The Brief

Welcome to LAist City Treks, a series of easy hikes and walks that will help you explore the parts of Los Angeles and SoCal that we rarely get to see — or only see through the car window. Expect to get about 5K steps, and plenty of photos for your social media channels. Keep scrolling, because you'll also find recommendations for grabbing a bite to eat once you're finished, so you can make a day of it. If you go, tag us on social media @LAistOfficial and #LAistTreks

Where are we headed?

For a family-friendly walk through Channel Islands Harbor and Hollywood Beach in Oxnard, two coastal gems with ocean breezes… and vociferous wildlife. (We're talking sea lions!)

Why now?

It's going to be another hot weekend. And we're looking for ways to stay cool. Oxnard is an easy jaunt north off the 101 Freeway and is also served by various rail options. Though Oxnard flies under the radar, the region along this route has long been desirable. Silent movies were shot along its strand, and Clark Gable and Charlie Chaplin were part-time residents, spawning its nickname “Hollywood by the Sea.”

Quickly, what can I expect?

• Route conditions: Flat and paved, with a small portion of dirt (though some may wish to veer off and sample the wide, sandy beach)
• Difficulty: An easy 1 out of 5, with 5 being the hardest
• Distance: 2.9 miles
• Dog friendly: Yes
• Parking: Free street parking on Harbor Boulevard, and three-hour parking in the trailhead’s parking lot if you patronize one of its establishments
• Bathrooms: Public restrooms available along the Channel Islands Harbor walkway and on the beach just west of the intersection of Ocean Drive and La Brea Street
• Also: The Channel Islands Maritime Museum is currently open Thursdays through Mondays from noon to 4 p.m. Double check the hours before you go if you want to stop in.

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Oxnard is a lot of things. As the only deepwater port between L.A. and San Francisco, it’s well-suited for naval bases like Point Hueneme. Its fertile soil boasts world-famous strawberries. And its dunes — or at least, what’s left of them — inspired Paramount Pictures to stick fake palm trees in the sand to double as the Arabian desert in The Sheik, starring the bedroom eyes of Rudolph Valentino. By the mid-1920s, however, Oxnard’s sandy strand was subdivided into the residential neighborhood known today as Hollywood Beach.

Before retracing the footsteps of glitterati ghosts, let’s begin on the leeward side of the peninsula — an area of shops, eateries, and recreational facilities abutting the southern end of Channel Islands Harbor.

Enter the parking lot at 2800 Harbor Blvd. and find your way to Mrs. Olson’s Coffee Hut, a bayside restaurant slinging up breakfast and lunch since 1974. (If you come on a Sunday, consider bringing a cooler and some ice: This lot also hosts a wonderful farmers market between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. that often includes the day’s catch.) Stroll toward the rear of Mrs. Olson’s. On its left-hand side, access the paved walkway that hugs the small-craft marina. Turn right, heading south.

What is this sea of boats?

Over the next mile, the walkway offers a sun-kissed stroll past bobbing boat masts along the harborfront. Reminiscent of Marina del Rey, the 310-acre harbor was dredged out of wetlands and sand dunes, resulting in 2,150 boat slips. Check for kiosks among the palm trees and greenbelts that line the pathway.

The marina provides a scenic backdrop to this stroll.

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Along the stroll, look for informational kiosks. This one is a map of the Channel Islands, some of which can be seen in the distance if skies are clear.

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Oxnard is a wonderfully sleepy seaside town also known by its nickname, "Hollywood by the Sea."

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Oxnard's soil is known to produce amazing strawberries. If you plan your trip for a Sunday, bring a cooler and bags and cash: The farmers market is wonderful.

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The placards detail the biodiversity of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, of which Oxnard is a gateway. Wanna learn more? Pop into the Channel Islands Maritime Museum near the end of the walkway. Look for the statue of the old salt standing under a crow’s nest in its plaza.

One-tenth of a mile past the museum, the palm-lined walkway abruptly ends at a hedge. Time to swing over to the windward side of things!

What's all that barking?

At the end of the walkway, you’ll notice a cul-de-sac to your right, which marks the end of Albacore Way. Take Albacore’s sidewalk for 150 feet, turning left at the T-intersection with Harbor Boulevard.

Now you're strolling Harbor’s eastern sidewalk, as it bends toward the mouth of the channel. Benches are conveniently placed to take in boats cruising in and out of the harbor. At Channel View Park you’ll encounter another cul-de-sac — the end of Ocean Drive.

On your right, a triangular median features a giant wood-carved map of the Channel Islands; on your left, by a jetty, are two fiberglass California sea lions commemorating longtime Oxnard resident Bernice “Nell” Wolven, a community leader who died in 1997. The statues are often accompanied by the sound of barking sea lions. Wait a minute, is there a speaker in these things? Nope, you’re hearing the real deal.

