7 Best Space-Enthusiast Vacation Spots in Southern California
5 min readAug 17, 2017
7 vacation recommendations for space-enthusiasts, enjoy!
Make sure you visit these 7 locations during your next vacation to Southern California.
Southern California is known for the beautiful beaches and great weather, but don’t waste all of your time soaking up the Sun. Nurture your inner space-enthusiast and visit these 7 locations during your next vacation!
#7 —Visit the Griffith Observatory
Traffic will be heavy, parking spots will be non-existent, and there will probably be crowds of people; but, the the Griffith Observatory is well worth the visit. Located near the Hollywood sign and overlooking the city of Los Angeles, you will leave this iconic observatory with more than enough Instagram photographs.
Also, the observatory occasionally holds “star-parties” where astronomers, amateur and professional, will meet to socialize and gaze at the stars through the thick LA light-pollution.
#6 — Scheduled a public tour at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
This one can be a little tricky because the facility only offers public tours a few times a year. Also, it won’t help JPL tours sell out really fast, so make sure grab your visitor's ticket as soon as they become available.
If you are lucky enough to grab a ticket, you will not be disappointed as you tour the historic facility immersed by real rocket scientists.
Find out more info about scheduling a JPL tour here and ticket sales information.
#5 — Sign up for MeetUp.com space related group events!
MeetUp.com and other event forum websites are a great ways to find out about space-related events in the Southern California city you plan on visiting. Space themed events on Meet Up include space genre movie nights, telescope star-parties and more.
Be sure to checkout the events page ahead so you can plan your space-filled trip to Southern California accordingly.
Look up new space events in Southern California or your own city by clicking here.
#4 —Have a craft-beer at the space & science themed brewery, Wavelength Brewing Co.
You will not find football jerseys on the wall, nor the football game on the TV, instead you will find SpaceX flags hung across the walls and rocket videos on endless loops.
Wavelength Brewery is located about a 35-minute Uber, or beautiful coastal train-ride, from downtown San Diego. This children friendly tasting room is open 7 days a week holds TEDx style science talks every Friday night. Guest speakers include astrophysicists, space historians, authors, photographers and other from all disciplines of science.
#3 —Stand next to the Falcon 9 first stage rocket.
Towering over the SpaceX headquarters, the first stage rocket now one display was the Falcon 9 to successfully land after delivering a payload to orbit. This is a no brainer must stop for every space or rocket enthusiast.
Prepare to stand in awe as you look up only at the historic 156ft first stage. The SpaceX rocket landed at Cape Canaveral after delivering 11 Orbcomm communication satellites into orbit in December, 2015.
Unfortunately, the SpaceX facility is not open for public tours, but standing within feet of a Falcon 9 first stage rocket, only separated by a thin glass divider, is well worth stopping by for a quick photograph.
Also, if you’re lucky you can catch a used Falcon 9 rocket being moved from the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) at the Port of Los Angeles for a few days after a SpaceX launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.
#2 —Explore the San Diego Air and Space Museum
The San Diego Air and Space Museum is home to a many must-see attractions which will be of interest to both the seasoned and newer space enthusiast.
The museum is home to the Apollo 9 Command Module and the interactive exhibits which will inspire the entire family.
Visit the museum website to learn about the exhibits and annual limited time attractions!
#1 —Experience the historic NASA Endeavour Space Shuttle at the California Science Museum in Los Angeles.
For a small fee, at the California Science Museum you can stand under the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour. You will stand humbled as you explore each details from underneath the spacecraft.
Fun fact — Space Shuttle Endeavour flew 25 missions and helped to construct the International Space Station.
Check out more aerospace and space museums in California by clicking here.
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“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.”- Galileo Galilei
