After visiting the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and being denied the opportunity to pick cherries, thanks to the unseasonably cool weather that had held their ripening at bay, we decided to visit the Huntington Library. The Huntington is an educational and research institution that includes art collections, extensive libraries, and several specialty gardens including a Japanese garden (currently closed for renovation), a rose garden, and a cactus garden.
The Huntington sits on over 120 beautifully cared for acres on the San Marino estate of former railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington. It is such a large space that I don’t think you could reasonably expect to cover even a fraction of it on a single day!
The sun shining through a skylight made this interesting pattern on the granite floor as we passed through the buildings on the Huntington’s grounds.
Stopping in the Conservatory, we saw a collection of plants from different growing climates, including tropical. When we walked into the mist-filled section, we felt right at home!
The primary part of our afternoon was spent in the recently opened Chinese Garden. It is very beautiful, although you can tell there are many areas in which room has been left to expand.
A sculpted window frame in the garden.
A beautiful red maple.
The gardens, looking roughly west.
A caterpillar that was walking along a ledge along the water.
View from the other end of the garden, looking back roughly east.
Three of our four high school friends with whom we spent time during the weekend. Samantha, Lalima, and Anita.
Gorgeous trees, a covered walkway, and the beautiful blue sky.
In the Chinese Garden there is a restaurant and tea house that serves surprisingly decent food. Tawn had a lemon chicken, which I realize doesn’t sound terribly authentic, but at least it was tasty and pretty fresh.
I had a bowl of soba noodles with a sauce of beef and pork. Also pretty tasty.
The food was so filling that the son of one of our friends just had to lay down for a nap.
Finally, we walked through the Rose Garden, where Tawn snapped lots of pictures of flowers that inspired him.
And that was our trip to the Huntington, a site I’d suggest to anyone who visits Los Angeles.
christao408 
I miss the gardens
Perfect weather! You gals picked the right time to visit the Gardens!
It’s been nearly 30 years since I visited the Huntington. Did you go inside? They have The Blue Boy painting.
I’ve not been to the Huntington for a looong time! It’s on my to-do list, but probably not during the summer, as it gets pretty hot there. It’s a wonderful place, with lots of history, incredible art collections (Blue Boy, and Pinkie, and galleries full of old masters), beautiful gardens. You are right that it’s hard to do it all, even in a full day!
very nice!! š soda noodle?? lol special!!
Looks like a beautiful place to visit.
Looks nice, reminds me of a place in SD I visited.
Thank you. That was a great visit in the gardens.
so you’re back in the states. I haven’t been keeping up with you!
I was going to vote for the caterpillar. Then I saw the food. Yum.
Looks like fun! You did not disappoint – there were food photos! hehe!
That place looks beautiful. I’d love to visit there one day.
All is beauty and tasty in Huntington .The caterpillar is impressing and I would have defiance about it . I won’ t touch it.In friendship MIchel
I read this sentence a bit too fast. “where Tawn snapped lots of pictures of flowers that inspired him.” I thought you wrote “where Tawn snipped a lot of flowers that inspired him.” *jaw drops*
Love love love the Huntington! I’ve been to conferences there and my mother-in-law used to live in Pasadena, so we took my kids there a couple of times. Always something new to discover and beautiful gardens.
The garden is beautiful. Looks like a beautiful day to be out!
The pictures for this entry came out really well! I really like them a lot, makes me wish I had visited the gardens while I was here!
So cute!
i’m lovin’ that pic of caterpillar.