22.02.12

PASADENA, Calif. - It's 1922, and nothing much is up in Pasadena. Not among the orange groves, not along the leafy streets. Just as the little, old ladies like it.</p><p> But wait. Down in the Arroyo Seco, a crew has just started erecting some kind of stadium. On Pepper Street, Mallie Robinson's 3-year-old son may already be showing signs of amazing athleticism. Over at Polytechnic School, a tall 10-year-old named Julia McWilliams is developing the taste and aplomb that will make her America's best-known chef.</p><p> That's right, the Rose Bowl, Jackie Robinson and Julia Child came up in supposedly sleepy Pasadena around the same time, and 90 years later, this remains a useful reminder: This western edge of the San Gabriel Valley and the area near it can fool you. Beyond the stillness at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, behind all those handsome old Craftsman facades, there's no telling what the restless minds and bodies of this valley will come up with next. Earthquake measures. Exploding dumplings.</p><p> Begin your explorations with these 10 micro-itineraries for Pasadena and its environs. </p><p> This is the 11th installment in our yearlong series of Southern California Close-Ups (the others are at latimes.com/socalcloseups). We will wind up the year with a look at Hollywood.</p><p> -Greene and greenery</p><p> To see why the Arroyo Seco is so central to the Pasadena state of mind, join the early-morning dog-walkers for some vigorous striding along South Arroyo Boulevard near Arbor Street, where grand, old trees tower above grand old houses. On your way in and out, look up at the stylish old U.S. courthouse (125 S. Grand Ave.) and imagine when it was the Vista del Arroyo Hotel or, before that, Emma Bangs' boardinghouse. You won't be able to miss the 1912-13 Colorado Street Bridge, better known among locals as "Suicide Bridge" for reasons you can imagine. Now, for a closer look at Craftsman style - woodsy buildings, art glass, plenty of tile and bricks but no Victorian fussiness - step into the iconic Gamble House (4 Westmoreland Place), designed by Charles and Henry Greene in 1908. It opens for tours four days a week and has a great bookshop in the garage. From nearby sidewalks, you can also see the 1901 Charles Sumner Greene House (368 Arroyo Terrace); the 1906 Cole House (2 Westmoreland Place); the 1909 Hindry House (781 Prospect Blvd.) and Frank Lloyd Wright's 1923 La Miniatura, which looks like a Mayan jungle temple (645 Prospect Crescent).</p><p> -Simon and Co.</p><p> For a lot of top-notch art in a small place, you can't beat the Norton Simon Museum (411 W. Colorado Blvd.). It begins out front with "The Burghers of Calais," Rodin's 1884 bronze celebration of heroic yet human politicians (yes, you read that right). It continues inside with a murderers' row of European and Asian artists, including Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Hiroshige. Then there's the handsome garden and pond in back. For a salad, sandwich or dessert, zip west across the Colorado Street Bridge to Little Flower Candy Co. (1424 W. Colorado Blvd.). Feeling renewed? Head about a mile east to the Pacific Asia Museum (46 N. Los Robles Ave.) or the Pasadena Museum of California Art (490 E. Union St.), which stand around the corner from each other.</p><p> -Old bricks, new tunes</p><p> In Old Pasadena, scads of national chains occupy the historic facades along Colorado Boulevard, and sidewalks are filled with pedestrians day and night. To find more homegrown merchants and eateries, check the old brick alleys and side streets or sign onto a Melting Pot Food Tour (www.meltingpottours.com). Don't miss the kid-friendly public art in alleys and the courtyard of the One Colorado complex. For more art, see the Armory Center for the Arts (145 N. Raymond Ave.). For dinner and conversation, try Green Street Tavern (69 W. Green St.). For live jazz, Red White + Bluezz Jazz Club (70 S. Raymond Ave.). For a lively meal in a wonderfully transformed train station, duck into La Grande Orange (a.k.a. the LGO Station Cafe, 260 S. Raymond Ave.), which neighbors a Metro Gold Line train stop. Distant Lands (20 S. Raymond Ave.) will sell you travel books, and farther east on Colorado Boulevard, Vroman's (695 E. Colorado Blvd.), which dates to the 1890s, will sell you "Hometown Pasadena" (an excellent guidebook) or just about any other book. The nearby Pasadena Playhouse (revived from bankruptcy reorganization in 2010) stands in an atmospheric 1920s building at 39 S. El Molino Ave. For caffeine and Mexico-boho atmosphere, there's its neighbor, the Zona Rosa Caffe (15 S. El Molino Ave.).