Southern California Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff

U.S. State Curiosities

by Saul Rubin

Welcome to Southern California, where residents take their pooches out for ice cream at the Hydrant Café, attend an annual Blessing of the Cars, and then climb aboard a hearse for a Grave Line Tour to find out how, when, where, and sometimes why Hollywood's finest died. If you're a sports fan, visit the Baseball Reliquary, home to a partially smoked cigar of Babe Ruth, a fragment of skin from the inner left thigh of baseball pioneer Abner Doubleday, and the gold-plated shovel used by Angels owner Gene Autry during groundbreaking ceremonies at Anaheim Stadium in 1964. And don't forget the world's largest champagne glass, still bubbling away at the Lawrence Welk Museum. With this book in hand, readers will be sure to laugh as they learn what lies way off the beaten path in this part of the Golden State.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Annm]

Utterly delightful. I can't believe how many places I missed while I was living in SoCal!

[Shelly Morris]

I mostly skimmed this book looking for new places to add to my adventures map. I did find a lot of cool things. The book is about 2 decades old so there are a lot of things no longer around anymore.

[J]

In the spirit of Fodor, Frommer, and Lonely Planet, Rubin details some offbeat oddities that Southern California is famous for. He provides a myriad of short stories about the famous and infamous must-sees for the traveler/adventurer, from Randy's Donuts in Inglewood to the Monarch Butterflies favorite hangout at Pismo Beach. Not as colorful and rich as other travel guides, Southern California Curiosities is a nice starter for those interested and learning about Southern California special wonders.