Los Angeles in a Snap!

1. It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when L.A. wasn't all concrete jungle. A small museum at the La Brea Tar Pits explains how the area's historic tar pits preserved fossils of saber-toothed tigers and other creatures from the Ice Age. The surrounding park makes for a perfect picnic spot. 5801 Wilshire Blvd., 323/934-7243, tarpits.org, $7

2. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, on a stretch of Wilshire Boulevard known as Miracle Mile, has the largest permanent collection west of Chicago. There are over 100,000 pieces of art, from the ancient (a 7,000-year-old Mesopo-tamian cylinder seal) to the modern (a 2005 steel-and-silk sculpture by Do-Ho Suh). On Friday evenings April through December, free jazz concerts are held in the Central Court. 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 323/857-6000, lacma.org, $9 ...