Southern California Sightseeing

packleader

packleader

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Southern California
Today we visited the March Field Air Museum near Riverside, California, that displays over 100 airplanes.
https://www.marchfield.org/

The most impressive airplane was the SR-71 Blackbird spy aircraft that flew three times the speed of sound at 85,000 feet. Only about 3 dozen were built because satellites made them obsolete. https://www.marchfield.org/aircraft/sr-71-blackbird/

We also saw a B52 that had been loaded with atomic bombs. Up to 1996, I watched how 3 of them with a smaller escort plane took off from March Air Force Base (now March Air Reserve Base.) It was incredible noisy when the combined 28 jets engines flew overhead. Each B52 had 8 jets, plus the smaller one with 4 jet engines.

Some airplanes are on loan from the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

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Oh wow, I didn't know that March AFB has an air museum, I live just 50 miles from March. I used to go to the Norton AFB air shows, back before Norton was decommissioned. I loved to see the aircraft up close, got to walk through a C5A Galaxy, what a treat! There was always an SR 71 flyover, but I think the last show we went to was when an SR 71 was on the ground, wasn't allowed to get too close though, they had it cordoned off.
 
15,000 rose bushes according to a sign in the garden (see below.) "The Exposition Park Rose Garden in Los Angeles is a historic 7-acre sunken garden located in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California. It has been called one of the city's best-kept secrets. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991." <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_Park_Rose_Garden>

This rose garden <https://www.laparks.org/park/exposition-rose-garden> is surrounded in the north by the campus of the University of Southern California <https://www.usc.edu>; in the east by the Administration Building; in the south by the California African American Museum <https://caamuseum.org>, the California Science Center <https://californiasciencecenter.org>, the one billion dollar Lucas Star Wars Museum under construction on the other side of the Bill Robertson Lane <lucasmuseum.org>; and in the West by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County <nhm.org>.

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Downtown Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Music Center (officially the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) <www.musiccenter.org>is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Roy & Edna Disney CalArts Theatre (REDCAT), and Walt Disney Concert Hall. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Music_Center

The old Los Angeles Town Hall.

The Catholic Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels <https://olacathedral.org> In nearby Orange County is the fabulous Catholic Christ Cathedral <https://www.christcathedralcalifornia.org> that used to be the Dutch Reformed Crystal Cathedral <https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-demise-of-the-crystal-cathedral>

Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts (Grand Arts), formally known as Central Los Angeles High School No. 9, is a Los Angeles Unified School District comprehensive high school for the visual and performing Arts.
<Microsoft Word - College Profile.Cortines.2015.2016.doc (cortinesgrandarts.org)>
OR <https://www.cortinesgrandarts.org/ourpages/auto/2022/2/11/44200631/19-20 School Profile.pdf>

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AMTRAK Station "Lompoc-Surf" just South of Vandenberg Air Force Base, www.vandenberg.spaceforce.mil

1st picture: the lonely RR Station in no where's land (10 miles from Lompoc, CA)
2nd picture: view from the RR Station
3rd picture: Vandenberg AFB from where all satellites on the West Coast are being launched
4th picture: Motel 6 ($92/night) permits only 2 dogs per room; I had to leave my third Boxer one at home
5th picture: 40 years ago, we found hundreds of sand dollars shells on this beach; today not even one

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We have a similar place near to where I live..

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here are the pictures I posted on the photography thread...
https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/vintage-planes-and-vehicles-pics.42483/
 
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Solvang, the Danish town in Southern California.

There are at least three windmills in town -- a replica of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen -- just above the center of the
picture and at the top right: fake storks on the rooftops -- my puppy needs new shoes -- bordering Solvang is one of the
21 old restored Spanish Missions


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The Dutch-Reformed Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Orange County, became the Catholic Christ Cathedral

We bought cremation niches over 30 years ago (see at the bottom of the 1st picture) and we will be here forever.
The beautiful, uplifting and inspiring Cathedral Dr. Schuller built has become an austere no-fun Catholic House of Prayers.
My family witnessed when former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev stood on the pulpit to shake hands with Dr. Schuller.
The Visitors Center has a crystal brick wall that also carries bricks with our names on them.
(When the Orange County Catholic Diocese bought the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral, they promised to honored previous
commitments by the Crystal Cathedral like ownerships of the burial niches.)

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Grampa Don said:
I was born and raised in L.A. county and have lived here all my life and the only thing that you have shared that I have actually visited is the natural history museum. I've also never been to Catalina Island. I guess I need to get out more.
Click to expand...
Catalina Island is definitely worth spending a day or two. You can catch a ferry from Long Beach, San Pedro or Dana Point. Book a room, spend some time around Avalon, go on the glass bottom boat tour, catch the bus tour.
 
Not sightseeing; no, only if you are interested in SoCal hiking and love pups, but you have to watch out for rattlesnakes.
When I took my daughter's Pit Bull with me, she attacked a rattler, got bitten, and it cost me a small fortune to keep Bella alive.
At 87, I wouldn't longer be able to walk/hike for two hours a day if it weren't for my loyal buddies who keep me going. I am too
old for puppies. I got the big guy from the Los Angeles Boxer Rescue at 1 1/2 years after two previous owners had surrendered him
because "he was too much of a dog to handle." The other two are from public animal shelters. Well, just yesterday I was involved in a
dog fight that I broke up with Pepper Spray, and now our our County Animal Control is trying to get hold of me, LOL.


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The private Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino <huntington.org> claims to own 11 million items of
which the Gutenberg Bible is the prime attraction. It was printed in 1455, and of the 48 surviving copies only 23 two-volume sets are complete.

Another great museum that we haven't visited for many years is the <getty.edu> that claims to be "the world largest cultural and philanthropic organization," and its Villa that "houses Greek and Roman antiquities in a re-created Roman country home" <https://www.getty.edu/visit/villa>)

The 1st picture was posted earlier at https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/what-are-you-doing-today-2023.78081/page-323#post-2572565

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Wonderful photos Packleader! Thank you for sharing. Some remind me of when I took my son to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. I think he may have been around 10. His favorite part was the Air & Space museum. I took pictures but have no idea where they are now. Also, the dinosaur bones reminds me of when I took him to New York to the Museum of Natural History. I've never been to California and don't think I'll ever go, but I did see the California sights from the comfort of my own home while watching an episode of Aerial America on Paramount+. :D
 
Not sightseeing, just FYI: these flowers are growing wild in our garden without any care from us
Bird of Paradise -- Desert Bird of Paradise -- Canna -- Silk Oak Tree? -- Gladiola? -- (and many more)

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