You might hear the sea lions before you see them on this stroll, their barking and arfing piercing the air. Unless, of course, they're quietly snoozing in the sun.

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Step on the dirt between the cul-de-sac and the jetty. Follow the jetty — or the cacophony of sea lions — for about 20 yards. During a recent visit, I found a dozen of these dogs of the sea raising a ruckus — arfing, tussling, frolicking, posturing, or simply catching some Zs along the rocks. Needless to say, please keep a respectful distance. (Of course, wild animals, like rock stars, operate on their own whims; there’s no guarantee they’ll always show up.)

Where the celebrities slept

Leaving the jetty, return to the cul-de-sac and proceed along Ocean Drive, away from the channel. The street has no sidewalk, so take care, but it typically sees as many pedestrians as vehicles in this sleepy residential area.

Back in its Hollywood heyday, this stretch of Ocean consisted of cottages and bungalows, many of which housed movie stars and producers. Now it’s mostly multilevel stucco dwellings, with one standout: a 1920s-era adobe at 3125 Ocean Dr.

Rumor has it Mr. Valentino lived here while shooting The Sheik. The current owner has installed a “CASA VALENTINO” sign on the side of the house. Those wishing to sleep in the same bedroom as Silent Cinema’s famous lover can rent the place out on Airbnb.

What's more surprising: This wide sandy stretch? Or that you'll have it all to yourself? Certainly, it will be busier in the summer months. But still, nothing like L.A.'s busiest beaches.

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Many of these homes are available to rent. Can't get any closer to the sand!

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These street signs help you understand why Oxnard is sometimes dubbed "Hollywood by the Sea."

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The drifting sands over paved streets and sidewalks can making driving, cycling and walking a bit slippery. So, tread carefully.

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Another sign that this was an industry town.

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Continuing along Ocean, cross-streets such as Las Palmas and La Brea will give L.A. folks a sense of déjà vu. (Ditto streets like Hollywood, Highland, and Cahuenga, farther south.) I guess those old-timey Hollywood types really did want this place to feel like home.

Streets paved with… sand?

If you can’t leave here without stepping onto the actual beach of Hollywood Beach, you can access the shoreline through any of the public passages on your left. On a clear day, two Channel Islands — Anacapa and Santa Cruz — are visible on the horizon, less than 20 miles away. (Make a mental note: Must visit!) Even if you don’t hit the beach, it will come to you anyway. Ocean Drive literally lies on the edge of the sand — so close that portions of the street are constantly covered in the grainy stuff as it drifts through, between houses.

At Los Altos Street, turn right to explore a tiny but quaint retail block that includes the Hollywood Beach Café. Go left on Sunset Lane, then right on W. Channel Islands Boulevard. In 0.2 miles, the street intersects Harbor Boulevard.

Take the crosswalk across Harbor, which leads to the parking lot from which you started. As for that mental note to visit the Channel Islands? Island Packers Cruises lies a little farther down the lot. The family-run concessionaire offers daily transportation to the islands and will set you up on a fun adventure. My family still talks about the time we kayaked through the sea caves of Anacapa Island and its famous natural arch. Who knew? Now you do!

This could be you, frolicking off the Channel Islands.

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Done! Where to eat?

As noted, you could grab a bite to eat at Mrs. Olson’s Coffee Hut or the Hollywood Beach Café. LAist's Associate Editor for Food and Culture Gab Chabrán also suggests the following:

Brophy Bros. Ventura

A meal at Brophy Bros.' Ventura location will require a drive north of about six miles, but totally worth it for beachside dining. (Note that there is a second location that is much further north, in Santa Barbara, so GPS accordingly.) Consider calling ahead for a reservation or using Yelp's waitlist. Brophy Bros. lands on LAist's Beach Eats list for its views, and its seafood, including their fish and chips:

Toppers Pizza

Toppers Pizza is a family run and family-friendly chain known for keeping a tight menu of pizzas, salads and sandwiches. And what they do, they do well.

Carnitas el Ray

If you love all things carnitas, then you need to make your way to Carnitas El Rey.

Where to next?

Any suggestions for great hikes in and around L.A.? Don't keep it to yourself! Let us know, and we might check them out for a future story.

The U.S. job market unexpectedly stalled in July.

A report Friday from the Labor Department shows that employers cut 23,000 jobs last month, and job gains for May and June were revised sharply lower.

The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, but only because more than 260,000 people dropped out of the workforce.

It was the second month in a row that the monthly jobs tally came in weaker than forecasters had expected.

