Things to Do in Santa Ana

The ICE locations in Anaheim, Westminster, and Yorba Linda bring the frigid thrill of icy sports to southern California. Westminster and Yorba Linda ICE centers boast NHL-size rinks, and Anaheim ICE center boasts an Olympic-size rink. In addition, Anaheim's league-certified surface is used as the official training facility of the Anaheim Ducks. Skaters can take to the ice for classes on such blade-top pursuits as hockey, figure skating, and freestyle drifting into a wall totally on purpose. Open-skate sessions give aficionados the chance to take a few laps, riding atop their own blades or donning a rental pair from the front desk. On Friday and Saturday nights, rinks morph into icy dance clubs, blasting hit music booming through the speakers and projecting music videos onto a jumbo screen.

Shawn Crawford has been climbing for more than 40 years, working with wilderness search and rescue at age 13 and later serving as a park ranger. Today, he’s the owner and head instructor at Rock City Climbing, where he puts his American Mountaineering and Guiding Association certification to use as he teaches climbers of all experience levels techniques of top-rope climbing, belaying, rappelling, and bouldering.

Inside a gym equipped with more than 10,000 feet of climbing walls, as well as top-rope and bouldering areas, students learn basic and advanced climbing techniques in a range of classes. As they climb, instructors introduce techniques such as hand and foot placement and what to do if gravity starts working in reverse. Visitors can leave the main floor to explore a tunnel maze behind the climbing walls, filled with trap doors, narrow passageways, and drops of up to 11 feet.

When not overseeing his gym, Shawn leads outdoor climbing excursions to challenging locales such as Joshua Tree, Riverside Quarry, and the Statue of Liberty. He also oversees a nearby ropes course, where staffers help groups and individuals navigate two ziplines, as well as more than 20 aerial challenges at heights of up to 60 feet.

Knowing that what's under the hood is just as important as the hood ornament itself, SpoCom's organizers created a show to reward innovation and creativity in automotive engineering and design from both industry professionals and amateur hobbyists. The judges hail from some of the most prestigious car firms and organizations around the world, eagerly inspecting every aspect of the more than 300 custom vehicles vying for the show's ultimate cash prize.

Surrounding this heavy-metal showdown, the stages' bright lights illuminate other, less formal bouts, such as an urban dance competition and bikini contest, during which audience members applaud for the swimsuit they would most like to see on a mannequin some day. Vendors fill more than 1.6 million square feet of exhibition space at the Anaheim Convention Center, providing visitors with the opportunity to purchase luxury wares such as watches, designer clothes, and artwork.

Skaters glide with style and grace across the sleek surfaces of two hockey rinks at KHS Ice Arena, which also serves as the training ground for the Wildcats Hockey Club. And while the club’s coaches help mold teams of elite hockey players through camps and 3 on 3 competitions, the arena also hosts unstructured stick time for burgeoning hockey stars to work on their dekes and slap shots. In addition, public-skate sessions let visitors enjoy some freestyle skating in a stick-free atmosphere.

Deanna and Renee's memories of childhood are bathed in the warm, nostalgic glow of bustling family celebrations nourished by Northern Italian dishes and homemade wine. So influential were these culinary family traditions that the sisters banded together in adulthood to share their love of fine dining and their hometown with visitors from across the globe. Thus Old Towne Orange Walking Food Tours was born, a venture that enables the pair to shepherd curious foodies and history buffs of all ages through Old Towne Orange during their meticulously planned culinary walking tours.

The leisurely paced tours introduce guests to the town’s diverse selection of bistros, bakeries, and farmers' markets via numerous stops to sample house specialties. The Orange Sampler Tour introduces palates to the panoply of cuisines in the county –from heirloom tomato salad to french baked potato soup. The ArtWalk Food Tour enables visitors to consume a variety of local art without the hassles of remembering which fork should be used on an oil painting. The guides also immerse participants in Orange’s rich history with a number of cultural stops at historic locales.