3 comments about Best Hikes With Dogs: Bay Area & Beyond (Best Hikes With Dogs).

1. I love hiking with my dogs off-leash. This book has been a great resource for me. I just moved to California and don't know the area all that well. This book is full of great hikes in the bay area and northern california. The table at the beginning of the book is especially helpful as it lists all the hikes and makes note of their length, difficulty, off-leash status, and accessibilty to water. I almost hate to write this review as increased foot and paw traffic on these trails increases the abuse potential. Only people with well-trained, friendly dogs should attempt off-leash hikes. If your dog is not friendly or well behaved, it's best to stick to the many, many leash-required hiking trails.



2. I have yet to have a hike from this book go smoothly. I live in the north bay and all of the directions to the hiking destinations are only if you are coming from the south. Often times the exit they give is only accessable if you are coming from the south. I drove out to one of the hikes and there were signs everywhere saying no dogs allowed. Also the trail directions are very vague and sometimes inaccurate. I have wasted a lot of gas and even more time with the inaccurate driving and trail directions. Basically this book was a waste of money for me.



3. Contains an amazing number of trails you can take your dog to, even unleashed in probably the most dog unfriendly state in the country (California). Since most parks and trails in northern California prohibit dogs even on leash, this book will save you a lot of research. The main weakness is the lack of trails in the South Bay. Of course, since this is the most dog phobic part of California, it's not surprising that there is not much for dogs here.

1 comments about Historic Photos of University of Michigan Football (Historic Photos.).

1. Michigan Football has more than a century of history and hundreds of thousands of living alumni cherish its tradition as part of their time at Michigan. Millions more follow the program and support it so fanatically you would swear they had a relative playing on the field! I first became a fan in high school when Bo came to Ann Arbor and our marching band (I played trombone) played at one of Don Canham's (the new athletic director who brought Bo as the new coach) Band Day programs to fill the stadium.
   
   This wonderful book has about 200 pages of large format black and white pictures showing Michigan Football from its early years through the Michigan-Indiana game and Anthony Carter's immortal catch in 1979. My wife and I were in the stands that day and it was electrifying and something you can always recall vividly. I can still see the triple coverage, the two defenders basically falling down as Carter as he caught the ball ran past the third into the end zone.
   
   This book has four chapter that match the natural chapters in Michigan Football history. The first chapter covers 1879-1926 that covers the pioneering days and the Fielding Yost years as coach. Chapter 2 covers Kipke and Crisler from 1927-1947 (and the great Tom Harmon). Chapter 3 covers the years when then athletic director Fritz Crisler hired former players as the football coaches. They were Bennie Oosterbaan and Bump Elliott. The fifties also had star players like Ron Kramer.
   
   The monumental influence of the immortals Yost and Crisler carried on into the third great coach, Bo Schembechler. The final chapter covers the Bo years through 1979. I would have liked to see the book go a bit further and cover Bo's final years including the period of his bowl victories. There should also have been a picture of Bob Ufer, the ultimate homer announcer. Still, the book could only hold so much and I am sure there are lots of players and pictures that different people would wish were included. I think Michelle O'Brien has done a good job in selecting pictures that capture each period well and show us the way the team, the uniforms, and the stadiums evolved. Her captions and brief chapter introductions are solid.
   
   Enjoy! I sure did.
   
   Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

3 comments about Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators: More Stories about Real Florida (Florida History and Culture).

1. Found this great article from Jeff's paper, the St. Petersburg Times.
   
   Regaling us with real Florida
   By Gregory McNamee, Special to the Times
   Published Wednesday, March 26, 2008 5:54 PM
   
   When I was very young, no more than 5 or 6, I saw an alligator eat a poodle right out of a Tampa back yard. It dawned on me at that sanguinary moment just why it was that my grandmother had forbidden me to play near the canal behind her house, where, naturally, I spent my time playing, and it gave me a lasting, nicely traumatic memory of Florida to nurse over a lifetime.
   