"We are increasingly hearing from workers that they are anxious about their job security and they are frustrated by the fact that they are stuck in roles that are not necessarily good for them," said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the job search website Glassdoor. "And that's on top of workers who are not in a job right now and feel frozen out of the job market."

Glassdoor's worker confidence index slumped in July to a record low.

The Fed's job gets harder

Restaurants and retailers cut thousands of jobs last month, and local government also saw large job losses. Healthcare continued to add workers, but at a more modest pace than earlier in the year.

The softening job market may complicate the Federal Reserve's job, since it's also battling stubborn inflation. The Fed may be more cautious about raising interest rates at a time when the labor market appears less stable.

For people who are working, average wages have risen 3.2% in the last 12 months. That's likely not enough to keep pace with inflation, however, so workers' paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.

"Part of the reason that workers are feeling bad about today's job market," Zhao says, is that "a lot of those wage gains have been eaten up by rising energy prices."

Copyright 2026 NPR

It seems that jazz is everywhere in Los Angeles. Blue Note opened a club last year, venues like Sam First, Catalina’s, Vibrato and the Baked Potato draw large crowds, and hotels and bars are adding jazz to their schedules.

But every week, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from legends such as Rickey Woodard, who played saxophone for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and others; and Nolan Shaheed, trumpeter for Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and more.

That’s before you get to the evening’s singer, who might be 96-year-old pianist Betty Bryant, former Raelette Val Monroe or singer and Grammy-winning songwriter John Proulx.

Until recently, the Sunday night Jazz Salon was free. Now it charges a nominal $10 per person, which is still an outrageous bargain, so be sure to add something to the tip jar on the piano, and maybe try one of the cocktails or the steak frites.

Inside the club 

Walking into the club earlier, you see black-and-white photos of all types of healthy pursuits on the walls, as well as trophies and mementos of the club’s nearly century-and-a-half history. Plush sofas, high ceilings and book-filled shelves are the order of the day, and alongside members in gym gear or lugging laptops, you go up in one of the elevators to the third floor, where the Jazz Salon takes place.

Dave Ross, bassist and founder of the Jazz Salon.

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The bassist who built it 

Earlier in the day, Dave Ross, 76, was setting up the amps, drum kit, mixer and mic stands. He also administers the website, acts as MC and plays double bass as part of the ensemble. He began the venture over a decade ago, when he persuaded the LAAC, of which he had long been a member, to host concerts in their redecorated restaurant and bar.

Ross draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, and the concert takes place opposite the bar in a wood-paneled room of just a few dozen leather chairs and tables. This small scale makes the night intimate and unique.

“No gig is ever the same,” says Ross. “We don’t rehearse, and every time we play a song, we're never trying to play it the same way we played it before.”

That makes the night fun, too. Since you’re right near the musicians, you can hear their laughter and banter, as well as their impressive solos. Ross, stage left, stays out of the limelight — which is how he prefers it — and often says he's just happy to be there playing.

“You're there to keep the beat, the pulse of the music,” he says. “And then, secondarily, the notes that you play help the other musicians understand what the chord, what the harmony is. I'm just doing it for the pleasure of playing the music.”

The Jazz Salon is a $10 Sunday night concert at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

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Why $10 barely covers it 

Once a month, Ross and some of his stable join a touring artist — recently five-time Grammy-nominee Karrin Allyson — in the club’s 250-seat ballroom for a more formal ticketed event, but there have been just two complete sellouts of them this year: tributes to Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond.

Donations and the tip jar on Sunday evenings sometimes haven’t been enough to break even, either, which led to Ross reluctantly introducing the $10 charge. No matter what, he is determined the Jazz Salon will keep going.

“When I was younger, there was a receptionist I knew who was a nun. She said: “‘You know what your problem is? You’re too optimistic!’”

Daniel Shemtob has been going around Los Angeles asking strangers this question: "What's your mom's best dish?"

He then turns their answers — from Filipino oxtail adobo to the Ashkenazi Jewish favorite of gefilte fish — into a taco for his new five-episode web series, "Better Than Your Mom."

One episode breaks from the format entirely: a head-to-head chopped salad taco challenge between Shemtob and Vanessa Silverton, daughter of famed L.A. chef Nancy Silverton, judged blind by Nancy herself.

Daniel Shemtob, founder of The Lime Truck and creator and host of Better Than Your Mom.

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A two-time winner of "The Great Food Truck Race" on the Food Network, Shemtob is no stranger to reality TV — he also founded The Lime Truck, serving Cali-Mex cuisine in Orange County.

