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Carmageddon brings good karma to LAX travelers on first morning

Carmageddon brings good karma to LAX travelers on first morning

National Ice Cream Month: Get your licks at these local places

National Ice Cream Month: Get your licks at these local places

Travel Gear: A clip-on USB drive

Travel Gear: A clip-on USB drive

100 facts for 100 years of Machu Picchu: Fact 93

100 facts for 100 years of Machu Picchu: Fact 93

Readers Corner
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Reader photos: Summer vacation 2011

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Your photos of Hawaii

Your photos of Hawaii

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New Paris hotels offer surprises

New Paris hotels offer surprises

By Susan Spano

The Shangri-La Hotel, the Mandarin Oriental and Philippe Starck-designed Le Royal Monceau are among the luxury properties that attend to every detail. There are also new midrange and boutique hotels, including the trendy Hi Matic, the gay Jules & Jim, Le Pavillon des Lettres and the Five Hotel.

New museums to marvel over in Amsterdam, Rome and Paris

New museums to marvel over in Amsterdam, Rome and Paris

By Susan Spano

The Hermitage Amsterdam, Rome's MAXXI and the Pinacothèque de Paris add a welcome burst of energy to the European art scene.

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Carmageddon

Helicopters ease stress for LAX travelers

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Public transit ridership up, officials say

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Tweets from the Los Angeles Times Travel staff.

Spotlights from the Los Angeles Times

50% off a cut & style

50% off a cut & style

$37.50 for a haircut/styling at Marina Andre Salon (reg. $75).

Catch Scott Conant

Catch Scott Conant

Get tix to The Taste, a 4-day culinary spectacular, 9/2-9/5.

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We're tweeting news and tips on this weekend's 405 closure.

Magic Johnson live

Magic Johnson live

Be there when Bill Plaschke talks with the Laker legend.

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Letters: A lot more than Lucy to love

Highlights beyond the Lucille Ball museum, other Long Beach-area attractions and Bravo Farms on California 99.

July 17, 2011

A nice little piece on the Lucille Ball museum ["A World of Funny" by Jay Jones, July 10] but Jones might also have noted that in and about the area is the resort town of Bemus Point on Lake Chautauqua, the Chautauqua Institution itself, across the lake, and the home and museum of Roger Tory Peterson, whose "Birds of North America" is the standard reference book on the subject. I'm not from the area but passed through there a number of years ago and … discovered that there were a number of interesting things besides the Lucy museum, which, by the way, is terrific.

Steve Kindel

Bethlehem, Pa.

Other Long Beach-area attractions

Christopher Reynolds left out two items that are in the Long Beach area ["Way Smooth," July 3]. The first is called the Banning mansion. It was built in 1864 and once was a home for the founder of Wilmington, Phineas T. Banning. It is now a museum and historical place of interest. It is set in a park with a rose garden, a 100-plus-year-old wisteria vine in the garden and an old barn that now has restored coaches in it.

The other place is the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum, one of the few Civil War museums west of the Mississippi River. It is named after Richard C. Drum, who once was stationed there. It is also where the Camel Corps came from.

Loraine Roberts

Wilmington

I was surprised and dismayed that Reynolds left out one of Long Beach's most interesting restaurants. La Palapa has delicious Latin American food, great live entertainment and is a stone's throw from the Belmont Pier. He must not have talked to any locals.

Rita Melnyk

Murrieta

Nice article by Reynolds. With our kids, and now grandkids, we are avid proponents of the "low-money fun" excursions. Permit me to add a few items:

San Pedro Fish Market, Nagoya Way, Ports O'Call Village: great for informal seafood, prices are reasonable, view from the cafe is first-class; never had bad or indifferent food.

S.S. Lane Victory (http://www.lanevictory.org): well worth touring when it's tied up, and its Catalina cruises are sublime.

Red Car trolley: runs weekends between 6th and 22nd streets. A dollar a day for adults, kids under 6 free and they get to toot the whistle. The water show is worth seeing. The Maritime Museum is also worth seeing.

Ft. MacArthur Museum: Double-check for hours. Fascinating looks at local history.

More details on http://www.sanpedro.com, but you knew that already.

John MacMurray

La Habra

Highway 99, revisited

We were thrilled to read "99 Places to See" by Laura Randall [June 26] on sights along California 99. We have recently returned from a San Francisco trip. On our way up we took the 99 route to Sacramento and stopped at Bravo Farms for the cheese.

