Now's Your Chance To Plan My Trips (Boston, Providence & Los Angeles)

If you asked my friends, they'd tell you I'm not very spontaneous. I mean, when it comes to little stuff "“ "Hey, it's 6:30"¦ want to go see a 7:00 movie??" "“ sure. But spontaneous as in "Hey, I found cheap tickets to Paris! What are you doing next weekend?" That's definitely not me.

If you asked my husband, however, he would tell you that I'm way too spontaneous. As in, "Honey, on my day off today I tore down the tile in the bathroom, ripped out the sink and pulled up the linoleum."

I guess it depends on the situation. Anyway, the past week has been a period of great spontaneity for me. Two friends and I sort of abruptly decided to go visit a friend who lives in the Boston/Providence area. Plans evolved from months of, "We should go visit Kylie sometime" to "I booked us tickets this morning. We have to get up at 3 a.m. to make our flight. We leave in two weeks."

Then, even more abruptly, my husband and I decided on a weekend trip to L.A. We found some great tickets out of Omaha and decided to take a long weekend. It's the weekend right after Boston.

The point is, I booked both of these trips without really any concrete plans. We're only in Boston Friday-Monday. We're in L.A. Sunday-Tuesday (our flight leaves at midnight on Tuesday, so we'll have the whole day to do whatever). What are some cool things to do in these cities in our tiny little time frames? I'm especially looking for L.A. suggestions in the realm of the offbeat (see my Corn Palace post).

So! Things to do, delicious places to eat, quaint shops we shouldn't miss? I'm all ears (and much appreciative).

Other Vacations Planned By mental_floss Readers: Jason's Trip to Utah