   Had he been on hand, I suspect Jeff Klinkenberg would have been cheering for the gator. After all, one of the heroes of Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators, his new collection of newspaper columns turned into essays, is an ubergator -- something on the order of a dragon, really -- named Mojo, once resident in Kanapaha Botanical Gardens near Gainesville.
   
   "You know how alligators will roar at other gators?" remarks the director of the gardens, who, suggestively, is missing his right hand. "Mojo was so dominant that when it thundered, he'd roar back at the thunder."
   
   Long familiar to and even beloved by St. Petersburg Times readers, Klinkenberg is a fan, defender, student and denizen of what the great pop culture historian Greil Marcus has called "the old, weird America," the country that hasn't yet been absorbed into the monoculture of chain stores, cookie-cutter houses and mass-produced taste.
   
   Preferring the confines of the Sunshine State, which is plenty weird enough, Klinkenberg has devoted decades to chronicling the wide spots on Florida's blue highways -- and, for that matter, the places where, improbably, no highways have yet been located, despite Florida's incessant growth.
   
   Take the Loop Road, for instance, an hour from Naples on one end and an hour from Miami on the other, a century from either in real time. Klinkenberg knows every inch of the road, and he knows as well its dozen-odd full-time residents, folks who have found it expedient to disappear into the Big Cypress for reasons of their own.
   
   One of them was Ervin Rouse, the fiddler who wrote Orange Blossom Special, and who passed away some years ago. Another, still with us, is a park ranger who might be singing with Ervin in the choir celestial had she not been ornery enough to shake off a load of pygmy rattler venom injected into her foot by said creature. "I was wearing flip-flops," she allows. "Somebody should have written D-U-M-B on my forehead."
   
   If there is a theme in Klinkenberg's genial wanderings down the Loop Road and other roads like it, it is that many of Florida's more interesting venues conspire not just to relieve the visitor of excess cash, but also of life and limb. There are the storms, of course, which Klinkenberg praises as allowing rare opportunities to enjoy the beach by oneself, sans loudmouth neighbors bearing boom boxes and drunken grudges.
   
   There are the bull sharks, which liberated an arm from another of his interlocutors. There are the snakes and skeeters behind every rustling blade of grass, the occasional wild-eyed outlaw, and, of course, the snowbird oblivious to the norms, physics and laws of motor traffic.
   
   But then there are treasures worthy of the dangers, and Klinkenberg has a rare gift for finding them. One is a backwoods type named Spook, who likes nothing more than to bring down a wild hog or two with his bare hands. Another is a pair of more pacific, indeed Thoreauvian swamp dwellers who have made their own version of paradise on the aptly named Peace River.
   
   There are the ghosts of hard-drinking, hard-smoking, hard-writing Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who turns up at several points here, and, to keep the otherworldly theme going, a Tampa eccentric who makes elaborate sculptures of animal bones, as well as the recently departed Gill Man, Ricou Browning, who scared us all to death half a century ago with his visage in Creature from the Black Lagoon -- if you look at it sideways, a Rawlings story gone terribly astray.
   
   And then, by way of a celebration of life, there is a visit to "the best place to eat pancakes in Florida, if not the world," which by Klinkenberg's estimation is the Old Spanish Sugar Mill and Griddle House in De Leon Springs State Park, up by Daytona Beach. (For my money, that honor goes to the Ranch House near Montpelier, Idaho, but de gustibus . . .)
   
   These are treasures to be sure, fine exemplars of an old and weird legacy. It's clear on every page that Klinkenberg has lived several worthy lifetimes in Florida, that he loves the place immoderately, and that he laments the state's transformation, along with the rest of the nation, into a land of tatty strip malls and soul-killing cul-de-sacs.
   
   Jeff Klinkenberg comforts himself with the thought that, come the apocalypse, the gators will still be here. It's a thought that ought to bring solace and a smile to the rest of us as well. So will this gracefully written, endlessly entertaining book, a gift for all who love the real Florida.
   