</p><p> -The Rose Bowl</p><p> Now nearing 90, the Rose Bowl is in the middle of a renovation, but the sports continue. Besides hosting the Rose Bowl football game every January, the stadium is home field for UCLA football. And on the second Sunday of each month, the Rose Bowl Flea Market materializes with its antler lamps, dial telephones and vintage fishing poles. It'll cost you at least $8 to get in (they said flea, not free), but it is epic. Meanwhile, the surrounding Brookside Park draws legions of runners, walkers and cyclists, who circle a path of three-plus miles. Nearby you'll find Kidspace (480 N. Arroyo Blvd.), a museum for children.</p><p> -South Lake Avenue</p><p> Shopping South Lake Avenue is like surfing: Someone is going to tell you how much better it was before you came. And life was good in the '90s, when retailers thrived and the Huntington hotel and Ritz-Carlton were linked. But now is not bad. The former Ritz, now the Langham Huntington Pasadena (1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave.), stands on 23 acres and specializes in spa indulgences and twinkling holiday decorations. Its fancy restaurant, reborn as Royce in late 2010, has gotten strong reviews, and overnight rates sometimes drop below $200. Your shopping starts with the old Bullock's building (401 S. Lake Ave.), a 1947 Streamline Moderne landmark that now holds Macy's. The neighbors include Orvis (345 S. Lake Ave., No. 102) for fly-fishers, Anthropologie (340 S. Lake Ave.) for teens and Ten Thousand Villages (567 S. Lake Ave.) for buyers of fair-trade art and crafts. Leave time for zucchini bread at Green Street Restaurant (146 S. Shopper's Lane) or the nouveau cafeteria cuisine of Lemonade (146 S. Lake Ave.). Then walk off the calories amid the fountains and arches of the Caltech campus (1200 E. California Blvd.), where the Richter scale was born.</p><p> -A day at the races</p><p> There's a gambler or a horse lover in every family, right? If it's racing season (Dec. 26-April 22), take him, her or them to Santa Anita Park (285 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia), where Seabiscuit once galloped to glory and the view of the San Gabriels is reliably gorgeous. Horses usually run Thursdays-Sundays. For just the cost of breakfast, you can watch early workouts (from 5-10 a.m.) from Clocker's Corner at the west end of the track. In the afternoon, for $5 adult admission, you can watch the races or linger near the paddock room and gardens. If it isn't racing season, head north to cozy Sierra Madre, park on East Miramonte Avenue near North Mountain Trail Avenue, and hike the first 1.3 miles of the Mt. Wilson Trail, which will jump-start your heart and give you a big view. Then turn around at First Water, come down and spoon some homemade ice cream at Mother Moo Creamery (17 Kersting Court). For a homegrown souvenir, make the two-minute drive to E. Waldo Ward &#38; Son (273 E. Highland Ave.), a family business that has made and sold jams and jellies since 1891. Wind up with a snazzy dinner at Wistaria (44 N. Baldwin Ave.).</p><p> -A changing Arcadia</p><p> Tired of people? Try peacocks and cycads instead. At the 127-acre L.A. County Arboretum &#38; Botanic Garden (301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia), you can do that, inspect reflections on Baldwin Lake and read up on the life, times and wives of local pioneer Lucky Baldwin, whose land this once was. When you get hungry, there are hundreds of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants along the main drags of nearby San Gabriel, Alhambra and Monterey Park. But you have world-famous dumplings within 1.2 miles, so you're headed to Din Tai Fung (1108 and 1088 S. Baldwin Ave.). Din Tai Fung is a global restaurant chain, born in Taiwan, and the sibling Arcadia restaurants are its only California outlets. Customers often wait in line (no reservations taken) for a chance at xiao long bao - steamed dumplings filled with pork and broth, 10 for $7.50 and explosively flavorful.