Family vacation houses offer a constancy of place that nurtures us as the decades and the inevitable changes roll over our lives and generations.
The restaurant made famous as the establishing shot in Seinfeld episodes, as well as the Suzanne Vega song, "Tom's Diner". It's good diner food, if a little overpriced and overcrowded for the neighborhood (because of its celebrity status).
Used in the 1963 Hitchcock film The Birds.
A famous stop on old route 66 in Amboy. The town became nearly abandoned in the early 1970's when Interstate 40 opened to the north.
Built in 1385 possibly to protect the area against a French invasion, though probably also for show, Bodiam is a water castle surrounded on all four sides by a moat filled with large Koi. Bodiam is mostly a ruin on the inside thanks to the English Civil War, and was abandoned until the 1920's when it was given to the National Trust.
Hampton Court is an interesting blend of Tudor palace and Baroque architecture. Originally a Tudor palace owned by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and then Henry VIII, it was almost demolished in the 1600's by William and Mary, but the money was not there for Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild entirely, so they built new grand apartments on the back of the palace.
Set on the roof of the Standard Hotel in Downtown L.A. this bar has an amazing 360 degree view of the city.