Local rambles around town

My sister-in-law was here for a short visit last week.The last time she visited, we took her to the Getty Center but on this occasion we remained closer to home.  We took a long walk through South Coast Botanic Garden the first day.  The garden is in the process of transitioning from one set of events to another and I felt the emphasis on those rather than the beauty of nature and the garden itself, but I can't say that bothered my husband or my SIL, who don't have the same expectations of the garden as I do.  However, the weather was perfect and the walk itself was comfortable.

These are the only plant-related photos I took during this visit.  Construction of the new children's garden remains completely stalled and much of the garden is still cordoned off.  That may explain why the garden's administrators are leaning so hard into event traffic.

The biggest ongoing event is the "Magic of Jack O' Lanterns," which is a nighttime lights show and festival managed by a contractor.  It requires special tickets and ends on November 2nd.  

Dogtoberfest was open to dogs and their owners on Saturdays and Sundays during October.  I think it's officially closed now but some of the props were still in place.  

Astra Lumina, another light show, is returning to SCBG in November and is expected to run through the holiday season.  Although some features of that display were never removed, the contractor's staff was actively working on installation of the light connections when we visited.  You can find information on the contractor's site but, oddly, it isn't yet showing on SCBG's own site. 

The newest event, Dinosaurs Around the World, is scheduled to go live on November 1st, and continue until February 1st, 2026 but this was the only sign of it we came across during our visit.  Said to feature 13 animatronic dinosaurs, this one was half a dinosaur missing his electronic bits hanging out near some of the Jack O' Lanterns event stations.  However, on the way to a medical appointment on Monday, I saw plastic-wrapped dinosaurs being unloaded at the back of the garden.

The next day we decided to visit San Pedro, an area surrounding the Port of Los Angeles that we can see from our back garden.  I suggested stopping at the 25th Street mosaic mural.  I don't think my husband was impressed by the idea but he went with it as our first stop.  The only reason I was aware of the mural was that I answered a call for succulents to fill the hell strip that lines the street in front of the mural back in January 2024 when I happened upon an article on the effort in a local magazine.  I wrote a post about that, which you can find here.

I was even more impressed by the effort that went into the mural during this visit.  My husband and my SIL were impressed to.  I took more photos of the details this time but you can get the big picture in a video featuring Julie Bender, the woman who directed the project with the help of 600 volunteers from the local community (which you can find here).

Volunteers helped create individualized mosaic pieces.  These focused on boats, a big part of life in San Pedro, both past and present.

Houses, some containing family names and addresses

Snippets of memories and views on what it means to live in San Pedro were tucked in throughout the mural

The mural also included lots of historical highlights

San Pedro's former destination location was the Ports O' Call Village, a spot I can remember visiting as a child and at least once with my husband as an adult.  It was demolished in 2018.  My husband had the impression that the West Harbor development that's meant to replace it was further advanced than it is. It's intended to include restaurants, a famous fish market (temporarily relocated), retail shops, an open-air theater, and a three-acre pedestrian walkway. In fact, it's still under construction and isn't currently expected to open for business until 2026.  So we ended up at the Cabrillo Way Marina and walked there.

Lots and lots of boats, some qualifying as yachts in my view.  I spotted one paddle boarder and got a fuzzy photo.

Needless to say, I didn't get much done in my garden last week.  I did finish clearing the raised planters in my cutting garden but, as we've now got a bit of a heatwave going on - our temperature peaked at 90F/32C yesterday - I've held off on doing much in the way of replanting the beds or sowing seeds.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party