Esotouric offers Route 66 Father's Day bus tour

Staycation, Route 66 Style: Father's Day bus tour reveals the retro jewels in L.A.'s own backyard

WHAT: Esotouric presents Route 66, a San Gabriel Valley bus tour in the "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles" architecture and urbanism series

WHEN: Saturday June 20, 11am-4pm

COST: $58, or save $25 on four tours with a Season Pass

FATHERS DAY SPECIAL: Bring your dad and his ticket is just $6.60 (this offer requires pre-reservation)

WHERE: Tours departs from Philippe the Original, 1001 N. Alameda, downtown Los Angeles

Savvy travelers know that the most incredible adventures are often found close to home. This June, join Esotouric, the offbeat bus adventure company whose tours reveal the secret heart of Los Angeles, as they host an excursion deep into the San Gabriel Valley, along America's most historic highway.

Because if you think the best of Route 66 is hundreds of miles from L.A., you'd best think again.

When Esotouric's Route 66 bus tour departs from Philippe's French Dip in downtown on June 20, passengers are in for a five-hour tour packed with stunning retro jewels plucked from L.A.'s own backyard.

And for this special Father's Day edition of the tour, Esotouric is giving a discount to dads who accompany their children on the bus: dad's seat is just $6.60 with pre-reservation.

On the ROUTE 66 tour, hosted by Richard Schave, several dozen intrepid urban explorers will board a luxury coach class bus and head due East along the old Mother Road (an affectionate nickname for historic Route 66) to explore how Southern California welcomed newcomers for much of the 20th Century. Route 66 only exists today in small fragments, but many of the unique attractions that dotted its length survive and flourish today.

The ROUTE 66 tour explores California's original mass transit corridor and the building of its dream, from climate to citrus industry, TB hospitals to candyflake car culture. Highlights in the June 2009 edition include a tour of E. Wald Ward Farm (the oldest surviving commercial citrus facility in LA, where passengers can buy scrumptious preserves and almond-filled olives to take home), a visit to the Durrell Historical Museum of Azusa, a stroll through the halls and private rooms of Robert Stacy Judd's 1924 masterpiece The Aztec Motel (and yes, it's haunted), a visit to the astonishing Egypto-manic Covina Bowl bowling alley (once the 24-hour hub of community entertainment and still a popular destination), and tucked among vast cleared fields awaiting new development a stop at the homes of the feuding Slauson Sisters (hidden gems of Azusa lore and family dynamics, and a reminder of how fragile ecologies fall to the incessant crush of progress). Passengers will also view the evocative bungalows of old Monrovia accompanied by host Richard Schave's lively rendition of a vintage bungalow booster tune.

The Reyner Banham Loves LA series of Esotouric bus adventures provides fresh ways of seeing the Southland and mingling with fascinating fellow travelers, and are a must for urban explorers, architecture buffs, San Gabriel Valley residents and anyone who enjoys turning over rocks to reveal the secrets beneath. Come ride and see for yourself.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour schedule
Sun June 7 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: South LA architecture tour
Thurs June 11 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat June 13 - Vroman's edition: Blood & Dumplings
Sat June 20 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: Route 66 architecture tour
Thurs July 9 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat July 11 - Raymond Chandler's LA
Sat July 18 - Charles Bukowski's LA
Sat July 25 ­ John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill
Sat Aug 1 - The Real Black Dahlia Saturday
Sat Aug 8 - Pasadena Confidential
Thurs Aug 13 - The Hippodrome (Downtown Art Walk Shuttle, free)
Sat Aug 15 - Blood & Dumplings
Sat Aug 22 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice
Sat Aug 29 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: The Lowdown on Downtown-The Secret History of LA

For more info on Esotouric, please visit http://www.esotouric.com

For more on Reyner Banham, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyner_Banham
And the BBC documentary "Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles" http://reyner.notlong.com