What starts as a quick, chaotic street-corner challenge opens into something bigger — a Long Beach woman honoring her late mother-in-law's gefilte fish recipe, and a chef processing his own mother's death and the loss of his home in the 2025 Palisades Fire.

A dish for his mother

Despite loving fine dining, Shemtob said nothing beats the experience of having someone invite him to their mother's home for dinner.

"It's by far my favorite thing," he said.

Gundry watched as Shemtob reworked her mother-in-law's recipe in real time — a process that normally takes her more than two hours, done in 20 minutes.

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That urge to connect with other people also came from wanting to celebrate his late mother's legacy and the impact she had on him in the kitchen.

"Eating was like a big part of how we shared and celebrated," Shemtob said. "It was a culture that was built around food."

A stranger says, 'yes'

While most walk past him or decline to talk, Shemtob said he's been surprised by how many strangers say yes almost immediately — like Anne Gundry, a retired biology teacher in Long Beach.

She answered with a dish from her mother-in-law from her first marriage — gefilte fish served cold.

Shemtob's take on Dena Levenstein's gefilte fish, reimagined as a taco with an apple-horseradish slaw.

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Gundry recalled her first meeting with Dena Levenstein, who would become her mother-in-law. The relationship started out cold — but cooking together changed their dynamic.

"That's where I honestly think we had the deepest bond with her," Gundry said.

Gundry described yearly visits to Levenstein's house as a cooking "apprenticeship," where Gundry was taught to cook by feel — adding ingredients by the handful, testing a dish's consistency by touch.

"She used to say, 'How does it feel?'" Gundry recalled. "And I'd say, 'I don't know, I don't know how it's supposed to feel.'"

Over the years, she learned. Now, Gundry teaches her own children that recipe the same way — without referring to what's written down.

Watching Shemtob cook on "Better Than Your Mom," Gundry was skeptical. Her own process takes over two hours; his took 20 minutes — until she tasted the apple-horseradish slaw he added.

"Brilliant," she said. "I've been trying to duplicate it at home."

You can find Shemtob's videos on his YouTube channel.

Next week Phoebe Bridgers fans in Southern California will get an otherworldly way to enjoy her new album ahead of its official release Friday.

And a Costa Mesa institution will enjoy the chance to introduce indie music lovers to what it does beyond astronomy lectures and field trips.

The Orange Coast College Planetarium is one of dozens of planetariums around the world – and the only in Southern California – hosting listening sessions next week for Lost Weekend, one of the year’s most anticipated indie releases and Bridgers’ first solo studio album in six years.

The Pasadena native is not expected at any of the planetarium shows. But that doesn’t matter to her fan base.

Phoebe Bridger fans can listen to her album in the planetarium's 125-seat dome theater.

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Twelve shows in the 125-seat theater sold out within four hours of going on sale Thursday, according to the planetarium. So staff added 16 more, bringing the total to 28 screenings over four days, Aug. 10 through 13. (At last check, tickets for showings earlier in the day were still available.)

“We have never had an event that was this anticipated,” Rhiannon Graffio, lead speaker and educator at the planetarium.

There’s two ways to experience the record from start to finish, which is a little over 50 minutes long.

One is a full-dome show featuring images taken by renowned astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi.

“It's gorgeous,” Graffio said. “There's some that are of the night sky, where you can see the paths of the stars as the Earth rotates, or auroras or lightning.”

The other option is a laser show created by Laser Fantasy, with scenes and storylines moving in time with the music.

Graffio said the planetarium had been approached by Bridgers’ label Dead Oceans to host the shows, which are being presented in partnership with Spotify.

Rhiannon Graffio, a lead speaker at the Orange Coast College Planetarium, has been working with Phoebe Bridgers' label on next week's listening sessions.

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The events are strictly phone-free. To prevent album leaks, attendees will have to put their phones in pouches provided by Yondr, a company that works concerts and other events. Smartwatches, and Meta glasses also aren’t allowed.

The Lost Weekend events are the most high-profile but certainly not the planetarium’s first experiment with mixing music and visuals.

The theater regularly hosts laser shows set to music, cycling through different artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé each month while keeping some crowd favorites like Pink Floyd in rotation. Graffio said in the last year KPop Demon Hunters laser shows have been especially popular.

Accommodating the Lost Weekend shows has meant bringing extra staff to handle the weekday crowds at the community planetarium.

But Graffio said there's a big upside to introducing music fans to a place they may never have thought to visit.

“It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “And most of the shows that we do are also educational in some sense. As cool as the visuals are, they are about the universe and what we know about it.”

And for those who can't make it to the planetarium shows, there's a more traditional route to marking Bridgers' new album. A dozen record stores around Southern California are hosting listening sessions at midnight Friday.