Getty Center

You all know we are museum people.  Well, we reached our ultimate experience at the Getty in LA.  We arrived about 10:30 and left at 7:30.  We took three tours, had both lunch and dinner, and walked over 10,000 steps.  Our expenses were $15 for parking and for our meals.  Yes, J. Paul Getty, at one time the world’s richest man, created one of the best museums and so endowed it that all visits are free.  His Getty Villa is a separate museum in Malibu.

From the parking lot a tram takes visitors to the top of the hill.  You arrive in the midst of the amazing architecture of Richard Meier and lovely gardens of Robert Irwin.  The two men did not get along but managed to create an outstanding and unique environment for the acclaimed art collections.

Our first tour was of the buildings and gardens.  Neighbors strongly opposed the idea of a museum blocking their view of the hills.  We think they stopped complaining.  The architect was careful to be sure the views remained and the buildings were a plus.

Meier used travertine blocks, 30 inches square, on the floors, walls, walkways, and windows.  Some of the blocks stick out to show fossils of leaves and shells imbedded within the rock.

Irwin’s garden includes a maze.

Our second tour was of the general collection, sampling each room.

Getty was partial to art of the ancients through the 1800s.

 He did not like modern art. Three Brush Strokes by Lichtenstein has recently been added to offer a pause from one gallery to the next.

We enjoyed lunch on the terrace basking in the sun.

Then we traveled back to ancient Egypt and the era of Ptolemy, a Greek who took on the role of king of Egypt and claimed descent from Egyptian gods.

This sarcophagus is a rare find because it is intact.

The hedgehog was a popular addition to tombs because its hibernation symbolized death and rebirth.

This hippo would have been in an Egyptian garden.

This mummy is unique because the picture of the deceased was found intact.

Our wanderings also included an early photographic exhibit and an exhibit of books created as art rather than to be read.

That dinner we mentioned was fabulous, the view of the area shared with gourmet dinning.  What a great way to end the day and the trip.

Los Angeles: The Peterson Automotive Museum (with a lot of pictures)

The Peterson is an auto museum like the Empire State Bldg is an office building.  The first thing you notice about The Peterson as you approach it is the unique and striking architecture. Remodeled for $90 million, red and silver stainless steel ribbons catch the eye from blocks away.

Inside, four floors of displays tell the history of cars in California, pay tribute to the nearby movie industry, tell of Japanese and German influence on car design and function and show off great vehicles.

In 1886 Karl Benz made the first practical self-propelled vehicle.

In 1900 the Smith brothers built this car but added a place to attach  reins in case the car had to be towed by horses.  This car is the oldest surviving gas-powered vehicle built in LA.

Fannie Arbuckle owned this Renault.

This is the 1989 Batmobile

You know that you are getting old when something you owned and drove is now in a museum.  Jerry drove a Datsun just like this one in the 70s.  It is also the car that Anna Lee used to learn to drive a stick shift

 Anna Lee loved all the Corvettes.

Lightning McQueen from Cars attracts the younger visitors.

This McClaren is made from Legos

Race cars from past eras pose for action.  This one is a hybrid, just like our Avalon only a little faster.

In a side room are classrooms for engineering students to design their own cars.

Jerry took a VR trip in two Ford powered race cars.  It was really cool.

A small special exhibit shows the High Art of Riding Low, the car art of Chicana/o artists.

Laguna Beach sans photos

We started our day with lunch with Paul and Carol, RV friends with whom we enjoy crossing paths (see earlier post).  Our lunch at Nick’s South was excellent even with the special modifications both Carol and Anna Lee requested.   We spent a lovely afternoon catching up since we last met in June.

Back at our motel we met with Mark and Ellen.  They were the ones to give us the impetus to take this trip.  Our purpose for going down the Southern California coast was to see the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach.  But first we took the free tram for a lovely ride along the coast watching the ocean view and interesting homes.  We returned to another Nick’s for lunch, not as good this time but compensated for by wonderful gelato at shop nearby.

We entered the Pageant grounds early to have a bag dinner, listen to the music and view the outstanding collection of art pieces on display for sale.  (no photos allowed within the grounds) Then we entered the wonderful venue laid out for the audiences’ benefit.

It is difficult to describe what we saw.  Act One was a history of the area, using statues, paintings (larger than life), music and dancing, tableaus, all live or painted/sculpted.  We were surrounded by art in an entertaining and creative format.  The second act was a tribute to the great paintings and sculpture of the Impressionists, Art Nouveau to the early to mid 1900s.  The flag raising on Iwo Jima stirred the heart and New Waves got everyone tapping their feet.  The conclusion was performers entering the stage, as it turned we saw that they had “entered” Da Vinci’s Last Supper, their traditional finale.  This is the 85th year and they have created a unique, educational and fascinating event.   We hope to return in a few years.

Long Beach

We were here decades ago with our young children and toured the Queen Mary.  This time we found a lovely new adventure.  But first the inn, Beachrunners’ Inn is a hundred years old and simply charming.  We were welcomed into the inn by Pat and Courtney, mother and daughter co-owners.  They treated us more like family than paying guests.  They are warm and friendly and full of excellent recommendations of places to visit and, especially, restaurants.

The Long Beach Museum of Art is a wonderful surprise.  Visitors are greeted by Big Trash Animal who seems to shout “don’t litter.”

The museum is small but with an excellent and unusual collection.  The sketches by Matisse were interesting but it was Vitality and Verve III, Transforming the Urban Landscape that challenged us with its view of our society.

 Several of the works fill walls but all are impermanent and will be painted over when the exhibit closes.

Amy Sol is a Korean American whose work evokes peaceful reflection.  The color strips are torn from wrapping paper.

Two Tales of Separation depicts two societal separations, 1943 segregated schools and 2018 separation of children from their parents.

Someone at the museum has a charming sense of humor as depicted by the creature hiding in the air vent.  

The museum has an excellent restaurant, Claire, which Pat recommended.  The forty-five minute wait was worth every second.

The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific has a special discount price for Sunday evenings.  We and many, many families took advantage of the price.  The aquarium emphasizes the Pacific Ocean with the northern and southern areas each have their own halls.

Of course, there were penguins.

The neighborhood of Naples is on water.  We wandered around by car and again on foot enjoying the fabulous architecture.  Homes designed in modern, craftsman and other forms stand next to each other and provide a competing view with the boats in the canal.

This house, built by someone in Hollywood, is near the inn.  Note the wavy roof tiles.
Long Beach both pleased at surprised us as a destination.