By: Maureen Kingsley

IVD Technology’s editorial office is located in West Los Angeles, and while it may not be considered an attraction itself, we the editors feel confident in our recommendations of what to do here in L.A. outside of the AACC Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo.

In addition to the options we’ve offered for dining and sports-related recreation near the Convention Center, we present here a few ideas for additional attractions you may want to check out.

  

Olympic Blvd. and Figueroa St.

L.A. LIVE District, Downtown Los Angeles

Hours: M-F 11:30-7:30; Sat. + Sun. 10:00-11:30

 

Tucked into the Northwest corner of Downtown’s L.A. LIVE district is a gem of a museum for music-lovers: The four-year-old Grammy Museum. An interactive space packed with informative and entertaining exhibits covering musical genres ranging from early American folk to contemporary hip-hop (and everything in between), the museum keeps a low profile amidst the glitz and sparkle and noise of L.A. LIVE but is absolutely worthy of a visit.

Occupying four floors and 30,000 square feet, the Grammy Museum cleverly uses current technology to its advantage to thoroughly educate and delight visitors, providing an experience that is both fun and cutting-edge.

Highlights include tracing how one genre of music inspired another, then another, then yet another on the large and visually stunning touch screen display; the opportunity to get one’s hands on electric guitars and a drumset; and listening to the same contemporary pop song played on about a dozen different playback devices, including an old Victrola, an eight-track-casette player, and an iPod.

A standard adult ticket is $12.95. There is also a senior discount and a group rate (10 persons or more).

 

630 W. 5^th St.

Downtown Los Angeles

Hours: M, W, F, Sat. 10:00-5:30; T, Th 10:00-8:00. Closed Sun.

 

Originally built in 1926 and renovated and expanded between 1988 and 1993, Central Library is a Downtown Los Angeles landmark. It not only serves as a full-service, functioning library, it contains valuable and impressive works of art and features grand architecture. The painted ceiling in the main lobby, for instance, includes vividly colored rings, starbursts, checkerboards, and the names of Los Angeles novelists. The atrium chandeliers hanging in the Bradley Wing atrium play off the massive 2,000-pound cast-bronze chandelier in the historic Lodwrick M. Cook Rotunda. An artist transformed two passenger elevators in the Tom Bradley Wing into “observation pods” by papering the inside of the cabs and shafts with old card-catalog cards. Plenty of additional sculptures, paintings, and architectural wonders are around various corners of the historic building.

Walk-in, no-appointment-necessary library tours are available, as are self-guided tours.

 

1000 Elysian Park Ave.

Los Angeles

Home games week of July 15, 2012: Sun. 7/15, 1:10 p.m. (Padres); Mon., 7/16, 7:10 p.m. (Phillies); Tues. 7/17, 7:10 p.m. (Phillies), Wed. 7/18, 12:10 p.m. (Phillies)

 

Also known as Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium has hosted more than 125 million fans since it opened in 1962. The 56,000-seat ballpark provides spectators a view of Downtown Los Angeles, Elysian Hills, and the San Gabriel Mountains, and is itself landscaped meticulously with more than 3,400 trees covering 300 acres. A multiyear stadium-improvement plan begun in 2006 included replacing every seat within the primary seating bowl and returning to the stadium’s original pastel-color palette, repairing and conducting maintenance on the concrete and structure within the seating bowl area, and introducing a traditional yet modern “box” seating concept along the baselines.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will play at home on four consecutive days during the week of the AACC Annual Meeting, versus the Padres (once) and Phillies (three times).

Tickets are available from TicketMaster, StubHub, and various other outlets.