My last business trip to downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood area was about ten years ago. I left with the impression that the pimps and prostitutes and tacky retail stores had become permanent fixtures. Last February, as a guest of the Educational Travel Conference, I visited Los Angeles as a featured speaker on Family Travel. To my surprise and delight, I found the downtown and Hollywood areas to be clean, safe and quite lively, not with pimps, but with trendy stores and restaurants. Redline Tours took us on an interesting walking/Metro tour. Yes, Los Angeles has a fledgling Metro system now! Check out the Web site: http://www.metrolinktrains.com/.

The Hollywood and Vine train station has musical notes on the railings and old time movie cameras in the landing areas. The trains operate on an honor system and it seems to work. The plush movie theatres have been restored to their former glory, at the cost of millions, including the Disney-owned theatre, which featured "The Lion King" at the time of my visit. Even the historic old Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has been spruced up. Across the street from the hotel is the famous Mann's Chinese Theatre. Did you know that the concrete blocks are removable? When a celebrity slips down the rungs of stardom, his or her block is unceremoniously moved toward the rear of the courtyard. Redline Tours did a great job. The guides spout a running commentary of trivia and interesting facts, especially for a lifelong celebrity-struck movie buff like me.

Chinatown is another area that is working hard to entice the tourists to visit. We had a very authentic dim sum lunch at one of the local restaurants. We also checked out the herbal medicine stores. Free consultations by an herbalist are available. One of the outstanding family attractions we visited was the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Don't let the title fool you. This is not some ordinary cowboy museum; rather it is a stunning array of interactive displays that are fun and educational at the same time. Check out their schedule of special programs. Their Web site address is: http://www.autry-museum.org.

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