Passion Points: Family

The Elms hotel, Abberley, England; courtesy of von Essen hotels
The Elms hotel, Abberley, England; courtesy of von Essen hotels

Kelly Wearstler on Los Angeles (with kids) Text Size A A A

Interior decorator Kelly Wearstler has put her glamour stamp on private homes as well as three L.A. boutique hotels, including the Viceroy Santa Monica. Wearstler and her husband Brad Korzen have two sons, ages 3 and 5, and together they have staked out some favorite kid-friendly spots in Los Angeles, including one close to their weekend getaway in Malibu.

“It’s so awesome at the Malibu Country Mart (www.malibucountrymart.com). If we stay in Malibu, we’ll go early in the morning and get corn muffins and cappuccinos from the Malibu Kitchen & Gourmet Country Market (3900 Cross Creek Rd.; 310-456-7845). We’ll feed the birds and people watch. Then we’ll walk to Pet Headquarters (3886 Cross Creek Rd.; 310-456-7029; www.pethq.org) and we always head to the playground. Of course, there’s also a great toy store, Toy Crazy (23410 Civic Center Way; 310-456-5696). We order out food from John’s Garden (3835 Cross Creek Rd.; 310-456-8377) and take it home and eat on the beach.”

“We go to the Santa Monica Pier (www.santamonicapier.org) all the time. We get a day pass and the boys ride bumper cars and scary rides, the big ferris wheel and always the merry-go-round. We take their scooters and skateboards and go on the boardwalk. We’ll get lemonade at the lemonade stand on the boardwalk near the swings, which is another thing they love to do. Then we usually we go to the restaurant at Fred Segal Santa Monica* (420 Broadway; 310-395-6252).”

“We love going to movies at the historic old El Capitan Theatre (6838 Hollywood Blvd.; 323-467-7674), because they always have a great live pre-shows. It feels old-school and beautiful.”

“At the Petersen Automotive Museum (6060 Wilshire Blvd.; 323-930-2277; www.petersen.org), they have fantastic cars, including a police motorcycle you can sit on and act like you’re a police officer. Then we usually go to eat at Urth Caffé (8565 Melrose Ave.; 310-659-0628; www.urthcaffe.com). We’re Urth fanatics. We love the waffles, tamales and soups. There are also the old trains at Travel Town Museum (5200 Zoo Dr.; www.traveltown.org) in Griffith Park near the zoo. You can ride the trains. We do both the same day.”

“At Storyopolis (12348 Ventura Blvd.; 818-509-5600; www.storyopolis.com) they have a lot of special, small-print-run children’s books and a lot of stories with meaning that are less commercialized. We’ve gone to author readings there too. They also sell CDs, music and toys and a great selection of puzzle and word game books. I buy birthday presents there.”

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