Things to Do in Arcadia

Since 1970, golfers have been traversing the 3,039 yards of Scholl Canyon Golf Course, beating back bogies with clubs a combination of and cunning. The William P. Bell design escorts them across fairways of high bermuda and large bentgrass greens, adding up to a par 60 course comprised of six par 4s and 12 par 3s. With just one hole extending to more than 300 yards, the course emphasizes the short game and confers success on those who can dial in their iron play and keep their putts from rolling into a time warp.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 60 course
• Total length of 3,039 yards from the back tees
• Course rating of 54.7 from the back tees
• Course slope of 88 from the back tees
• Two sets of tees per hole

The 16th century comes booming back to life during The Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire, which has re-created the culture, cuisine, and history of the Elizabethan era for more than five million attendees since its inauguration in 1963. Atop 13 stages sprinkled across 20 acres of festival grounds, live performers don traditional garb to demonstrate Renaissance music, dancing, battle customs, and blogging techniques. The talented actors stay in character throughout the bash, mingling with the crowds to perform alongside artisans purveying leatherware, clothing, and perfumes.

Workshops instruct visitors on how to make period crafts, after which guests can refuel with samplings of traditional Renaissance cuisine, such as hefty turkey legs and shepherd's pies, or more modern fare such as strombolis, coffee, and sweet confections. Rides and games challenge kids to toss javelins, race turtles, and recite Shakespeare's complete works on giant swings, and interactive RenQuest exhibitions hone little ones' sword-fighting skills and trivia knowledge.

Many people feel an indescribable urge to follow in the footsteps of celebrities long passed—hoping that a connection to their genius or charm still lingers in the air of their apartments and favorite pubs. The guides of Esotouric understand and share this urge, though they prefer to roam the paths of history by bus. After scouring the famed neighborhoods of Los Angeles in search of interesting and outlandish locations, they share their findings on bus adventures that retrace the trails blazed by local artists, filmmakers, writers, and actors.

Esotouric's odysseys wind through haunts such as Raymond Chandler's favorite breakfast spot and the salon Charles Bukowski visited for his weekly knuckle-hair perm. Coloring their tours with anecdotes about the films adapted from his noirish stories, guides also visit locales captured in the cinematic landscapes of James M. Cain. Various tours explore Southern California’s spiritual, musical, and architectural sides, giving history hounds the chance to sniff out sinister deeds in old-time tattoo parlors, burlesque shows, and crime scenes.

The mission of the California Philharmonic and its founder, renowned conductor Victor Vener, is simple: to increase awareness and appreciation of classical music. Their method, however, is anything but traditional—instead of staging events in formal halls or black-tie stairwells, the ensemble presents their crowd-pleasing concerts at the Santa Anita Race Track and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Combining pop music, Broadway standards, and legendary symphonies, Vener creates dynamic programs that aim to catch the imagination. Along with engaging performances and tuneful collaborations, the Cal Phil also hosts family nights to encourage children’s symphonic education.

Over the course of the summer, Street Food Cinema rolls out more than a dozen events that showcase the greatest hits of the silver screen and the LA food-truck scene. When the gates open, guests spread blankets on the grass, pop open coolers, and even settle down with their dogs—the park is pet friendly and broadcasts canine subtitles for each film. Live bands presented by The Viper Room play until dusk, when crowd-pleasing movies such as Napoleon Dynamite and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol slide across the big screen. Meanwhile, a rotating food-truck schedule assembles a diverse curbside lineup, which might include short ribs from Kogi Korean barbecue or the gooey delight of The Munchie Machine's famous four-cheese, ciabatta-bread grilled-cheese sandwich.

Street Food Cinema's eclectic assemblage of food, music, and films has picked up attention beyond the park's bounds, snagging mentions on NBC4 and in The Huffington Post's Broke Girls Guide. It's also become known for its philanthropic work: each year the organization supports one designated local charity.

For Urban Outdoor Skills staff Pascal Baudar and Mia Wasilevich, living sustainably is more than just talk. Baudar has been sourcing his own food since his childhood in Belgium, and Wasilevich—a self-taught chef—lives off her own urban garden. Together they run Urban Outdoor Skills, teaching their students self-reliance through classes where they pickle and can their own foods or make organic soaps from wild aromatic plants. Underlying every session is a bounty of expertise in foraging from the surrounding mountain wilderness: nettles and yucca become piquant sauces, seeds become breads and crackers, and flowers become wood-sprite birthday cakes.