The hook
A gingerbread Victorian lighthouse from 1874 stands on the San Pedro bluffs, the twin of a lighthouse the atlas already loves up in San Francisco Bay.
01Why it's worth it
Point Fermin was built in 1874 to guide ships into the growing Los Angeles harbor, a Stick-style Victorian of redwood and hand-carved trim with a Fresnel lens that came around Cape Horn by sailing ship. It's one of six near-identical sisters built to the same design in 1873-74; only three survive, and one of the others is East Brother out in San Pablo Bay. Its first keepers were two sisters, Mary and Ella Smith. The light went dark during World War II for fear of guiding enemy ships, and the building drifted until it opened as a museum in 2002. Now you can tour it for free and climb to the lantern, set in a grassy bluff-top park where, on a clear day, Catalina floats on the horizon.
02How to experience it
It's on Paseo del Mar at the tip of San Pedro, about six hours from the Bay. Free tours run Tuesday through Sunday afternoons, no reservation. The park around it is a fine spot on its own. It pairs with Sunken City, the Korean Bell, and the tide pools right along these bluffs.