   Gregory McNamee lives in Tucson, Ariz. The University of Nebraska Press has just released his book ''Moveable Feasts: The History, Science, and Lore of Food'' in paperback.



2. If you'd known Jeff Klinkenberg in the '60s you would know that today he's a boy living his dream. There is no better guide to the 'real' Florida than Jeff, not because he knows Florida history, but because he loves it and he's lived it. He speaks to you as if you are sitting in the restaurant at his table, or having your sandwich with him on the ancient indian mound. His stories capture your interest and spur your sense of adventure. They inspire you to embrace the beauty, uniqueness, and sheer mystery of this land. There are Florida travel and interest guides galore, but none that match Jeff's depth or personal knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of a State that represents not only a land growing faster than any other (and yet clinging to the past with a steel-like grip) but a state of mind as well. These are not stories from someone's imagination, they entertain you with real people and places that, but for Jeff Klinkenberg, would fade into a distant past. Jeff is a time traveler who will take you on unbelievable journeys through centuries of archeological and human history with humor and curiosity. His is a guide that you want to bring with you when you visit because it is so far off the beaten path that you will feel right at home on the Loop Road. Indeed, I have known Jeff since the '60s, and witnessed his expertise first hand. If you are a true adventurer, I invite you to read 'Pilgrim in the Land of Alligators' and experience the 'real' Florida on behalf of barefoot children everywhere. You will not regret the trip through time.



3. This humble story teller of real people & real events make sense of Florida. Reminds me of Carl Hiaasen without the crazy humor. Jeff warms your heart.

2 comments about Map of Kauai; Island of Discovery: Reference Maps of the Islands of Hawaii; Full Color Topographic.

1. I bought this map on Amazon and it was a good basic starter map for our 10 day trip to Kauai. Ironically, it was the only map we saw available when we first arrived and in many cases what I paid on Amazon was much cheaper then the price for the same thing on Kauai itself! However, if you really want to travel around Kauai and are going to be looking for specific streets, you need something much more detailed then this map has to offer.



2. The map is good for carrying around while driving since its small and compact. It shows the main roads but does not show mile markers which would be quite helpful on the island.

5 comments about Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets & Gatemouth's Gator: Essays.

1. Whether he's hobnobbing with country music's biggest stars, eavesdropping on a private conversation at a seedy Belizean motel, riding shotgun with a tell-it-like-it-is trucker, or delineating his own personal trials and tribulations, Michael Perry possesses the uncanny ability to transform everyday occurrences into uncommon slices of American pie. In Off Main Street, Perry waves his journalistic wand over rural America and metamorphoses the ordinary into the extraordinary. Portraying people who might very well be my neighbor or yours, Off Main Street beats with a small-town pulse that radiates with relatability.
   
   My only gripe with this book is that Perry tries too hard to wield his literary chops and, in so doing, distance himself (readability-wise) from those very same common folk from which he draws his inspiration.



2. Love this book, as well as his other book Population 485. Fabulous writer and love the quirkyness of some of the stories.



3. Rebeccasreads highly recommends OFF MAIN STREET, Michael Perry's (of POPULATION 485 fame) second treasury of Americana: equal parts about the people he meets, the places he sees, the history he's known & the adventures he went on with truckers, Rolling Thunder, into a prison, about Greyhound buses, on country music Sara Evans' tour, a talk about Elvis, a meeting with the legendary music man, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, junk mail from the KKK, & much more.
   
   Open OFF MAIN STREET & the stories pour forth about the weird & the hardworking, the killers & the singers, & just plain all-American -- from his Wisconsin home town, his book tour, his writing assignments, & his wanderings.
   
   OFF MAIN STREET is a duffle bag of pungent tales, very well written, & a great gift for your homesick friends.



