Road Trip Guide of the Summer: Mimi Slawoff publishes her latest travel book | Community

“We were driving up and down Fair Oak’s Avenue, looking for an old theater in Pasadena that was no longer in operation as a theater,” said Mimi Slawoff, author of “Historic Los Angeles Roadsides.” “I finally called the chamber and she said ‘Did you put *South* Pasadena into your GPS?’ We hadn’t, and Donna and I just laughed.”

Slawoff’s new book, “Historic Los Angeles Roadsides,” is a travel guide for road trips along LA’s iconic roadways. From Route 66 to Pearblossom Highway, Slawoff highlights the sights, attractions and detours for travelers and tourists to keep an eye out for. She said LA is home to many small towns, old diners and shops, and natural views to experience. Many of the roads outlined in the book connect to each other, and she described for the reader how to get from one place to another to extend the trip.

Slawoff said that one of her favorite destinations that she has written about in her book is Angeles Crest Highway.

“Angeles Crest Highway is a true two-lane highway,” she said. “It might be the only place in LA where we truly get four seasons: Springtime flowers, the summer has cooler temperatures than in the city and there are fall colors.”

Mount Wilson Observatory and Chilao Visitor Center are two destinations that Slawoff suggests travelers visit along the highway.

The book was published in May, and Slawoff said it took her 18 months to put together. When she didn’t have a travel companion, she would put her phone in a dashboard cradle, record her trip, rewatch the footage and describe the routes.

“Sometimes, I would repeat a road trip for the book,” Slawoff said. “I wanted to make sure that I explained everything well, and provided accurate directions.”

Before becoming a travel author, Slawoff was a news reporter for Los Angeles Daily News. She then took a job writing for LA Parent magazine in order to be able to spend more time with her children.

“I had an opportunity to take my first travel press trip to Puerto Rico,” said Slawoff. “I loved the experience of being there with other writers, and having enough down time to explore. Ever since then, I started doing more press trips, and the invitations kept coming.”

The first book Slawoff wrote was published in April 2022, titled “Oldest Los Angeles.” She is currently working on a new guide.

For Slawoff, the best part of traveling is discovering new sights that lead her to other destinations. She said that the journey itself is just as much an attraction as the destination.

“There’s a street on the border of Mount Washington and Highland Park called Eldred Street,” Slawoff said. “Here we are, hiking up the steepest street in LA on a hot summer day, and when we get to the top, we see the Eldred Street Stairs. The kind of adventure where you discover something you’ve never seen before is what makes roadtrips fun.”