Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
188
Will Rogers State Historic Park
Will Rogers willed his private ranch and grounds to the state of California in 1944, and
the 168-acr e estate is no w both a par k and a historic site. Visitors may explor e the
grounds, the former stables, and the 31-r oom house filled with the original furnishings,
including a porch swing in the living room and many Native American rugs and baskets.
Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne M orrow Lindbergh, hid out her e in the 1930s
during part of the craze that followed the kidnapping and murder of their first son.There
are picnic tables, but no food is sold.
Who's Will Rogers, you ask? He was born in Oklahoma in 1879 and became a cowboy
in the Texas Panhandle before drifting into a Wild West show as a folksy , speechifying
roper. The “ cracker-barrel philosopher ” per formed lariat tricks while carr ying on a
humorous deadpan monologue on curr ent events. The showman moved to Los Angeles
in 1919, where he become a movie actor as well as the author of numerous books detail-
ing his down-home “cowboy philosophy.”
The par k (
&
310/454-8212
) entrance is at 1501 Will R ogers S tate P ark Rd., in
Pacific P alisades, betw een S anta M onica and M alibu. F rom S anta M onica, take the
Pacific Coast Hwy. (Calif. 1) north, turn right onto S unset Boulevard, and continue to
the par k entrance. A dmission is $7 per v ehicle. The par k is open daily fr om 8am to
sunset; the house daily 10am to 5pm; guided Ranch H ouse tours ar e offered Tuesday
through Friday at 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. O n Saturday and Sunday tours are every hour
from 10am to 4pm.
BOTANICAL GARDENS
Descanso G ardens
Camellias—evergreen flo wering shr ubs fr om China and
Japan—were the passion of amateur gardener E. Manchester Boddy, who began planting
them here in 1941. Today his 160-acr e Descanso Gardens contain mor e than 100,000
camellias in more than 600 v arieties, blooming under a canopy of California oak tr ees.
The shrubs now share the limelight with a 9-acre International Rosarium, home to hun-
dreds of varieties. This is a very relaxing place, with paths and streams that wind through
the towering forest, bordering a lake, bird sanctuary, Japanese Garden & Tea House, and
Boddy House art museum. Each season features different plants: daffodils, azaleas, tulips,
and lilacs in the spring; chrysanthemums in the fall; and so on. Monthly art exhibits are
held in the gar den's hospitality house, and the Cour tyard Café offers light meals daily
from 10am to 3pm. G uided tram tours, which cost $3, r un Tuesday through Friday at
1, 2, and 3pm, and S aturday and S unday at 11am and 1, 2, and 3pm. P
7
icnicking is
allowed in specified areas.
1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada (near the intersection of the 2 and 210 freeways).
&
818/949-4200.
www.
descansogardens.org. Admission $8 adults, $6 students and seniors 62 and o ver, $3 children ages 5-12,
free for kids ages 4 and under. Daily 9am-5pm. Closed Dec 25. Free parking.
Huntington Libr ary, A rt Collections & B otanical G ardens
Kids
The
Huntington Librar y is the je wel in P asadena's cr own. The 207-acr e hilltop estate was
once home to industrialist and railr oad magnate H enry E. H untington (1850-1927),
who bought books on the same massiv e scale on which he acquir ed businesses. The
continually expanding collection includes doz ens of S hakespeare's first editions, B enja-
min Franklin's handwritten autobiography, a Gutenberg Bible from the 1450s, and the
earliest known manuscript of Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales.
Although some rare works are
available only to visiting scholars, the librar y has a regularly changing (and always excel-
lent) exhibit showcasing different items in the collection.