4. The thing that I loved about this book is the author's voice. He is highly observant, funny and he has a great way with words. His use of language is so real and fresh and different(in a really good way). He really knows how to put a spin on a story, and it just leaves you wanting more! The essays are entertaining snippets on different subjects: being on book tour, hanging out with some country music people, and other experiences in his life.
   
   -It's a great read. I was reading this thinking that I'd love to have a conversation with this guy! I loved his writing.



5. This collection of essays is a bit more eclectic than Population 485 but it showcases Perry's descriptive writing and thought-provoking observations well. Individual pieces were published between 1995 and 2004, and Perry has often updated the information through brief introductions or final notes. This approach reminds us that his stories are about real people whose lives go on even after the snapshot of a single essay or article. It is that intense personalization, along with his flair for unique description ("rawboned frame was swept by a list and sway, as if he were a cattail bumped by a breeze ") that leaves the reader ready for yet another collection of Michael Perry's work. The pieces are not arranged chronologically, but it is easy to see the development in the author's writing skills from some of the earliest pieces to the most recent--a good reference for any would-be essayist to study to see how even a good writer can improve his craft over time.

5 comments about Alabama Atlas and Gazetteer (Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer).

1. I wanted to get this atlas, especially to help us find places to go camping and hiking.. It's not always easy to find campgrounds or primitive campsites (since they're not always located in clearly identified campgrounds), so having these detailed maps is very useful for that. We recently used the atlas when we camped in the Catskill Mountains region, and I was glad we had these maps to help us out.



2. These are fantastic maps! I have several others, and use them quite often. I don't know of another one that will be better than this one.



3. I currently own CO, TX, TN, VA and now AL atlas & Gaz.
   all are useful for home hunting, trying to locate a key area, etc.
   don't count on this for in depth directions. but a good look at contours and gps this works.
   this one isn't as good as the TX or TN version.



4. Already have an Atlas, topo CD set of Northeast, Garmin GPS Vista with topo/street maps. Once I found these Gazetteers, I bought one for every state in New England and New York. Each of the above provide different levels of information and alternative routes and access to various locations, often places with no direct road or trails. The gazatteers provide fast detail access to areas in question over the GPS or atlas and are invaluable to me while in the vehical. Although, the GPS is my lifeline away from the vehical, the gazatteers are large and not weather resistant.



5. The product came on time, well packaged, and exactly as described. A great shopping experience.

3 comments about Frommer's Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks (Park Guides).

1. This guide proved to be an excellent resource during our recent trip to the Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Highlights of this book include how comprehensive it was despite its relative brevity, the easy-to-read writing style, and its off-the-beaten-path recommendations.

   The authors discussed all the subjects I was looking for in a travel book. They covered the usual "where to stay" and "where to eat" topics very well, including reviews of the campgrounds in the parks. We were very satisfied staying and eating at the places recommended by the authors.

   A particular strength of the book was its overview of the numerous hiking trails of the two parks. The trails were organized by length, and the authors gave good recommendations about which trails to do. One hike that they recommended as a "find" was a beautiful, short stroll to an icy cave, but because of its location off the main park road, we were completely by ourselves. The authors even discussed some of the backcountry hiking, if you are inclined to strap on your pack and head off into the wilderness.

   The chapter on the natural history of the parks was also excellent. There was a description of the geological events that formed the parks, the flora and fauna, and the diverse ecosystems. The geological discussion in particular was especially helpful for understanding how the layers of rock were laid down over millions of years.

   The authors gave good sample itineraries for experiencing the park in a day or two. Recommendations on seeing the sunrise across the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon and on visiting some of the less traveled sections of Zion were very worthwhile.

   Nice bonuses in the book included information for kids, RVers, and people with disabilities. The book also had information on practical things like where to get gas, buy supplies, do your laundry, etc. There is even a section on places to visit near the national parks such as some of the Utah state parks and nearby national monuments.

   Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone heading to Zion and Bryce Canyon. It definitely enriched our experience and made planning a whole lot easier.




