My Best of L.A.: Eric Lynxwiler

For 25 years, Eric Lynxwiler has guided visitors through L.A.’s night lights on the Museum of Neon Art ’s neon cruise, which goes on indefinite hiatus next month. The light museum started the outings as a fundraiser and a way to bring attention to L.A.'s vintage rooftop signs, theater marquees, and even ecclesiastical neon. Lynxwiler gives his thoughtful and hilarious observations on the history of signage and the many forms glass and gas can take. He is also known for multiple costume changes and fun intermission pit stops. He delivers his spiel with a megaphone while speeding down the streets atop a double-decker bus for maximum night sky and neon worship. Funds from the program helped the museum relocate to a new larger space in Glendale in 2016.

“My heart always belongs to downtown,” the tour guide and graphic designer says of his own neighborhood. “The last tour is going to be in early September and there are waitlists. But I’m going to continue doing private tours.” Those excursions include jaunts through Hollywood and to the downtown movie palaces to ogle their extravagant illuminations. “The lights of Broadway blew their minds. We had to pull over and walk.” We asked Lynxwiler where he might take out-of-town guests to show off our city.

La Cita bar

“I’m a big fan and you can’t miss going there. They have crazy stuff going on all the time, like XXX bingo night.”

Broken Shaker at the Freehand Hotel

“[At a poolside lounge on the rooftop bar] you can enjoy a 360-degree view of new and old L.A. It’s kind of tropical with a pool and awesome during the summer.”

Grand Central Market

“People lose their minds over all the neon. People still don’t know what an amazing destination it is. I like to marvel at the forest of food stalls lit by neon.”