</p><p> -Eagle Rock, Glendale</p><p> Start in hipster-heavy Eagle Rock, just west of Pasadena, with a comfort breakfast at Auntie Em's (4616 Eagle Rock Blvd.). Then it's time for Forest Lawn Memorial Park (four miles west at 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale), which is a cemetery in the same sense that Hearst Castle is a house. Begun in 1906, these 300 acres of rolling green hills contain more copied Michelangelo sculptures and celebrity graves than any place else you'll find all week. Humphrey Bogart. Walt Disney. Nat King Cole. Shortly after his death in 2009, Michael Jackson arrived, followed in early 2011 by Elizabeth Taylor. Management gives no celebrity directions and keeps many resting spots behind locked doors, but you'll get plenty of hints from www.seeing-stars.com.</p><p> -A real charmer</p><p> South Pasadena (picture Mayberry with yoga) may inspire daydreams about moving in. But first, get breakfast at Heirloom Bakery (807 Meridian Ave.). Stroll on highly walkable Mission Street, Meridian Avenue and El Centro Street, and maybe break for a snack at Buster's Ice Cream &#38; Coffee Stop (1006 Mission St.). If it's Thursday afternoon, catch the farmers market on Meridian between Mission and El Centro. Then retire to your room. Where? Perhaps the Arroyo Vista Inn (335 Monterey Road), a genteel bed-and-breakfast at the top of a long driveway. It has nine well-appointed bedrooms in a 1910 Craftsman. It's not a good choice for children. If you have kids, look at the Bissell House (201 Orange Grove Ave.), a lived-in Victorian on the Pasadena/South Pasadena border with a pool in back. From there, it's a half-mile to dinner at the Raymond Restaurant (1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena).</p><p> -Home of the Huntington</p><p> When in San Marino (median household income: about $159,000 a year), why not loll like a 1-percenter? Take an elegant breakfast at Julienne (2649 Mission St.), or get a meal to go from its gourmet market and head for nearby Lacy Park, a 30-acre refuge of tall trees and paths well-suited to beginning bicyclists. On weekends, there's a $4 fee for nonresidents 4 and older, so you might prefer smaller Garfield Park, which is almost as close at Mission Street and Park Avenue in South Pasadena. Either way, leave plenty of time for the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (1151 Oxford Road), where Thomas Gainsborough's 18th century "The Blue Boy" painting and 120 acres of gardens have long been big attractions. In the library, you can eye a Gutenberg Bible and a Charles Bukowski manuscript. In the American art collection, take a good look at the ocean in Edward Hopper's 1935 painting "The Long Leg." Who knew this inland journey would bring you to the most luminous blue sea ever?</p><p> IF YOU GO:</p><p> WHERE TO STAY:</p><p> Langham Huntington Pasadena, 1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena, 91106; (626) 568-3900, www.pasadena.langhamhotels.com. Doubles from $189.</p><p> Arroyo Vista Inn, 335 Monterey Road, South Pasadena, 91030; (323) 478-7300, www.arroyvistainn.com. Not set up for kids. Doubles from $157.</p><p> Bissell House, 201 Orange Grove Ave., South Pasadena, 91030; (626) 441-3535, www.bissellhouse.com. Kid friendly. Doubles from $155.</p><p> WHAT TO EAT:</p><p> Green Street Tavern, 69 W. Green St., Pasadena, 91105; (626) 229-9961, www.greenstreettavern.net. California comfort food. Dinner main dishes $13-$19.</p><p> Din Tai Fung, 1108 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, 91007; (626) 574-7068, www.dintaifungusa.com. Pork-and-broth-filled dumplings, (xiao long bao), a specialty. Lunch and dinner, no reservations, often a line. Most dishes $5-$9.25. Second location at 1088 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007.</p><p> Julienne, 2649 Mission St., San Marino, 91108; (626) 441-2290, www.juliennetogo.com. French bistro style, pleasant sidewalk dining under arched arcade. Gourmet market inside. Breakfast and lunch. Closed Sundays. Lunch main dishes $12-$19.50. Long menu of food to go from the market.</p><p> Red White + Bluezz Jazz Club, 70 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103; (626) 792-4441, www.redwhitebluezz.com. Dinner only. Live jazz nightly (no cover charge) and jazz brunch on Sundays. Dinner main dishes about $11-$30.</p><p> Lemonade, 146 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 304-7700, www.lemonadela.com. Lunch and dinner, cafeteria style. Opened in 2011 as part of a growing L.A.-area chain. Main dishes up to $11.75.</p><p> La Grande Orange (a.k.a. GLO Station Cafe), 260 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105; (626) 356-4444, www.lgostationcafe.com. Lively dining in an old train depot. Dinner main dishes $12-$27. Lunch and dinner daily, reservations accepted. Also, there's an adjoining semi-separate pizza operation known as the Luggage Room Pizzeria, (626) 356-4440, www.theluggageroom.com, which also offers lunch and dinner daily, no reservations. Pizza $11-$15.