Walking L.A. #22, Koreatown/Wilshire Center: Contemporary Korean Culture Meets L.A. History, 1.5 miles. 

Koreatown on New Year's Eve? Yep. Barbara and I had an ulterior motive for the end of today's hike.

I've driven down this section of Wilshire Blvd. hundreds of times without realizing the deep history of this stretch. On one side, office buildings, restaurants, and more Coffee Bean & Tea Leafs per block than any section of L.A. On the other, towering religious icons. We started at the Wiltern Theater, the 1931 Art Deco masterpiece, now a L.A. Historic Cultural Monument. The Wiltern opened as the Warner Brothers Western Theater, the flagship movie house in the WB chain. Up along Wilshire to the corner of Hobart and the Byzantine-influenced Wilshire Boulevard Temple. 




Built in 1929 for the oldest Jewish congregation in L.A. (est. 1851), the temple is listed on the National U.S. Registry of Historic Places. At Harvard St. is St. Basil's Catholic Church (there's a heavenly theme to this section of the hike), built in 1969 for a Catholic parish established in 1919. 



The Brutalist architecture of the 80-ft. angular towers suggests the design of 3rd & 4th century Christian churches. 



On to the Romanesque Revival Wilshire Christian Church at Normandie, built in 1927 for a congregation established in 1874 at the L.A. courthouse. At Alexandria Ave. we came to an infamous stretch of Wilshire—the former location of the Brown Derby, and across the street the former location of the Ambassador Hotel (1921-2005). 

Playground to the rich & famous from the 20s to the 60s, the hotel was the site of the 1968 RFK assassination. Facing the Ambassador grounds is the 13-story Gaylord Apartments built in 1924 by Henry Gaylord Wilshire. Sound familiar? 



Henry "call me Gaylord", the man who developed MacArthur Park, wouldn't let the city construct a boulevard in front of his building unless they named the street after him. And THAT's how Wilshire Blvd. was born. Making our way back, Barbara and I couldn't resist a side trip inside the Aroma Spa & Sports Center for a peek at the fenced-in, 3rd & 4th floor golf range. 



(OMG, can you see one of these on top of 1600?)



Overall, great neighborhood—clean, friendly, rich in history, and much more interesting on foot than behind the wheel. And then, our real destination: a short hop north to Beverly Hot Springs for the annual dip in the mineral-rich hot springs to soak away the old year (see ya 2017—it's been...well, it's over) and to polish up for the new year (come in, 2018!!!) 



Happy New Year, everyone. May all your 2018 wishes come true, and may all your hikes be along the road to success.