Story: PASADENA: The Rest of the Year

When most people think of Pasadena, they think of the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl. However, there are things to do in the city of 140,000 the rest of the year as well, particularly for those looking for museums and culture. Pasadena has several world class museums as well as interesting architecture, history, theater, and dining.
Every January 1st, the Rose Parade passes one of them--the Norton Simon Museum, which houses a remarkable collection of southeast Asian and East Indian Sculpture as well as paintings and drawings by Rubens, Degas, Monet, Rembrandt, Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse, Raphael, Picasso and many others.
Although technically in adjacent San Marino, Pasadena often claims the Huntington Library as their own. The library owns one of the world's greatest collections of rare books and manuscripts, such as a Gutenberg Bible, a manuscript of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," and several Shakespeare First Folios, however, it is the art collection and gardens that draw most of the visitors. Among the collections are Gainsborough's "Blue Boy," Lawrence's "Pinkie," as well as works by Reynolds, Romney, Van Dyck, and Cassatt. The 207 acres of gardens contain 14,000 species of plants.
If you are still eager for more museums, Pasadena also is home to the Pasadena Museum of California Art which is dedicated to California art, architecture and design. The museum was made possible by art collectors Bob and Arlene Oltman, who actually live on th third floor of the building. The idea of "California Art" might sound somewhat odd at first, but California has a rich mix of cultures, geography, and history, not to mention 35 million people.
In an otherwise American looking neighborhood is the Pacific Asia Museum, which designed like a Chinese mansion, and houses cultural and art exhibits of Pacific and Asian people, surrounded by a traditional Chinese garden.
Pasadena itself is something of an outdoor museum for architecture. There are neighborhoods of Craftsman homes, such as the Gamble House, managed by the USC School of Architecture. Next door is the Cole House and the immediate neighborhood is a virtual open air architectural museum. You could stay at the turn of the century Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa. Other architectural points of interest are The Lummis Adobe, the Old Mill, the first grist mill in California built in 1816, the Mission San Gabriel Archangel which was built by the Spanish Franciscans in 1771, the strange 118 year old Castle Green Apartments (formerly a hotel), the Feynes Mansion, and residences by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Pasadena is also the home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where the name "rocket scientist" was invented. They give tours as well. If you don't see enough smart people there you can go to the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech). If you missed more than one question on your SAT's, this will be the closest you can get to this school. Einstein used to teach there and the university has produced 22 Nobel Laureates.
In the area known as Old Pasadena, hip shops and boutiques live side by side with chain stores and Starbucks. You can see music and theater at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and the Pasadena Playhouse.
It is hard to get tickets to the real Rose Bowl game, but you can probably get tickets to see UCLA play their home schedule there. Or you can go to the Rose Bowl flea market held once a month there.
And if you are really interested in the Rose Parade, you can visit the Tournament House., the headquarters of the Tournament of Roses. The Italianate mansion was built by William J. Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate generally associated with the city of Chicago. The tour will take you back through New Years Days of the past, the history of the Rose Parade and Rose Bowls. At the same time you get to see a little of what chewing gum could buy at the turn of the last century.
Once you've seen all Pasadena has to offer, you can get on the historic Arroyo Seco freeway, California's first freeway, and head west. The next town you come to is also said to have some attractions of its own. The name of that town is called Los Angeles.