Sandi Hemmerlein
Sandi Hemmerlein is a writer and photographer. Based in L.A. but constantly on the prowl for new adventure, she spends most of her time nurturing her interest in birds, animals, neon, historic theaters, puppets, trains, folk art, and stained glass. In addition to her work for PBS SoCal, Sandi also documents everything on her own website Avoiding Regret.
It almost doesn’t matter what kind of car you actually drive. Everybody’s got their eye on some other car. And there’s no better place to plan your next acquisition and be inspired by the best car designs of all time than at these classic car collections.
If you forgot to train for your local Turkey Trot this year, here are six great places to take the stairs after your Thanksgiving dinner.
Here are six places where you can picture yourself in the pilot’s seat, sit in a cockpit, and even take flight – just like the great airmen and airwomen of SoCal once did during The Golden Age of Aviation (and beyond).
Whether you want to journey in a luxury dining car, hang with the crew in the caboose, or just do a little spectating from a vintage depot along some historic tracks, here are six great attractions for SoCal railway buffs and curious travelers alike.
Here are the five best haunted hikes in Southern California – for ghost hunters and skeptics alike. Take only photos, and leave only footprints, so the spirits stay wherever they may dwell.
Here are five great examples of places that help make the City of Angels more like Spooksville, U.S.A.
For the subterranean sort of outdoor adventurer, here are six great sites of hollowed-out earth to hide from the sunlight, work on your night vision, and discover an underground world that few others get to see.
Here are five great rocky climbs that don’t require a lot of time, much hiking expertise, or any equipment — aside from your hiking boots and sunscreen.
If you’re looking for signs of Southern California’s prehistoric dinosaurs, you’re probably not going to find much. But there are some great places in SoCal where you can join more recent (but still retro) versions of the extinct creatures.
California was (and is) such a land of opportunity that if you wanted to live in a castle, you could just build one yourself. And fortunately for the rest of us, you need not be a Sir or a Lady to go visit any of these six great castles in California.
If you’re interested in piecing together what life might’ve been like in Southern California before it was The Golden State, here are five great sites to learn about and experience the region's Native American heritage.
You may think that “verdant” landscaping implies green grass and evergreen shrubs, but succulents have an uncommon beauty and can actually survive a drought like this. Here are ways to learn more about succulents and explore the world of desert gardens.