Hawthorne Travel Guide

I've never been to this musuem but I found that it is the only place the city lists as an attraction.

It is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. The Western Museum of Flight is located at historic "Jack Northrop Field - Hawthorne Municipal Airport." There is a minimum charge of $3.00 for adults and $2.00 for children.

Southern California Historical Aviation Foundation (SCHAF) members are admitted free with their membership cards. Free parking is available at the entrance to the Museum.

Planes that are on display include the modern jets like F14 Tomcat and the YF23 Black Widow and old World War II planes like Jack Northrop's JB-1 Bat.

They serve Turkish, Moroccan, Mediterranean style dishes. They are 100% Halal. The dishes are quite tasty and the staff is very courteous and helpful. I liked all the decorations-- lots of drapes and middle eastern style cushions-- and quiet music.

Favorite Dish: I usually have something that comes with pita bread, falafel with hummus. The place is vegan friendly as long as you like fava beans. They have shwarma and kafta and other choices with lamb and chicken.

According to my 3rd grade teacher, Hawthorne is named after the famous American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. The daughter of one of the land develpers who founded Hawthorne liked the author's writing and shared the same birthday as the author.

Hawthorne was incorportated as a city in 1922.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is linked with Hawthorne since they moved here in 1939. Since the Southern California Aviation boom fizzled out, Hawthorne has been going down the tubes.

Fondest memory: I wouldn't say this goes with the words "Fondest Memory". But it is interesitng to note how even in the suburbs of LA the gang culture found a pseudo-cult following.

Gang violence is a serious problem in most big cities, but it kind of became a phenomon in the LA area. While I was in elementry school it wasn't uncommon for kids to say "I know the Pirus" and some other kid ot say "My brother knows Crips." Even playground trash talk became about what gang names you knew.

Most of what I know just comes from listening to rap music and reading the newspapers. But the LA gangsterism phenomenon was out there even before movies like "Colors", "Boyz N Hood", or "Menace II Society" were box office hits. It was kind of crazy to think about how a kid living in Hawthorne would know about the Hoovers or ETGs or other infamous street gangs.

Hawthorne only has a few "known" sets:
Hawthorne Pirus (Bloods) and the rest are Crip sets--118th Gangster Crips and Water Gates.

From what little I know, the gang life is totally different in the suburbs when comparing them to the gangs in South Central LA. But the gangster mentatily is very noticable.