It had been awhile since we had been to Exposition Park. On the way we wanted to drive by the new Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music Center, now home to the L.A. Philharmonic, so we decided to drive through the downtown area rather than jumping back on the Harbor freeway and heading south. We drove past what is probably the most famous city hall in the U.S.. I still remember that old 50's TV program called "Mr. District Attorney" and remember that the city hall was front and center in the credits. When it was built it was probably the tallest building in the L.A. skyline. Today it sits in a forest of newer taller buildings, but is still a distinctive and a powerful image of L.A.
The new Disney Hall is an ultra modern design by Frank Gehry, the Los Angeles architect who also designed the spectacular Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The "Disney" is also a spectacular building, but the location lacks the appropriate "setting" to really appreciate it as a work of art. It sits across from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and is surrounded with streets and buildings--an island in a sea of cement!! How nice it would have been to have space for a large plaza or park as a grand entry area to the site and building. But I guess space is a problem in the middle of downtown L.A.!
We drove around it and said wow, but didn't stop.
We headed south through the downtown area. Since it was Saturday, there wasn't much traffic. Considering all the streets we could have picked, we managed to pick one that had work going on, and one of the lanes was coned off. I didn't see anyone working on anything, but there were some trucks parked in a couple spots indicating the intent to repair something. Our main competition for the single lane were buses as they darted through the cones making their stops. None of us were sure exactly how to get to Exposition Park from where we were. All we knew was that we were headed in the right direction. When I came to Olympic Blvd, I decided that since Exposition Park was built for the 1930's Olympics, the Blvd had to lead us there, and made a right turn going west. We passed near the location where Nancy had worked as a designer back in the 1970's and she wanted to detour to see if the building was still there as she remembered it. It was right near the Transamerica Tower. A quick left and we were driving by the Staples Center, where the Lakers and Clippers shoot hoops, with the Convention center in the background. We found her old one story office building. Most of it was still there, although some of it had been demolished to make a parking lot. The design firm had moved long ago.
We headed west again on Olympic, through Korea town with all its Korean signage, and up to Alvarado with it's Black/Mexican/Korean mix. I knew that we needed to be south of I-10 which was still to the south, so that's the direction I headed. The neighborhood was busier than downtown and traffic was stop and go, but we soon saw I-10. A block south of that was the USC Campus. A block south of that was Exposition Park and the Coliseum.
Our target for the afternoon was the Museum of Natural History, which was like going to a zoo honoring dead animals and civilizations. It is housed in a great classically styled building just north of the Coliseum, and was a favorite of both Bert and Nancy when they were children.
I got a senior discount on my ticket, and we all put the little orange stickers on our chests showing we were paid up, and headed out to the exhibit areas. Burt, Nancy, and Kris wanted to start with the Mammals of North America Exhibit, which has been there forever. I walked around and was done looking about the time there were at the second diarama, so I decided to head out on my own and let them do their own thing. I cruised the dinosours, the bird exhibits, the insects, the Indians and South American pre-Columbians, The marine/ocean exhibit, and the African Mammal diaramas. There was a discovery center filled with 2-7 year olds making all kinds of things and sitting on the floor being "lectured" by a curater with real snakes in a show and tell session. It was a real "active" place on this Saturday afternoon.
When I re-emerged into the area near the gift shop, there was Nancy. They still had things to see and Burt and Kris were "shopping". I told her I was going to be sitting outside when they were done, so found a perch next to the entrance and plopped myself down.
There was a wide grassy area in front of the building,( it was a park!) and there was a spirited soccer game going on, with some spectators on the sideline. These were older boys or young men who were quite proficient, and I followed the ball up and down the field until a goal was scored on the south end of the field by a kick from near the sideline. A great shot! The game broke up after that!
A young Asian family came out of the museum. He was toting a camera, and she was toting two young boys, one about 4 and another about 2 years old. They sat on the steps in front of me. She pulled a couple of oranges out of her bag, and I watched as he peeled one and she the other. He ate one slice by slice, and then got his camera out and walked about 20 ft away to take some pictures while she fed slices to the boys. They were not speaking English, so I wondered if they were tourists, or were one of many families who were transferred to L.A. for a "tour of duty" working for an Asian based company. One thing for sure, they liked California oranges! It was an international family day at the museum! Dinasaurs speak all languages!
Nancy didn't find the postcard she was looking for in the gift shop. It was close to the 5 pm closing when they came out the door and saw me sitting off to the side, an old guy on a bench!! The old Mercedes made it home in time for a bottle of cheap wine from Trader Joes, and a take- out pizza from Olyo's. We called our son Matt by cell phone on the way to ensure him that we would have food for him. He was glad to see us!! So was the cat!
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