What we’re about
Unplug and unwind. Bond over shared experiences. Make authentic friendships.
So Cal Explorers Meetup is the antidote to a hyper-mediated, disconnected world. We go on outings to learn, explore, and celebrate Southern California's most historic, iconic, interesting, cool and lesser-known spots, together. It’s through shared experiences that bonds are formed. We are not a dating group. We are not a networking group. We want everyone to have a place where they can connect and form friendships with other adults without any pressure or ulterior motives.
We'll enjoy walking tours, presentations, hiking, kayaking, museums, live music, movies, dining, exploring, and meetin' up. While everyone 18 and older is welcome, we tend to be a group of progressive, slightly irreverent, 40-60 year olds with counter culture sensibilities.
Come explore with other like-minded folks for relaxed, casual, and fun socializing, learning and dining. So Cal Explorers is where awkward encounters turn into epic friendships!
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- 32ND ANNUAL PASADENA CHALK FESTIVAL 2025Paseo Colorado, Pasadena, CA
Cross-posted with LA & OC Weirdo Art & Music Forum
32nd Annual Pasadena Chalk Festival
Always Free Updates ForthcomingDate: Sunday, June 15, 11:00 AM
Location: The Paseo, 300 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101
We visited the festival the last 3 years, and it was a lot of fun, with some very impressive artists. Join us to check out the art, talk to the artists, and enjoy the vibe. There are very many lunch options in Old Town Pasadena.Photos from last year: https://www.meetup.com/la-oc-weirdo-music-and-art-group/photos/34583738/))
Festival Info:
PASADENA CHALK FESTIVAL takes place on June 14 & 15, 2025
Open and free to the public 10:00am – 7:00pm
200 chalk murals and over 500 artists • Art Gallery & Silent Auction • Live DeeJay • Concessions • Beer Garden
Location: The Plaza at the Pasadena Convention Center, 300 E. Green Street. Pasadena, CA 91101Website:
https://pasadenachalkfestival.org/Artist entry form and guidelines here:
https://pasadenachalkfestival.org/artists/Have you watched our film?
https://youtu.be/V3mztSwQK1MFor centuries artists (known in Italy as “Madonnari” or street painters) have painted beautiful images on the boulevards and squares of great cities, using the pavements as the street surfaces as their canvas. After World War II, scores of itinerant artists made their living from the unique art of street painting. Currently prestigious cultural festivals in Europe, North and South America celebrate this traditional art form and have become popular attractions for artists, art lovers and people from all walks of life.
LightBringerProject/The Pasadena Chalk Festival began in 1993 after a summer intern at the Light Bringer Project attended a street painting festival in Paris and brought back her amazing pictures and observations. The first “Chalk on the Walk” took place at Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall with over 150 visual artists participating in the first Los Angeles-area event. All proceeds went toward community arts programs and HIV/AIDS resources.
In 2010, The Pasadena Chalk Festival was officially named the largest street painting festival by the Guinness World Record, welcoming more than 600 artists using over 25,000 sticks of chalk and drawing a crowd of more than 100,000 visitors in one weekend. In fact, previous festivals have attracted artists and design teams from many regions of the country, across Southern California, and virtually every Los Angeles-area community. Leading art schools, museums and cultural centers are also represented at the festival.
The Pasadena Chalk Festival is produced by Light Bringer Project (LBP), with proceeds benefitting LBP, a nonprofit arts and education organization that creates and supports vital arts and learning programs in the LA County and Pasadena public schools for students of all ages. Each artist volunteers to 20 hours of his or her talent and energies to make this possible.
Parking: Parking at the Pasadena Convention Center is easy. You will find the center’s parking entrances on Euclid and Marengo (between Cordova St. and Green St.), shared with Hotel Dena. If you are using a Mobile GPS, enter this address for the most direct route: 175 South Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. There are 8 EV charging stations available for electric cars. The stations can be used for the duration of your visit. The Convention Center parking structure has ADA parking and elevators.
Parking Cost: Daily flat parking rate of $15. Parking tickets are for one entry only and are not valid for in and out parking. Credit card and contactless payment only.
- MOVIE: BEFORE SUNRISE - 30th ANNIVERSARYThe Frida Cinema, Santa Ana, CA
BEFORE SUNRISE - 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Date: Monday, June 16 @ 8:30 pm
Venue: Frida Cinema
305 E 4th St #100, Santa Ana, CA 92701Optional dinner before the movie @ 6:45
Fourth Street Market (4SM)
201 East 4th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701Parking
There are two parking structures adjacent to 4SM off of 4th & 5th Streets accessible via Spurgeon St, a metered parking lot off of 3rd and Bush, and metered parking throughout East End and Downtown Santa Ana. Parking structures offer first 2 hours free!Watch Trailer here
Director: Richard Linklater Run Time: 101 min. Release Year: 1995
Starring: Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy"On a train bound for Vienna, two strangers—Jesse (Ethan Hawke), a restless American backpacker, and Céline (Julie Delpy), a thoughtful French student—strike up a casual conversation that quickly deepens into something electric. Jesse, impulsive and charming, persuades Céline to get off the train with him and wander the city until his flight leaves the next morning.