2. I bought a few books on Bryce Canyon and Zion while planning our family vacation and this book was the most useful and helpful. We just returned from the trip and were very happy with this guidebook.
   
   The book provides all the information needed to plan your trip to the parks, including when to go, what to take, and any permits needed. There is also information on where to stay and camp, and also where to eat - though we ended up bringing most of our food with us and cooking on a camp stove.
   
   The book has great guides on best day hikes. This was particularly useful since we have two young boys - 4 and 6. We did a lot of day hikes. Our favorite hike was the Queens Garden Trail. We did that one twice - it is only about 2 miles round trip with great views!
   
   Overall, this is an incredibly useful book that easily fits in your backpack!



3. This book was very helpful in seeing as much as possible in a short visit. Lots of information - worth the price to have on your vacation.

5 comments about Access New York City 13e (Access Guides).

1. We just returned from a trip to New York City. I am a HUGE fan of Access books and have used them for cities around the world for the last 14 years. However, the current version of the New York City Access is woefully outdated and was a waste of money. We found several businesses had moved and one, the venerable Balducci's, had gone of out business. Needless to say, this de-railed us a few times and was inconvenient to say the least.

   Things change quickly in New York. If Access wants to be in the business of publishing guides of New York, they need to commit to annual updates.




2. Very helpful approach that discusses sights, restaurants, shops, and hotels block-by-block. Subway stops should be superimposed on these maps, although they are included separately.



3. Out of date info.
   Waste of your money.
   Do not purchase.
   Wait for new edition.



4. The layout of this series of guide books is excellent to have along on the trip. Laid out street by street, area by area, with color coded text for different types of attractions - hotels, dining, shopping, etc.- it is wonderful for finding your way. Much easier than a book with all hotels in one chapter, all dining in another. This way, if I'm shopping in SoHo or visiting an Upper East Side museum and want to have a bite to eat, its a breeze to find a good place nearby. I have used ACCESS NY for many years and find their reviews of dining to be spot on.
   
   Highly recommend.



5. I have always loved the format of ACCESS books but to be honest, the last 3 guides to NYC have been very outdated. I feel as if the author has told a flunkie to "check the websites" of all the places listed in the book, and that the flunkie then quit his job and the author just published the edition from 10 years ago. I cannot continue to purchase the Access books knowing this is the case. I wonder if the author reads his own reviews on Amazon (I kind of doubt it). He should stop wasting his and our time by publishing out of date books.

3 comments about City Lights: Stories About New York.

