Yesterday and I and a friend (a lurker who has read this whole thread but has not posted) made a day of it downtown and had a fantastic time.
We started by joining the L.A. Conservancy's Historic Downtown tour, one of many that are regularly scheduled. The guide was
extremely knowledgeable; we thoroughly enjoyed it and learned so many great things about L.A. history. Highlights were seeing the Bradbury Building (our first time inside) and the Edison Building (aka One Bunker Hill), which was absolutely amazing! A great way to spend 2 1/2 hours on a Saturday morning, and I hope to do more of their tours. Here's a link:
http://www.laconservancy.org/tours/tours_main.php4
After the tour we had lunch at Coles, again a first for both of us. The interior is certainly steeped in history and it was a great place to spend some time. In the hallway by the rest rooms, almost as an afterthought, some very old posters hang from the walls including one that advertised trips to Mt. Lowe (next weekend's destination). The hostess was nice enough to show us the "Mickey Cohen table" down at the end of the bar. Probably the least comfortable table in the place, but was fun to see it.
I liked their French Dip better than Phillipe's and the pecan pie was excellent, but the service was a little indifferent and prices seemed a tad high. I understand that there's a sort of "secret" bar near the back, but it wasn't open at the time. Still a tasty and enjoyable lunch.
After that we walked up to MOCA (past the Rosslyn so I could get a couple more outside shots) and saw the Weegee exhibit, which is outstanding! I thoroughly enjoyed all of it and the time passed quickly. This one is really a winner and MOCA has done a great job of putting it together. Lots of wonderfully amusing images, a fair bit of L.A. Noir, and there's an old 7 minute film of Weegee walking around Hollywood & Vine, talking about his techniques and generally goofing around.
We took the Red Line from NoHo, a bit of a freak show, but it was a good way to start and end the day.
I thoroughly recommend the Conservancy Group tours and the Weegee exhibit to all!