Over the course of one night, they talk, laugh, debate, and flirt as they walk the cobblestone streets, share glances by the Danube, and explore the edges of intimacy. With no promise of a future, they make the present infinite." - MOVIE NIGHT: ALL ABOUT EVEThe Frida Cinema, Santa Ana, CA
ALL ABOUT EVE
BUY YOUR TICKET NOW, IT WILL PROBABLY SELL OUT!Date: Wednesday, June 25 @ 7:30 pm
Venue: Frida Cinema
305 E 4th St #100, Santa Ana, CA 92701Optional dinner @ 6:00 pm
Fourth Street Market (4SM)
201 East 4th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701Buy Your Tickets Here $13.00
Parking
There are two parking structures adjacent to 4SM off of 4th & 5th Streets accessible via Spurgeon St, a metered parking lot off of 3rd and Bush, and metered parking throughout East End and Downtown Santa Ana. Parking structures offer first 2 hours free!Watch Trailer here
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Run Time: 139 min. Release Year: 1950
Starring: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, George Sanders"Our Classic Movie Nights series hits the stage in June for our highly-anticipated screening the legendarily catty All About Eve!
Long before “gay icon” was a household term, there was Margo Channing—played with fire and majesty by Bette Davis, in this ultimate camp classic of backstage betrayal, biting wit, and theatrical fabulousness. This is the blueprint: a film drenched in glamour, gossip, and the punishment of aging in a world obsessed with youth. Not to be outdone (ever) is Anne Baxter’s Eve, the original ingénue, and George Sanders, delivering high-grade snark as the venomous critic Addison DeWitt. And we could never forget a baby Marilyn Monroe in a scene-stealing early role.Every glance is loaded, every line is iconic, and every cigarette is smoked like a weapon. Fasten your seatbelts? Darling, we never took them off.
Make sure to get to the screening early, as our Marketing Director Bekah will be doing a very informative and entertaining presentation on the film before it starts!"
- VENICE CANALS & MORE WALKSouth Beach Park Playground, Santa Monica, CA
SORRY TO HAVE TO RESCHEDULE AGAIN!
Let's explore the canals & other parts of Venice. I led this walk the last 3 years and it was quite popular, so let's do it again.
Date: Saturday June 28, 11:00 AM.
We walk 11:15 AM sharp! If you have trouble finding me, post a message in the event. I won't wait unless you contact me.
Meet at the South Beach Park Playground
3400 Barnard Way · Santa Monica, CA, just north of Venice Beach (see map)Street parking is difficult & beach parking is $$$$$. CARPOOLING IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Message me if you are lost.
Total distance is approximately 4 miles.
We will walk at a moderate pace to take in the sights.
About:
The famous canals that Abbot Kinney built in the early 20th Century, which gave the name to Venice, are all long gone, but there is a separate set of canals that is still there, and they are a very nice area to explore on foot. Many southern Californians have never seen them, and don't even know they exist. They had fallen on hard times by the 70's, but are now restored and surrounded by great architecture,From Ocean Park, in the southern end of Santa Monica, we walk the never-boring Venice Beach, then over to the canals. We will very casually wind through the canals. You don't rush through here! If we're still motivated we'll add another mile or so to explore some of the Venice Walk Streets, which I just recently discovered. Then we go back up Abbot Kinney Blvd. It still has old industrial brick buildings repurposed into shops, cafes, etc, The streets to the south of Abbot Kinney have some very cool houses, so we might do a loop between Navarre and Westminster to check them out. We then go back up to Main St. in Ocean Park, which has lots of restaurants and a few notable landmarks.
There are a lot of cool buildings in the area, including a couple by world-famous architect Frank Gehry ( designed Disney Hall, etc.), such as the giant binoculars, now owned by Google.
This makes it about 4 miles total.
We'll grab lunch on Main Street.. There are tons of restaurants in the area. Last 2 years we ate at Lula's Mexican, which has a really nice patio in the back.
After lunch we can visit the relatively new Venice Heritage Museum 228 Main Street, #5, Venice, CA 90291
Here is some information on local landmarks: https://www.neighborhoods.com/blog/architectural-tour-venice-beach-ca
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