1. It's the Sunday before Christmas. First thing this morning, pre-coffee, pre-bowel movement/ablutions, pre-church, I went into the front yard to retrieve my copy of the New York Times. I knew the pages would be filled with column after column of depressing dispatches from Darfur, Wichita, Whereveristan, mass homicide, sub-prime scandal, suicide bombing, official doublespeak about why torture is a crime except when practiced by CIA/Blackwater, the inexhaustible ineptitude/fathomless arrogance of the Bush administration, and opposing platitudes/feckless fulminations by Frank Rich.
   God's mercy on us all.
   I didn't rescue the Times from pelting rain and soot-ridden snow, however, in order to batter my wounded/aged soul with the alarming/ deteriorating condition/direction of our country/world. My intent was to turn immediately to Dan Barry's latest report from the homeland/ hinterland and to see what redeeming/enlightening observations had come from the pen/laptop/PC of the single-most powerful, poetic, sublime columnist at work at this moment in these Disunited/Dispirited States. (And, caveat lector, Dan Barry is not to be confused with satirist Dave Barry.)
   I wasn't disappointed by what I read. One again, I was amazed. (I almost wrote "astounded," except that the end piece in the NYT Book Review of several months ago by Joe Quinlan--a satirist every bit as good as Dave Barry and a lot more savage--has rendered that word verboten by anyone attempting a review.) Here in the face of yet another merciless deadline, Dan Barry had managed to pinpoint a revealing angle on a familiar story (check it out for yourself, "A Place Just like Every Other Place. Only Not," 12/23/07) and produce a precisely chiseled, exquisitely faceted journalistic gem of finely cut reporting and lyrically evocative writing.
   My original introduction to Dan Barry's writing was in his "About New York" columns, a selection of which is reproduced in his newest book, CITY LIGHTS. Barry's predecessors in this spot included the newspaper equivalent of Gerhig/Ruth or Mantle/Maris (Yankee fans, take your pick)--the inimitable Meyer Berger and the nonpareil Francis X. Clines. Barry has not only matched their achievement but set a whole new standard, producing column after column that exposes/celebrates/ investigates/ mourns/explores the incessant/inexhaustible tragedy/comedy/ soap opera/ burlesque/masque that unfolds in New York each and every day.
   I'm sure that I read every single column in CITY LIGHTS when it first appeared in the Times. But as I read and re-read this book, I'm astounded (sorry, Joe Quinlan) anew by how utterly fresh/invariably perceptive/carefully observed each and every article is. Years from now, this book will be taught in journalism schools (if such institutions still exist) and devoured by historians (if such a profession still exists) interested in what life was really like in New York during the first decade of the 21st century. Those who are neither collectors nor teachers nor historians will simply keep it by their bedsides, reading it over again, a story at a time, to remind themselves of the dignity/ intensity/complexity of life as lived by Gotham's extraordinary/ ordinary people.
   Attention book collectors: At some point, Dan Barry will be awarded the Pulitzer Prize--why he didn't get it for his reporting from New Orleans on the consequences on Katrina, eludes me--which will make this book especially valuable. Non-collectors also take notice. If you simply love great writing, buy this book. If you're fascinated by New York, buy this book. If you're bewitched/bothered/intrigued by the human condition, buy this book. And if none of the above categories applies, but you love to read anything by Alice McDermott, buy this book. Her introduction is worth the price of admission. CITY LIGHTS will endure as long as New York does.(And if journalism ain't your cup of tea but you want to imbibe THE BEST memoir to come out of suburban New York, get a copy of Barry's PULL ME UP.) Thank you, Dan Barry.



2. Whenever I read the NY Times over the past few years and became despairing of the state of the world and humanity, I always knew I could turn to Dan Barry to "pull me up." Barry's collection of columns are really prose poems, filled with soul and spirit of the Hidden New York City: cello playing bus drivers, workin' stiffs, everyday Janes and Joes, whose lives Barry illuminates with a style that is a pleasure to read again and again. These columns were my daily vitamins. Rereading them in this collection is truly a revelation that the spirit of the common people is what gives NY and America its uncommon soul. Buy this book. Then buy another and give it to a friend. Read it and feel renewed. It will "pull you up" too.



3. Dan Barry writes about New York as if it was a village. Its size is not as important as the individuals who live there, the people who inhabit it, make it the alive, vibrant and wonderfully alluring city it is.
   
   This is not about New York, the city. It is about the flesh and blood of the city, about the people and characters of the city, and it's hard to imagine a city anywhere that has more characters and color to write about than New York City. Dan Barry does a good job of capturing their individuality, their uniquenss and their inevitable ties and bonds to the city.
   
   Obviously, this review is written by an unabashed lover of NYC...and from Alabama, too.

5 comments about Baby's Day Out in Southern California: Fun Places to Go With Babies and Toddlers.

1. Finally there is a Southern California tour guide especially geared towards parents of babies and toddlers. Your children learn best through first hand experiences and Baby's Day Out is chock full of great places for the young (and not so young) to experience the things they love like animals, trains, parks, aquariums, tide pools, hands-on museums and more. My 10 year old and 61/2 year old twins still love to visit many of the places listed in JoBea Way's comprehensive guide. They also have a list of many new places for us to visit as well.