Lo and behold, there was a picture with the story, and the memory it evoked was priceless.

Bill and Sylvia Blush

Downey

Travel calendar of the West

Summer events include the Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival, the Courtland Pear Fair, Santa Barbara's Old Spanish Days Fiesta and the Bluesapalooza in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.

July 17, 2011

VANCOUVER, CANADA

Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival

When, where: July 31, downtown

Highlights: This exuberant street party draws more than 650,000 to see floats, dancers and musicians.

Cost: Free

Info: (604) 687-0955, http://www.vancouverpride.ca/vancouver-pride-parade

COURTLAND, CALIF.

Courtland Pear Fair

When, where: July 31, Primasing and Washington avenues

Highlights: Vendors sell an array of pear-infused edibles, including fries and cider. Other offerings include a parade, live bands, a circus and petting zoo, kiddie-train rides, a pie-eating contest, art booths, a classic-car show and historical displays.

Cost: Free; parking $10

Info: (916) 775-2000, http://www.pearfair.org

SANTA BARBARA

Old Spanish Days Fiesta

When, where: Aug. 3-7, throughout downtown

Highlights: Since 1924, what is now Santa Barbara's largest annual celebration has honored Spanish, Mexican and Native American traditions with parades, a rodeo, ethnic foods, a marketplace and dance performances.

Cost: Varies by event; check website for details.

Info: (805) 962-8101, http://www.oldspanishdays-fiesta.org

MAMMOTH LAKES

Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza

When, where: Aug. 5-7, Sam's Wood Site

Highlights: America's top microbreweries head to the pines to dole out their ales. Attendees enjoy outdoor adventures and musical performers; Blues Traveler headlines.

Cost: Concert tickets start at $30; a three-day party package is $135.

Info: (888) 992-7397; http://www.mammothbluesbrewsfest.com

—Avital Binshtock

travel@latimes.com

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Highlights

Bizarre and unusual destinations around the world

Bizarre and unusual destinations around the world

Airline travel then and now

Airline travel then and now

Travel news from around the world

Travel news from around the world

Photos

Odd events around Europe

Odd events around Europe

Southern California Close-Ups: Long Beach, San Pedro and Santa Catalina Island

Southern California Close-Ups: Long Beach, San Pedro and Santa Catalina Island

Jungles of Guyana

Jungles of Guyana

Europe

Glory restored in London with St. Pancras renovation

Glory restored in London with St. Pancras renovation
Florence, Italy, undergoes a new Renaissance

Florence, Italy, undergoes a new Renaissance
A French region's first-class glass

A French region's first-class glass
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They're celebrating what? Unusual festivals in Europe
Lufthansa flights take off using biofuel mix in engines

Lufthansa flights take off using biofuel mix in engines
Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum to close for renovations next year

Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum to close for renovations next year

California

Hiking where locomotives once chugged

Hiking where locomotives once chugged

San Francisco's Valencia Street on bicycle

San Francisco's Valencia Street on bicycle

On a pilgrimage to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

On a pilgrimage to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

The West

11 micro-itineraries for Long Beach, San Pedro and Catalina Island

11 micro-itineraries for Long Beach, San Pedro and Catalina Island

Eccentrics, dreamers and seekers flock to Crestone, Colo.

Eccentrics, dreamers and seekers flock to Crestone, Colo.

Far from the crowd in Yosemite

Far from the crowd in Yosemite

Shop: Travel Offers & Deals

Travelzoo: $149 for a 4-star Lake Las Vegas getaway plus $100 daily credit

Travelzoo: $149 for a 4-star Lake Las Vegas getaway plus $100 daily credit
Travelzoo: $740 to fly roundtrip to London from LA in September

Travelzoo: $740 to fly roundtrip to London from LA in September
Travelzoo: $499 for all-inclusive Cabo trip including airfare

Travelzoo: $499 for all-inclusive Cabo trip including airfare
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Beyond the Luau
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Films & programs

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Letters to the editor

Regarding "No Junk in the Trunk" by George Fuller, June 26: You can find healthful choices at almost all fast-food joints — get the grilled chicken sandwich, feed the bun to the birds, skip the fries, etc.

Calendar

BIG BEAR

Travel: Films & programs

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Travel: Letters to the editor

Jane Engle missed an obvious and overwhelmingly important point in her story ["Are We There Yet?," June 12].

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Thanks for the Indy memories

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