Rancho Palos Verdes. This area is right next to Torrance. In the early 1900’s, it used to be predominantly cattle ranches and farming fields. The place has since been over taken by golf courses and residential development. It’s right along the ocean, a jogging path hugs the coast line. On a clear day, one can get a really great view of Malibu Beach about 30 miles north. The ocean breeze keeps the urban haze abate.

Dana Point Harbor. Located midway between San Diego and Los Angeles, Dana Point is an ideal “extended rest stop” for travelers between the two major cities. We drop by for old time’s sake, my parents and sisters lived here for a number of years. The harbor area features small shops and outdoor cafés. The weekday pedestrian traffic is quite light, the huge parking lot is only about 20% filled, I can imagine the weekend crowd can be quite substantial. There is a pedestrian walkway along the harbor front, so it’s great to have a refreshing stroll, breathe in some fresh Pacific Ocean air, and replenish the caffeine before getting back on the road. We see occasional contractor trucks parked along the water front; the drivers are still in their vehicles dozing off. It must be the Californian’s way of taking a break.

Dana point Harbor

On the east side of the mariner is a small park called Lantern Bay County Park. The park is actually on a small hill about 100 feet high; it presents an excellent lookout point of the harbor area and the ocean. One can expect a magnificent sunset view from here.

Lantern Bay Park Overlooking Dana Point Harbor

If you are interested in an even longer extended visit, there are whale and dolphin excursions run out of the harbor area. The Ocean Institute at the northern end of the harbor is a good starting point. However, the wind is quite strong and the waves are really pounding the harbor barriers, any harbor tour is out of the question. This activity comes highly recommended by our family members and is the number one attraction according to the Trip Advisor.

Japanese Garden at Huntington Library

Huntington Library. This is actually a huge garden park featuring specialty gardens, rare books and manuscripts libraries (for qualified scholars only, so tourists need not apply), and galleries of European arts collection. They do charge a hefty $20 admission fee. We are used to the federally subsidized free admissions of the Smithsonian. However, one big difference between the Huntington Library and the Smithsonian is the park ground. The Library ground is really well kept, with lush green grass and manicured lawn (remember this is a desert area). The Smithsonian Mall, our nation’s front yard, is barren like a poorly maintained football field in a third world country.

Chinese Garden at Huntington Library

You can easily spend a full day here. We only allocate half a day, starting with a casual afternoon tea at their famous tea garden. The tea garden is surrounded by a large rose garden. There are rows and rows of rose bushes in full bloom. We are surprised by the number of weekday visitors in the rose garden; it’s probably because of the spring flower season and the proximity to mother’s day just 10 days away. By the way, the tea garden serves very nice English style finger sandwiches; it reminds us of our prior trips to London. The place is packed, and I am told they are all booked for mother’s day weekend even though the price would be doubled.

Western Art Collection at Huntington Library

The Huntington Library reminds us of Portland’s (OR) gardens and deserves some comparison. The Huntington gardens are grouped within one 200 acre ground, each garden is comparatively smaller. In Portland, a city famous for their gardens, their Rose Test Garden and the Japanese Garden are located next to each other in Washington Park and are much bigger, more elaborate. The Portland Chinese Garden is also bigger, with more emphasis on Chinese building architecture, bridges and ponds, and is located next to Portland’s China Town.

Outer Peristyle Getty’s Villa

Getty Villa. When you have money, you can afford to flaunt it. Getty, the oil tycoon family, imported Roman and Greek archeological artifacts for one of their homes along the Pacific coast. The Getty Villa is modeled after the Villa Dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The Getty Villa has a large collection of the Greek and Roman antiquities.  We join a guided tour on the architectural elements and outside gardens, it is quite interesting. The tour guide tells stories of Greek Gods and Goddesses, giving the tour some fresh and comical elements rather than just mundane architectural facts.

Museum Collection at Getty Villa