Page 168 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2024 LIMA

My favorite sights here are the Cali‐
fornia oak trees — there are enormous
Canyon Live Oaks, Torrey Pines, Pinyon-Ju‐
niper woodlands, California Fan Palms,
Joshua Trees, an otherworldly Boojum
Tree, Western Junipers and Bay Laurels.
There is a Redwood Grove, a recreation of
a Tongva Village (natives who lived here
for thousands of years) and a wildflower
meadow.
One of my favorite gardens was the
Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic
Garden, a 127-acre treasure located in Ar‐
cadia.
Tracing its history back thousands
of years, this land was known by its early
inhabitants as “the place of many waters.”
It became Rancho Santa Anita, a 13,000-
acre Mexican land grant, whose first pri‐
vate owner was Hugo Reid who bought it in
1840. Reid built a classic adobe home here
then, which is currently under extensive
renovation.
In 1875, Elias Jackson “Lucky” Bald‐
win bought about 8,500 acres of Rancho
Santa Anita and built his Queen Anne cot‐
tage, still on site, in 1885, overlooking Bald‐
win Lake. In 1947, the state of California
and the County of Los Angeles jointly pur‐
chased 111 acres from the Rancho Santa
Anita Inc., to create an arboretum around
the Baldwin home site. The first permanent
plantings began in 1951 with some 1,000
trees. Dozens of films have been shot here,
including “Tarzan Escapes,” 1936; “The Lady
Eve,” 1940; “The Yearling, 1946; “Notorious,”
1945; “The Best Years of Our Lives,” 1946;
“Lassie,” 1965; “Wonder Woman,” 1975;
“Love Boat,” 1978; “Fantasy Island,” 1983;
“Dallas,” 1981, and many more.

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

168 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024