In honor of Getaway Month, I'd like to present a getaway option that doesn't actually include leaving LA. It's called a helicopter. Perhaps you've seen one chasing a fugitive in the neighborhood? Well it just so happens that going up in a helicopter is thrilling and can give you views of LA that you had never imagined (kind of like you're flying through the Laguna Beach opening title, only LA). If you have the stomach for it, the good people over at Group 3 Aviation will gladly take you up in the air for some fresh pespectives.

Talk to Claudia about their helicopter tours to Hollywood, Downtown, the beaches, or do it all on the Grand Tour. They have deals if there are 3 or more and mention AT to get $10 off . Or charter a helicopter to go someplace specific--Palm Springs? Santa Barbara?

Seeing the city from this perspective gave me a newfound appreciation for all that this great city holds. I saw neighborhoods I'd never been to, saw my own street, the street I grew up on. And somehow what normally takes an hour in the car was travelled in about 6 minutes by air.

–Laure