Walking L.A. #15:  Carthay Circle and South Carthay, 3.14 miles 

Happy to be back on the trail after a 2-week rain/marathon hiatus, Barbara and I headed to Carthay Circle/South Carthay, two Historic Preservation Overlay Zones in the Miracle Mile district (roughly between LaCienega, Crescent Heights, Wilshire, and Olympic). Designated for their pristine Spanish Colonial Revival architecture plus sprinkles of Tudor and Cape Cods, the neighborhoods were developed by J. Harvey McCarthy in the 1920s-1940s. McCarthy, a pal of Wm. Randolph Hearst, had a shady, wheeler-dealer reputation but the man built a quiet, spotless development so desirable that, at the time, Carthay out-priced homes in Beverly Hills. McCarthy was also a huge California history enthusiast. He dotted the neighborhood with unique, "sidewalk alleys" named after California missions. City streets, like Carrillo, Commodore Sloat, Moore, etc., were named after notable Californians. (Do you know why/how your neighborhood streets got their names?) Small parks and circles feature tributes to historical figures like the rock in the 4th pic below, dedicated to "Snow Shoe" Thompson, a postal worker who trudged snow & blizzards to deliver mail to the miners; and the gold miner statue on San Vincente (which, btw, was originally Eulalia Blvd., named for midwife Eulalia Perry 1735-1871.) Carthay Circle and South Carthay are lovely, well-manicured, and distinctly quiet neighborhoods. Nice. But the sweetest treat was the explosion of flowers and swirling scents. You can't beat Mother Nature when she gussies up.