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.