The Esotouric Bus (At Philippes The Original) (Los Angeles, CA)
Join Esotouric, the bus adventure company honored for "Best Downtown Tours" by the editors of the Downtown News, for a five hour architecture and history tour exploring the historic Mother Road, Route 66. Esotouric's Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles tour series is dedicated to revealing greater L.A.'s infrastructure, history, the built and natural environment, transportation corridors, drive-ins, attractions and oddities.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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In this highly eclectic bus tour (it's different every time it's offered), Esotouric explore California's Mother Road and the building of its dream. The dream manifests at the turn of the 20th century as we explore how the climate was sold, the growth of the citrus industry and TB hospitals. Then come the programmatic roadside architecture of the 1920s and 1930s and postwar V-8 visions fueled by gasoline and good climate (too bad you can't run an engine on it).
Highlights of this Route 66 tour will include:
E. Wald Ward Farm. Purveyors of fine preservatives and other delicacies. We will visit the barn store of this venerable Sierra Madre citrus family which has been in business of producing and selling the highest quality preserves from their orchards since 1918. We will tour the orchard and hear more about the history of this family from 4th generation member, Jeff Ward.
Aztec Hotel. Though really Mayan in decoration, this 1924 Robert Stacy Judd-designed gem in the San Gabriel Valley's crown is becoming the place again to get your kicks.
Covina Bowl. Destination, gathering point, icon, masterpiece of thin membrane construction. The Covina Bowl is all this and more. Built in 1955, it helped define and create the community of Covina and environs through the 1960s and 1970s. As a roadhouse, nightclub, 24-hour bowling alley and diner, the sprawling entertainment center continues to serve the community beneath its landmark neon sign. The venue's history, shared with passengers by long time staff members, offers an engaging glimpse into life along the Mother Road.
Monrovia AKA Bungalotopia. We will trace the history of this great city thorugh it's early architecture at the heart of its historic core, and in the context of the larger real estate boom of the 1880s which gripped the whole Southland.
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