   The book is broken down into eleven chapters covering major areas of interest for young children: Museums, Our City, Gardens and Nature, The Zoo, Aquariums, Trains and more. There are over 224 separate sites reviewed. Locations covered include the expected Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos as well as many less well known places like the Goodyear Blimp Airfield, Tierra Rejada Farm and Pasadena Unified School Bus Lot.

   The book includes many helpful tips for making outings more enjoyable and each review contains a concise description, directions with Thomas Guide page references, and cross references to both similar sites and nearby attractions. Easy to spot icons let parents know if the locations can accommodate single and or double wide strollers (most do), and whether gift shops, snack shops or picnic areas are available so parents can plan accordingly. I love the lists of children's books on topic related to each entry and the special pages with simple graphics of animals or things that go, etc. These pages are designed for young children's use before, during or after their visits. For example, the first picture pages are of cars and trucks children might see on the way to their visit.

   The final chapter includes a month-by-month "Things to Look For" section featuring holiday, special events and seasonal changes to watch for geared to Southern California. There are comprehensive listings of Fourth of July displays, Holiday lights, Farmer's Markets and more. These lists alone are a great resource whether you have young children or not.

   The number and variety of places listed is truly impressive. Our family has been enjoying working our way through the book and finding many new favorites. I plan to give this book as a shower gift to all my pregnant friends and think the book is a great resource for parents of school age children and teachers also.




2. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and never knew about 90% of the places suggested in this book! In addition to the usual spots (Disneyland, parks, etc), the book suggests creative places like the schoolbus depot and construction sites (from a safe distance, of course!). "Baby's Day Out" really made me look at the world through my babies' eyes, where everything is a new and fascinating experience. For example, when I drive on the highway now, I point out the trucks passing by to my kids and they love watching the different sizes and colors. Before this book, I never would have thought about trucks on the highway as a field trip experience. This book is also very practical, providing all the necessary information, including Thomas Guide map pages, hours, prices, parking, everything! As an added bonus for me, Holt even tells me when they're enough room for my double stroller (with twin 18-month old boys, that is a big plus for me). I live in New Jersey now and bought this book while on vacation in Los Angeles. I wish they would write a book like this for us folks in the east coast.



3. Baby's Day Out in Southern California provides a wide range of age-appropriate excursions. Crammed to the bursting point with places to go, things to see and do, special events, ideas for activities and related reading, this excellent book is one of the most innovative, detailed and practical guides around.
   
   Although the contents are arranged by type of place (i.e., museums, aquariums, farms and ponies, flying), it also offers site maps, making it easy to plan a day around a particular location or a specific interest. Listings include physical and Web addresses, phone numbers, directions, what to see and do, hours, parking, admission and membership information, related locations, nearby places and blank space for your own comments. Additional sections contain events by the month, packing lists and road games.
   
   Its most valuable feature is its ability to look at potential places from a child's perspective. Among the 224 sites listed in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Barbara/Ventura counties are fire stations, school bus yards, museums, libraries, gardens and nature centers, truck stops, farms, theaters and convention centers.
   
   This is one of the best travel reference guides you could acquire if you have young children.



4. This book is filled with fun things to do at any age and for anyone who has some time to spend in the L.A. area. We visit there often and sometimes we are looking for more to do than just the big theme parks. There are so many things that I wouldn't have known about, much less how and where to find them. A treasure for anyone, local or tourist.



5. i just had to go out and buy this book after reading the reviews on it, my son is ten months old and just gone down for a nap, and i am reading through the book and getting so excited about all the places we can now go and see. We have only been in california 1 year and i am a new mom in a new place not knowing where to go and what to see for my toddler and this book is going to be just perfect and we want to go exploring now. i have a couple of other books but the activities are for children a little older but we need to explore now. Thank you to the parents who bothered to review this wonderful book, and I hope this review helps other. like someone mentioned most of the places are either free or very inexpensive. - its going to be perfect.