One route. Many stories worth paying for.

Sample tour, San Pedro waterfront

The Waterfront Wander. A 3 and a half minute taste per stop.

Here is a four-stop sample scripted the way we build for our clients. A visitor buys a ticket on their phone, presses play, and walks the waterfront and downtown. Each stop runs about 3 and a half minutes of narration, and every stop ends with a real handoff to a local independent so the district earns from the visit.

1. Stop 1

   Battleship USS Iowa

   "You are standing in the shadow of 887 feet of American steel, the USS Iowa. She is the lead ship of her class, the last of the fast battleships, and today she rests here at berth 87 in the Port of Los Angeles. Look up. Those are the 16 inch, 50 caliber guns. Nine of them, in three turrets. Each barrel weighs 120 tons. When they fire, they hurl a shell as heavy as a Volkswagen Beetle, 24 miles downrange, and land within a football field of the target. The concussion is so violent it can shatter light bulbs three decks below. Now look down at the wood beneath your feet. That is real teak, laid over the armored deck to keep it cool for the crew. Those same planks were walked by sailors in 1943, running to battle stations in the Pacific while the ship cut the water at 33 knots. She is the fastest battleship ever built, 60,000 horsepower, four propellers, a hull designed to slip through the Panama Canal with inches to spare on either side. Walk forward toward the bow and picture this. On the morning of November 22, 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt stood almost exactly where you are standing, on his way to the Tehran Conference to meet Stalin and Churchill. Because he used a wheelchair, the crew installed a bathtub in the captain's cabin, the only bathtub ever placed aboard a United States Navy warship. You can see it on the tour below decks. Turn and look at the bridge, that armored tower rising above you. Sixteen inches of steel wrap the conning position, because from here the captain commanded a crew of over 2,700 sailors. 2,700 young men, most of them under 25, living, eating and fighting inside this hull. In a heavy sea, the Iowa would flex and you could hear the steel groan. She fought in three wars. World War Two, escorting carriers and shelling Japanese held islands. Korea, where her guns silenced shore batteries at Wonsan. And the Persian Gulf era, after a 1980s refit gave her Tomahawk missiles and Harpoon launchers. Four decades of service, then a quiet retirement, and finally this, a permanent berth in San Pedro, open to the public in 2012. Close your eyes for a moment. Listen. You can hear the harbor, the gulls, a container ship pulling out. Now imagine general quarters, boots on ladders, the klaxon, the turret rotating above you with a low mechanical rumble. That is what this deck sounded like. That is the memory this ship carries. Feel free to get off the trolley here and take the self guided tour of the Battleship USS Iowa. On your way, stop by San Pedro Fish Market Grille on the wharf for an early lunch, or grab a strong cup at Siren's Java and Tea on 6th Street. When you are ready to move on to the next stop, hop back on the trolley and simply hit play."

   Handoff: Hop off the trolley and go aboard. Walk the teak decks, stand under those guns, and sit in the captain's chair on the bridge. On your way back, grab a shrimp tray at San Pedro Fish Market on the wharf, or a coffee at Sirens Java & Tea two blocks up. When you hop back on and are ready to resume your tour, simply hit play.

   Live sample

   9:41

   

   San Pedro, CA

   EN

   The Waterfront Wander

   Stop 1 of 4

   Battleship USS Iowa

   0:000:00

   Narrated by AI. 7 languages available.

   Press play to hear the AI narration for Stop 1. English is shown here; tours can ship in up to 7 languages.

2. Stop 2

   LA Maritime Museum

   "This building was the ferry terminal that shuttled workers between San Pedro and Terminal Island until 1963. Inside is one of the largest maritime collections on the West Coast, including an 18 foot scale model of the Titanic and the actual Morse key from the Cape Race station that heard her final calls. Step in for ten minutes. The story of this harbor is the story of the country pointed west."

   Handoff: A three block walk to Crafted at the Port, the artisan marketplace inside two historic warehouses, where local makers sell everything from sea glass jewelry to small batch hot sauce.

3. Stop 3

   6th Street Arts Corridor

   "You have just crossed into old downtown. In the 1920s this block was lined with saloons for longshoremen and boarding houses for sailors. Today it is a working arts district. Look for the murals as you walk. Every one was painted by a local artist and tells a piece of harbor history, from the cannery women of World War Two to the Croatian and Italian fishing families that built this town."

   Handoff: Duck into San Pedro Brewing Company for a pint in the 1923 brick building, or into J. Trani's Ristorante for the family recipes that have been on 9th Street since 1925.

4. Stop 4

   West Harbor and the new waterfront

   "You are ending where San Pedro is starting over. West Harbor is a 42 acre reinvention of the old Ports O'Call, with a promenade, an amphitheater on the water, and a food hall pulling talent from across LA. From this railing you can see the cranes of the busiest container port in the country doing their choreography behind you, and the sailboats of the Cabrillo Marina drifting in front of you. Two economies, one skyline."

   Handoff: End the tour with a glass at Compagnon Wine Bistro, dessert at Busy Bee Market's Italian deli counter, or a sunset table at Michael's Tuscany Room.

Sample script for illustration. Final scripts, voices, and business handoffs are tailored to each district in partnership with local operators.