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Sunday, November 23, 2014

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2014 Recap: We Conquer The Valley!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014

Several hundred of us marched across the San Fernando Valley -- "America's Suburb" -- on Saturday, getting an up-close-and-personal look at most of Ventura Boulevard. And it was, like, totally awesome to the max!

OK, enough with the early 1980s Valley stereotypes. The 9th Annual GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK attracted a large crowd of first timers and veteran participants, particularly many new folks from the Valley who had never heard of the GLAW until this year. In the process we hiked at least 17 and a half miles from one end to the other -- Woodland Hills to North Hollywood.

Along the way, we traveled through Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Universal City and more. The weather was great, the food options were plentiful and there was much to see. In the end, we celebrated at District Pub NoHo, which was fantastically accommodating to our group.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014

We kicked things off with a visit from the Nudie car, an El Dorado customized by the late tailor Nudie Cohn. Tommy Gelinas of the Valley Relics museum brought the car for all to see, and also gave a talk about how passionate he is about Valley pop culture history.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Tommy Gelinas, left, and Scott Sterling talk about their mutual love for the Valley.

Then Scott Sterling of the newly opened Museum of the San Fernando Valley spoke and told us all about some of the landmarks we would see on Saturday, and a bit about his new brick-and-mortar location. Thanks to Tommy and Scott for kicking things off!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014

Along the way, this year's Walk gave us a look at some of the Valley's coolest mid-century architecture, including the Fleetwood Center, Mel's Drive Inn, Casa de Cadillac and more. We also passed by historic sites like the Rancho Los Encinos (a state park most of us had never even visited) and Campo de Cahuenga. We even passed by two of Hollywood's busiest studios: CBS Studio Center and Universal Studios.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014

This being the most built-up walk of businesses we've ever done, I also lost count at the sheer number of Starbucks we walked by. Not to mention Vape stores. Apparently the Valley really likes vaping. (There were also quite a few tacky furniture stores, reminding us that some folks may still be stuck in the 1980s after all!)

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014

Here are some more pics from the day:

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
A lot of BBQ joints in the West Valley. This is not a bad thing.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Now this is a taste crime. This infamous building could be one of the ugliest on Ventura.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
The view from Woodland Hills' Chalk Hill -- which I did not know was named Chalk Hill until Saturday!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Classic In-N-Out Burger design.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Woodland Casual Patio and Rattan (architect unknown)

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Best-named business on Ventura?

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Fleetwood Center (architect Lee Oakes). Strip mall with a Cadillac facade, yet was never a car dealership.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Corbin Bowl -- renovated but kept its cool original sign.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Sorry Cupid's, but your mascot is a touch creepy.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Tarzana! No lion sightings.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
You buying?

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
It's always time to buy liquor.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
The hookup on Hookahs.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
The best mural on Ventura, hands down. SWEEP THE LEG! Oh "The Karate Kid," you and "E.T." were my first introduction to the San Fernando Valley as a kid.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
There's something cool about walking by this Googie-style car wash on foot. Won't be needing one today!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Like I mentioned, the Los Encinos State Historic Park was a great find on this Walk. We had never visited.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
More from the park

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Some history for ya.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
El Camino Real bell

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
THESE ARE NOT REAL PEOPLE. This art installation is kinda interesting, kinda weird, kinda disturbing.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Walking toward the 405

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Just, no.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Mel's Drive Inn (Armet & Davis) Googie design.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Casa de Cadillac (Randall Duell, Phillip Conklin), recently restored but first opened in 1949.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
I don't know.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Puppet school!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
The Valley's war on hipsters.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Soft serve break!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Daryl from "The Walking Dead," spotted on Ventura!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
The literal Studio City Hand Car Wash.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
This late in the day, breaks are necessary!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Words of encouragement from Prints Charm'n!

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Campo de Cahuenga

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Tupac ushers in the final stretch.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
These North Hollywood Toyota mannequins ALWAYS freak me out.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
RIP, Robin.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
NoHo! Almost there.

Great Los Angeles Walk 2014
Just a portion of the folks who made it to the end, at the Art Institute of California-Hollywood. (Many were still walking or already celebrating at District Pub Noho when this was taken.)

Thanks to everyone who came and walked! We'll see you next year for the 10TH ANNIVERSARY GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK -- Saturday, November 21, 2015!

Read most of the Tweets from the day -- at least the ones with the #glaw hashtag -- here!

Post your Great Los Angeles Walk 2014 photos to our Flickr stream here.

Still want a t-shirt as a souvenir? They're available here: http://greatlawalk.spreadshirt.com/.

Here are some links to other recaps of this year's Great Los Angeles Walk. Send us your links!

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2014 Flickr Pool

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