</p><p> Auntie Em's, 4616 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, 90041; (323) 255-0800, www.auntieemskitchen.com. High-achieving comfort food in kitsch-hipster company. Sidewalk and indoor seating, sometimes a wait on weekend mornings. Lunch main dishes top off at $12.95. 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sundays.</p><p> Buster's Ice Cream &#38; Coffee Stop, 1006 Mission St., South Pasadena, 91030; (626) 441-0744, www.busterscoffee.com. Coffee, ice cream, pastries, sandwiches and salads in a colorful corner storefront, beginning at 6:30 a.m. weekdays, 7 a.m. weekends. Closes between 7 and 9 p.m., depending on the night. Sandwiches usually $6-$6.75.</p><p> Heirloom Bakery, 807 Meridian Ave. Suite C, South Pasadena, 91030; (626) 441-0042, www.toolproject.com/heirloom. Breakfast and lunch, with salads, sandwiches and pizza. Prices up to $8.95.</p><p> Zona Rosa Caffe, 15 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 793-2334, www.zonarosacaffe.com. A boho Latino coffeehouse. Coffee drinks up to $4.20. Live Latin music on Thursday nights in spring and summer.</p><p> Green Street Restaurant, 146 S. Shopper's Lane, Pasadena, 91101; (626) 577-7170, www.greenstreetrestaurant.com. California cuisine. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner main dishes $12.95-$24.95.</p><p> Little Flower Candy Co., 1422 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 91105; (626) 304-4800, www.littleflowercandyco.com. Sweets, salads and sandwiches up to $9.50.</p><p> Bean Town coffeehouse, 45 N. Baldwin Ave., Sierra Madre, 91024; (626) 355-1596, www.beantowncoffeebar.com. A community fixture with old sofas, exposed brick, vintage signs. Coffees, breakfasts, sandwiches, soups, salads and wraps. Open 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 5:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Main dishes all under $8. Coffee drinks top off about $4.</p><p> Mother Moo Creamery, 17 Kersting Court, Sierra Madre, 91024; (626) 355-9650, www.mothermoo.com. Ice cream made fresh daily. One scoop: $3.50.</p><p> Wistaria, 44 N. Baldwin Ave., Sierra Madre, 91024; (626) 355-3155, www.wistariarestaurant.com. Opened in summer 2011. A cosmopolitan minimalist dining room in a quaint little downtown. Dinner main dishes $12.95-$23. Closed Mondays. Dinner Tuesdays-Sundays. Breakfast and lunch Thursdays-Sundays.</p><p> The Raymond Restaurant, 1250 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, 91105; (626) 441-4770, www.theraymond.com. Elegant meals in a Craftsman house (1890s home to a caretaker for a hotel that's now long gone) and on its patio. Closed Mondays. Dinner Tuesdays-Sundays. Lunch Fridays-Sundays. Breakfast from 9 a.m. on weekends. Dinner main dishes $27-$40.</p><p> WHAT TO SEE:</p><p> Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 91105; (626) 449-6840, www.nortonsimon.org. Small but select showcase for European and Asian art, with a handsome sculpture garden and pond. Usually closed Tuesdays. Open noon to 6 p.m., most days, noon to 9 p.m. on Fridays. Closed Christmas Day and Rose Parade Day (Jan. 2), but open noon-6 p.m. Dec. 27, and noon to 4 p.m. New Year's Day. Adult admission $10. Anyone 18 or under is free.</p><p> Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford St., San Marino, 91108; (626) 405-2100, www.huntington.org. Closed Tuesdays. (Also closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.) Open noon-4:30 p.m. weekdays; 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekends and Monday holidays. Adult admission $15 weekdays, $20 weekends. Children ages 5-11, $6.</p><p> The Gamble House, 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena, CA 91103; (626) 793-3334, www.gamblehouse.org. Hour-long tours starting at noon until 3 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Adult admission $10-$12.50. children under 12 (must be accompanied) free.</p><p> Tournament House and Wrigley Gardens (a.k.a. the Wrigley Mansion), 391 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91184; (626) 449-4100, www.tournamentofroses.com. Free hour-long interior tours are offered at 2 and 3 p.m. Thursdays from February through August. The rose garden is open to the public, except for Dec. 31-Jan. 2.</p><p> One Colorado shopping area, 24 E. Union St., Pasadena, 91103; (626) 564-1066, www.onecolorado.com. About 35 shops and restaurants behind revitalized facades on Colorado Boulevard between Fair Oaks and DeLacey avenues.