It’s been a devastating week for everyone here in L.A. and we’re all thankful for the firefighters and first responders who continue to serve so heroically. Whether you were directly impacted by the fires or not, all Angelenos and of course so many people across the country, have felt the heartbreak. If you have the means to help, Discover Los Angeles lists charitable organizations that are on the ground to help, including the Los Angeles Fire Foundation, the California Community Foundation and the American Red Cross.

In times of tragedy or disaster, it can sometimes be hard to know what to do and how best to help. In addition to the resources listed above, Visit California released a statement that said, “Los Angeles has always been a beacon to the world – a place where dreams are born and stories unfold from the silver screen to iconic landmarks. Now this resilient city needs your help in its recovery story. One of the best ways to support the comeback of Los Angeles is to plan a trip.” So, in that spirit, we visited an L.A. landmark we’ve always wanted to visit: The La Brea Tar Pits and they did not disappoint.

The photo above is from the Urban Light art installation, which is next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). We parked there ($21) and then walked three blocks to the Tar Pits.


While walking down Wilshire Boulevard, I noticed that across the street was a section of the Berlin Wall, which I had no idea was there. According to The Historical Marker Database, “the Wall Along Wilshire is an installation featuring ten sections of the original Berlin Wall. Measuring nearly forty feet wide, it is the world’s longest stretch of the Wall outside of Berlin. The Wende Museum assembled the Wall Along Wilshire in 2009 as a component of the Wall Project, the museum’s public art initiative commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.” It was an interesting conversation explaining its significance to my eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.

We walked through the open gates of the La Brea Tar Pits and found ourselves inside the 23-acre park and museum. The first thing we came across was a heavily fenced-in tar pit with life size mammoths. The tar pit, which looks like a small lake, is actually natural asphalt or bitumen. It’s bubbling up from the ground in certain spots, creating black, sticky pools.


Once inside the museum, you will learn that these tar seeps have been an important part of the area’s prehistoric history, as animals got trapped in the tar over thousands of years. There are prehistoric animals like mammoths, saber-toothed cats and dire wolves that have been there for tens of thousands of years, the tar preserving the fossils.

Just getting my kids into the museum was a challenge because they made new friends on the hill beside the museum and just wanted to run up and down with them.

It was 3:30pm and I knew the museum closed at 5pm so I finally had to put a stop to the shenanigans. I was happy to learn that L.A. County residents get free admission Monday-Friday between 3pm-5pm. Normally the entry fees are as follows: Adults (18+) $15, seniors (62+) $12, students (with ID) $12, children (3–12 years old) $7 and children under three are free. Members enjoy free admission.

The museum is named after George C. Page, an American philanthropist and businessman who made his fortune in the oil industry.


The museum showcases many of the excavated fossils and provides insight into the Ice Age ecosystem that once existed in Southern California. My kids absolutely loved the museum – especially my eight-year-old son who is obsessed with dinosaurs and wants to be a paleontologist. So naturally, his favorite part was watching a paleontologist work behind the glass of the Fossil Lab where they’re constantly working on the fossils.

The museum offers a three-minute 3D movie titled Titans of the Ice Age ($8 per person). It offers an educational experience by showcasing the creatures that roamed North America during the Ice Age, such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats and giant ground sloths, while also illustrating how they became trapped in the tar pits.

The movie is well worth the extra $8 per person and we watched the movie before exploring the museum, which laid the groundwork for what we were about to see. Armed with the knowledge of what we’d learned, everything else made more sense.

The next morning, I was checking out my Instagram feed and came across this post by Pubity which they shared while we were at the museum. “Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences has raised $200 million in a Series C funding round, bringing its total funding to $435 million. 🦣👀

“The company, led by TWG Global, aims to revive extinct species like the woolly mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger through cutting-edge genetic engineering technologies, evoking comparisons to the “Jurassic Park” concept.

“Colossal’s mission represents a bold step in de-extinction science, with potential applications in biodiversity restoration and climate change mitigation. While their efforts have sparked curiosity and debate, the company continues to push forward in making what once seemed like science fiction a reality.”

 

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A post shared by Pubity (@pubity)

We look forward to exploring more LA sites and landmarks that have been on our list and now, more than ever, it’s another way we can contribute to the city’s recovery efforts. The Visit California statement continues: “Los Angeles is the beating heart of California tourism. The city, along with its iconic sites and experiences – the Hollywood Sign, Universal Studios Hollywood, the Santa Monica Pier, Getty and Getty Villa, Griffith Observatory and many more – remain intact and accessible to visitors from around the world.

Los Angeles depends on its normally thriving tourism economy. Plan a trip and help the local businesses and residents that need tourism now more than ever.”

KEEP READING:

The family-friendly California attraction you’ve never heard of but need to visit
5 family-friendly California road trip ideas from Los Angeles
The 10 most Instagrammable tourist attractions in California
California road trip: Los Angeles to San Francisco and must-visit stops along the way
Our first family trip to Legoland and The Castle Hotel

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