Go Metro to Sunday Studios at MOCA

Check out MOCA’s annual super-sized indoor/outdoor event! Sunday Studio presents Big Family Day at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on Sunday, June 3 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The free event features gallery tours by expert kids, hands-on activities, entertainment, and more.

Show your valid Metro pass or Metro Rail ticket at the box office on the day of the event and receive one museum voucher for a second visit to MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA on a different day.

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA is located at 152 North Central Avenue in Los Angeles.  Take the Metro Gold Line and exit Little Tokyo/Arts District Station.

MOCA Grand Avenue is located at 250 South Grand Avenue in Los Angeles. Take the Metro Red or Purple Line and exit Pershing Square Station towards 4th Street and Hill Street.

For your best route, use the Trip Planner.

Go Metro Weekends, May 25-28

For those of you not going out of town, take advantage of the long weekend and check out some of the great events happening around the city.

The legendary queen of Egypt has just settled in at the California Science Center. Cleopatra: The Exhibition features the largest collection of Cleopatra-era artifacts ever assembled in the U.S. The displays give a first-hand account of the famous queen’s world. After visiting Cleopatra, spend the rest of the day exploring the Science Center’s fun, interactive science exhibits. Tickets for Cleopatra are $19.75 for adults, and it’s $26 to visit the exhibition and catch an IMAX film. Go Metro and save $3 on exhibition-only tickets and $5 on combination tickets. The California Science Center is open everyday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Metro Expo Line to Expo Park/USC Station, Metro Bus 102 to Exposition/University.)

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Go Metro Weekends, May 18-20

 

Santa Monica Festival. Photo from Santa Monica Festival Official Facebook.

Between baseball games, playoff games, concerts and bike tours, downtown L.A. is going to be pretty crowded this weekend. Try to take public transportation to avoid dealing with the mess of traffic and parking. Here is our earlier post about taking transit to downtown this weekend.

Park at Union Station and take the free Dodger Stadium Express to Dodger games. Plenty of buses, including the Metro Silver Line, run past Staples Center, and you can also get there by taking the Metro Expo and Blue Lines (hop off at Pico Station) or Red and Purple Lines (exit 7th/Metro Station and stroll south on Figueroa). There will be some road closures for the Amgen Tour of California Bike Race on Sunday, so plan ahead. Check out this earlier post for more details on how to get around and as always, use Trip Planner to find the best routes.

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Go Metro Weekends, April 20-22

A view of downtown from LA Historic State Park. Photo from Earth Day Latino's Facebook page

Get your comedy fix on Friday with 420 Comedy Night, hosted by Gina Bernstein. The lineup includes comics from famed comedy schools such as the Groundlings and Second City. Curtains go up at Archway Studio and Theatre at 9 p.m. and tickets are just $10. (Metro Gold Line to Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, walk about a block and a half south on Alameda to Traction. Head two streets southeast on Traction; the theatre is located near Wurstkuche restaurant.)

Celebrate nature at Earth Day Latino, which will take place at the Los Angeles Historic State Park. The event begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday and you’ll be able to camp out overnight if you wish; a few activities are planned for Sunday morning. Young and old are invited to plant some trees, learn some history about the urban green space and take a guided walk around the park. There will be local high school bands providing entertainment, as well as a scheduled treasure hunt, bike ride and more. Food will be available for purchase, or you can bring your own picnic lunch. Those who wish to camp overnight need to check in; register online or before 10 a.m. at the park to be loaned a tent. The event is free and open to the public. (Metro Gold Line to Chinatown Station, Metro Bus 76 to Alameda/College.)

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Go Metro Weekends, April 13-15

Pig ears from Haven Gastropub will be available at the 626 Night Market. Photo from 626 Night Market Facebook page.

If you’re into movie fashion, take a long lunch on Friday and visit the FIDM Museum, which is currently presenting the 20th anniversary Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibition. Celebrating the art and industry of costume designers, this exhibition presents more than 100 costumes from twenty films released in 2011, including costumes from all five 2011 Academy Award Nominees for Costume Design: W/E, Hugo, Jane Eyre, The Artist, and Anonymous. Also on display are costumes from last year’s winner, Alice in Wonderland. The exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is free. (Metro Red/Purple Line to 7th/Metro Station, exit towards Hope Street and walk south for two blocks. Metro Bus 14 to 9th/Grand.)

Saturday is a great day to visit Pasadena. The Pasadena Earth and Arts Festival starts the festivities and the 626 Night Market will take over the streets once the sun goes down. The Earth and Arts Festival takes place at Memorial Park and the Armory Center for the Arts from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the festival is free, and there will be food trucks, an eco-swap meet, arts and crafts for kids, live music and an outdoor movie screening. Go Metro and receive a free gift; just show your valid Metro ticket or pass at the transportation booth and get a reusable tote bag.

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Go Metro Weekends, March 30 – April 1

For those of you not “prepping” for the first ever L.A. Beerathon this Saturday – which is no longer a Beerathon but more a city-wide bar crawl, check out the event’s Facebook for a map of venues with special food and drink offers – get out and enjoy some of the history and culture Los Angeles has to offer.

Photo by k12istina15 via Flickr

One last reminder: Thai New Year Festival is this Sunday. There will be food, dancing, crafts and a parade, and if you show your valid Metro pass or ticket at the event booth you’ll get a free Thai umbrella. The festival is free and lasts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Metro Red Line to Hollywood/Western Station.)

