In Sunny SoCal, Paying To Experience 9-Degree Weather at Long Beach's "Chill"

It may be 80 degrees in Southern California, but deep inside the Long Beach dome (the one that once housed the Spruce Goose, next to the Queen Mary), it's a chilly 9 degrees. The Queen Mary's annual Chill event gives SoCal residents a taste of the cold without having to drive into the mountains -- although it's not cheap, at as much as $40 a ticket. (Search for the cheaper $20 tix at Costco or online.) Still, it's a unique experience to walk through Chill's "Ice Kingdom," where ice sculptures tell the story of The Nutcracker and a slide made of ice thrills the little ones. Outside the dome, ice skating comes with the price of admission (or snow tubing, also inside the dome, is one more option). Located under the sparkling holiday lights of the Queen Mary (also included with Chill admission), it's a good way to give the kids a quick afternoon taste of winter. Before putting your shorts back on.

Chill continues until Jan. 5. Some pics:


Ice soldiers guard the Ice Kingdom


Ice Sugarplum Fairy


The Ice Queen Mary


Riding down the ice slide


Don't worry about bringing a heavy jacket: Everyone who visits the "Ice Kingdom" gets a thick blue parka. (It's actually required to wear if you want to ride the ice slide.)


Ice Christmas tree, and mini ice Queen Mary


Alpine Village


Giant snowman


Outside the dome, a mega rocking horse


View of the Queen Mary at twilight


Ice rink (comes with the price of admission)

There's Snow In Thar Mountains!

Winter's back! The view from Glendale of the snow-covered San Gabriel mountains yesterday.

FREE L.A.: Pershing Square's Winter Festival This Saturday

I still find that downtown, particularly around Pershing Square and the Biltmore Hotel, gets me in the holiday spirit this time of year. And if you've got the kids in tow, there's no better time than this Saturday to head down, for the free annual Winter Holiday Festival.

The event, 11:00am to 7:00pm, takes place at Pershing Square and includes a visit from Santa: "Pershing Square is transformed into a winter wonderland with free holiday activities like tons of snow, a train ride, make & take children’s crafts, puppet shows, community youth performances, memento photos, and more. Santa’s emporium features stocking stuffers and tasty holiday treats for purchase."

While you're down there, make sure to spend some time at the Biltmore and Grand Central Market, which is also decorated for the season. And, of course, there's the outdoor skating at Downtown on Ice ($6 for skating and $2 for skate rentals).

This Is Winter in Los Angeles: Snow and Palm Trees (PIC)

This weekend's heavy rains at least left us with a spectacular view this morning: Heavy snow-covered mountains amidst blue, sunny skies. This is winter, Los Angeles style.

Playing in the Snow, Los Angeles Style

As Franklin Avenue readers know, we're big fans of driving up the Angeles Crest Highway to play in the snow during the winter -- especially since the white stuff can be found just 45 minutes away from our Franklin Avenue HQ. (That remains one of my favorite things about L.A. -- it could be 70 degrees at home, but we're still less than an hour away from snow.)

And after Monday's downpour and freeze, I'm assuming the snow is ready for us should we decide to head up next weekend.

But for people who don't want to make the Angeles Crest drive, there's another snow option in L.A.: The man-made variety. Evan's preschool threw a Winter Festival on Saturday.. and brought in the big guns for the occasion. In this case, the Union Ice Co. -- very busy this time of year -- came in to create a snowy wonderland for the kids:


The fun part of the job: Blowing snow onto bales of hay to create a snow ramp to slide down.


Here's how it works: Massive blocks of ice, shaved down into snow.


Kids wait in anticipation.


Testing out the new snow.


The finished product -- yep, it was quite a hit with the kids.

Total cost of the man-made snow? About $1300.