SeeCalifornia.com

Joanna Kalafatis describes herself as “a pretty simple girl.” When not in plays or movies, the LA-based actress / photographer / travel writer, who studied economics in college, loves taking road trips and exploring things like urban decay, dream resorts that mostly vanished, hangouts hidden from the radar of modern life, old mining camps and other offbeat locales. Her passion and exploration led to writing a fascinating book, “Abandoned Southern California.”

Kalafatis guides the reader along on an enjoyable journey of both desolate and urban decayed locations that will cause you to wonder about their creation and the role they had in developing California’s distinctive character. It’s a book about characters and what happened to their dreams (and money).

A few places you can explore:

• Once-booming mining camp of Calico, which has survived and become a tourist attraction
• Camarillo State Mental Hospital, whose abandoned buildings are on the campus of California State University Channel Islands
• Abandoned Rock-a-Hoola Water Park, off I-15 in the Mojave Desert
• Still-visible cages and animal enclaves of Old Griffith Park Zoo

See “Abandoned Southern California” book review…>