The South Pasadena Library is holding a free, public discussion to celebrate the life of civil rights leader César Chavez on March 30. The event will take place at the community room, which is one block from the library, and starts at 6 p.m. Victor Griego, Jr., who is a founding member of the César E. Chavez Foundation, is the guest speaker and will be moderating. The documentary “Fighting for Our Lives” also will be shown at the event, and there will be refreshments. No reservations are required. (Metro Gold Line to Mission Station or Metro Bus 176 to Mission/Meridian, walk three blocks east to 1115 El Centro Street.)

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Destinations Discounts

The latest are below and here’s the list of the many businesses that provide discounts to those with Metro tickets and passes.

CITIES RESTAURANT

Cities Restaurant in East LA makes hosting a special event look easy. This means you don’t have to worry about where to have your next special gathering.  From birthdays to graduations to business meetings, Cities Restaurant is the perfect crowd-pleaser. Stop by and experience delicious food, cool ambiance, a lively bar, and the fresh flavors of the ever changing menu. Cities Restaurant is proud to present Jazz Night every Saturday night from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Show your valid Metro pass or Metro Rail ticket to the server and save 20% off entire bill (excluding alcoholic beverages).

For more info visit citiesflavor.com

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Destination Discounts: Start 2012 by saving some $s while having fun

Feeling some post-holiday blues? Don’t worry – with the new year finally underway, there are plenty of things to look forward to in 2012. Let Metro take you to these destinations and save yourself some money as part of the agency’s Destination Discounts program.

For those of you who want to keep celebrating the new year, head to L.A.’s Chinatown for the Lunar New Year Festival. The Year of the Dragon kicks off the weekend of January 28-29 with the 113th Annual Golden Dragon Parade on Saturday. Cultural performances will abound and there will be plenty of food, including 1,000 cupcakes from Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” TV show.

Photo by julialat34, via Flickr

Although the festival is free, those who get there by Metro and can prove it will receive a free gift at the Chinatown BID event info booth. Take the Gold Line and hop off at Chinatown Station to get into the middle of the action, or jump on the Metro Local Bus 76 or Metro Rapid 794.

If you’ve decided that 2012 is the year you’re going to see the world, you’ll want to hit up the Los Angeles Times Travel Show from January 27 to 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. A slew of celebrity speakers and exhibitors will clue you in on the best travel destinations and attractions. The Travel Show also has three new areas, so whether you want to travel in luxury, go on wild adventures or schedule some family fun, you’re sure to find something to suit your desires. Go Metro and avoid paying for parking, then show your valid Metro pass or ticket and save $3 on each admission ticket purchased at the box office on the day of the event.

The Convention Center can be reached by several Metro buses, including the Metro Rapid 720 and Rapid 728, and the Blue Line. Visit Trip Planner at Metro.net to find the easiest way to get there.

For a destination that’s a little closer to home, take the Blue Line or Metro Local Bus 232 to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, a short walk from Metro Rail’s Transit Mall Station.

Photo by Mustafa Sayed, via Flickr

Learn about over 10,000 animals and have a close encounter at Shark Lagoon. Show your valid Metro pass or ticket and get $2 off adult admission and $1 off child admission.  With trains on the Blue Line running every ten minutes in the evenings, getting home by rail after a long day of exploring should be a snap.

Destination discounts: Let's Go Kings!

Kings center Anze Kopitar holds a Penguin at bay. Photo by by Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images via the Kings website.

One of the benefits of more evening trains on the subway and Blue Line (announced earlier today) is that it’s a lot easier to get home after games at Staples Center. Obviously, pro basketball is on a hiatus at the moment due to the NBA labor situation, but that doesn’t matter. We still have pro hockey, a sport in which there’s no such thing as a free throw.

The Kings offer a 10 percent discount for tickets to their games to those holding a valid Metro pass or Metro Rail ticket. The team has been to the Stanley Cup playoffs the past two seasons and will likely make a return appearance ths year thanks to a solid core team and terrific defense, a star in goalie Jonathan Quick and some key off-season acquisitions.

The game on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins was about as good a regular season hockey game as you’ll see, although the Kings lost in an overtime shootout — but really the game could have gone either way. Upcoming home games:

Nov. 8 — Nashville

Nov. 10 — Vancouver, defending Western Conference champions

Nov. 12 — Minnesota

Nov. 16 — Anaheim, boo boo boo

For the rest of the Kings schedule, check out the team’s website. When I was in the newspaper biz, I loved going to weeknight games and watching the Kings squash — I mean check — opposing players, who I imagined to be editors.

This week's Destination Discounts

Go Metro and save on merchandise at ArtNight in Pasadena this Friday.

Go Metro and save on merchandise at ArtNight in Pasadena this Friday.

Sure, riding Metro saves you from the stress of traffic, reduces your environmental impact and lowers your monthly transportation costs – but did you know it also entitles you to a bunch of great deals around L.A.? That’s what Destination Discounts is all about – and The Source is here to make sure you don’t miss out. Use our calendar to stay on top of the latest deals from Metro’s local partners – destinations, sporting events, concerts, museums, theme parks, shops and more. Foodies: make sure to check out the Destination Discounts Dining Map. And for when you’re on the go, have your smartphone alert you of nearby Destination Discounts with Vidappe for iPhone and Android.

Some discounts available this week:

  • 10% off Store Merchandise at ArtNight Pasadena
  • Save 10% on Artwork at Self-Help Graphics & Art
  • Save 20% on tickets to John Leguizamo Ghetto Klown at Ricardo Montalban Theatr

Full details after the jump on the Destination Discounts Calendar. Continue reading