</p><p> Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91103; (626) 792-5101, www.armoryarts.org. Exhibitions, classes and studio space. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays, Admission $5.</p><p> Distant Lands, 20 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, 91105; (626) 449-3220, www.distantlands.com. Travel gear, travel books, European rail passes.</p><p> Vroman's, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 449-5320, www.vromansbookstore.com. Founded in 1894, the mother of all independent bookshops in Southern California.</p><p> Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 356-7529, www.pasadenaplayhouse.org. Live theater in a 1925 Spanish Colonial building.</p><p> Caltech, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, 91125; (626) 395-6811, www.caltech.edu. About 2,200 undergrads and grad students study amid a complex of increasing architectural diversity. For a self-guided tour, check www.marcomm.caltech.edu/pdf/Along(underscore)the(underscore)Olive(underscore)Walk.pdf</p><p> Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, 91103; (626) 577-3100, www.rosebowlstadium.com. There are no public tours of the 90,000-seat stadium. For info on the monthly Rose Bowl Flea Market (more than 2,500 vendors; adult admission $8-$20 each; 5 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), check www.rgcshows.com. There's a busy 3.4-mile jogging/walking/cycling path around the stadium and neighboring Brookside golf course. From March through October, bicycle racers gather at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays for a 10-lap ride.</p><p> Brookside Park, 360 N. Arroyo Ave., Pasadena, 91103; (626) 744-4000, www.cityofpasadena.net/PublicWorks/Brookside(underscore)Park1/. Sixty-two acres, golf course, multiple playgrounds (including a great one behind the aquatic center), five tennis courts, three baseball fields, two soccer areas.</p><p> Ten Thousand Villages, 567 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 229-9892, www.pasadena.tenthousandvillages.com. Open daily. A fair trade retailer for home decor, personal items and gifts.</p><p> Lacy Park, 1485 Virginia Road, San Marino, 91108; (626) 300-0790, www.ci.san-marino.ca.us/lacy.htm. Thirty grassy acres under tall, shady trees with picnic tables. Free on weekdays. On weekends, all non-residents of San Marino age 4 or over pay $4 each. No alcohol or barbecuing. Inner loop trail good for little kids riding bikes. Open 6:30 a.m.-dusk weekdays, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. weekends (until 8 p.m. during Daylight Saving Time).</p><p> Santa Anita Park, 285 W. Huntington Drive, Arcadia, 91007; (626) 574-7223, www.santaanita.com. The main racing season runs Dec. 26-April 22 with races Thursdays-Sundays and occasionally on Mondays. But the track also offers Autumn Stakes, which in 2011 meant live races Thursday-Sunday Sept. 30-Nov. 6. For fall or winter racing, adult admission is $5 (general) to $20 (Turf Club). Parking $4-$10 with a general admission ticket (free to children 17 and under with a parent).</p><p> E. Waldo Ward &#38; Son, 273 E. Highland Ave., Sierra Madre, 91024; (626) 355-1218, www.waldoward.com. A four-generation family business, complete with red barn, citrus trees and modest gift shop, that has canned jams and jellies and such since 1891.</p><p> L.A. County Arboretum &#38; Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, 91007; (626) 821-3222, www.arboretum.org. Exotic greenery, roaming peacocks, a little lake, an 1885 cottage and 127 acres of calm. Adult admission $8, children 5-12 $3. Open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily, closed Christmas.</p><p> Forest Lawn Memorial Park, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale, 91205; (323) 982-8178, www.forestlawn.com. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (6 p.m. during Daylight Saving). Mausoleum and church hours 9 a.m.-4 p.m. daily.</p><p> Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 449-2742, www.pacificasiamuseum.org. Adult admission $9. Children ages 11 or younger free. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. Closed Christmas and New Year's Day.</p><p> Pasadena Museum of California Art, 490 E. Union St., Pasadena, 91101; (626) 568-3665, www.pmcaonline.org. Adult admission $7, students and seniors $5. Closed Christmas and New Year's Day.</p><p> Christopher Reynolds: chris.reynolds@latimes.

Source: Kansas City Star