein. Tip: Request the Steven Spielberg room on the ninth floor -- the view of Hollywood Boulevard is fantastic.Facilities: Asian-fusion restaurant; cocktail lounge; Feinstein's at the Cinegrill cabaret and nightclub; outdoor pool and Jacuzzi; spa and fitness center; concierge; activities desk; room service (6am-11pm); babysitting; laundry service; dry-cleaning service; executive-level rooms.
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