We took the family on a Sunday trip to Pasadena to see the famous Huntington Gardens.
Esteemed Pacific Jewish Center, Board Member, Alan Lipman first told me about this landmark a few months back. He described Huntington Gardens as a place of natural beauty, educational value and cultural significance. I had been looking forward to seeing the gardens in person ever since then.
Yesterday, I discovered for myself that Huntington Gardens is a “must see” attraction in the Los Angeles area.
Henry E. Huntington was a very wealthy man living at the turn of the (previous) century. He amassed great wealth and spent much of his time and money cultivating a large library of rare book and manuscripts as well as valuable artwork from around the world. On his property, Huntington built botanical gardens of various locales and cultures.
The entire property was donated to the public as a place of education and natural beauty.
We began our day in the library. There is a Guttenberg Bible prominently displayed just as you enter the library. I am always amazed by old books. My grandfather, Sidney Greenwald, had a huge collection of antique Jewish books that I just loved to peruse and listen to him tell the tales of each volume. To a slightly lesser degree I enjoy old secular books and books from other religions, but in any case, I am always drawn in by old books. The Huntington Library is incredible. I saw a first edition copy of The Federalist, I saw a facsimile of the original copy of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery that Huntington owned and I saw Aesop’s Fables hand written from the 14th century. Of course there were many others as well. I was also pleasantly surprised by my 6 year old’s budding interest in the antique books; “a chip off the old block”.
We moved on from the library to the Children’s Gardens. There we found a wonderful exhibit on all types of flora from various climates and conditions. The exhibit is extremely kid friendly and any grade school child will love experimenting and learning as much as our son.
Just outside the doors of the exhibit is the actual Childrens Gardens. With fountains, tunnels and quaint play areas there was plenty to see and to do. We already had enough fun to make the trip worthwhile.
Then we went to see the Chinese Gardens and take the beautiful walk from the Chinese Gardens to the Japanese Gardens. The gardens are magnificent. The landscapes, use of water and bridges as well as plant life made us feel as if we were walking in a royal garden in a castle somewhere. The views were breathtaking and inspired a lit of photography. I found some similar photos to ours online so you can get an idea for what we were enjoying.
Pretty incredible. One thing that I really loved was the rock garden in the Japanese Garden (see top photo). It was so Zen and peaceful it made we wishfully consider having a Zen rock garden in my back yard.
After the Chinese and Japanese Gardens we quickly walked through the art gallery. Our children were getting tired and we only spent a few moments in the gallery. Needless to say, the art gallery is home to some absolutely stunning pieces of artwork. I loved the landscapes. The attention to detail, while giving the eye a chance to appreciate the entire canvas is truly an art form within an art form.
We ended our outing with a walk through the Rose Gardens.
It was time for us to leave and yet we already knew that we would return sometime soon to see the Jungle Gardens, the Palm Gardens and to spend more time in the art gallery.
In a city of superficiality and make-believe, The Huntington Gardens stand out as a wholesome, educational, beautiful place to visit.
I strongly recommend making it part of your itinerary. Whether you live in Los Angeles and are looking for a Sunday day trip or are planning a Los Angeles Vacation, the Huntington Gardens must be on your list.
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