New Zealand, one of the most closed countries on earth during the height of the pandemic, has once again laid out its welcome mat. Europe, unsteady during much of the crisis and at last on firmer footing, has been seeing a steady uptick of foreign visitors. And cruise lines, the most feared travel alternative for a stack of months, are now being thronged with people making up for lost time. But there are other options for visiting memorable places that don’t require you test negative for Covid before you get to fly back home. There are plenty of spots on U.S. soil boasting treasures that can’t be duplicated anywhere else on the globe.
Thanks to the ravages of climate change and the price of real estate, California has changed in how the rest of the country views it these days. Despite that, vistas full of natural beauty are plentiful and still hold their power to create the unforgettable.
While most of us fixate on movie studios, celebrity and the ocean when we visit Los Angeles, heading out of town a few miles will land you in an incomparable paradise called the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Gardens; or simply the Huntington. Deep in the very tony enclave of San Marino, the 200-acre complex is the legacy of railroad magnate Henry Huntington and his wife Arabella. Opened almost a century ago following their deaths, the grounds are part of the family’s estate. A stately art museum that specializes in 18th century British art now resides in the former Huntington mansion.
Expansive themed gardens roll out from the welcome center like an invitation. Although there are plenty of volunteers on hand at the outset to help orient visitors to the landscape, they’re much scarcer as you travel between the gardens. Sign posts take the place of a functional map and available guides.
On a beautiful morning or afternoon, just being in this big open green space soothes the soul. Well maintained and meticulous, the gardens are splendid. Large enough to meander through and serene enough to inspire reflection, the Japanese Garden attracts a steady stream of admirers. Because roses can’t perpetually be at peak, the Rose Garden at the Huntington is best visited from March through June for the maximum bloom experience.
It’s the unlikeliest garden that outshines the others. Collective ignorance and a lack of exposure to succulents and cacti have a lot to do with the surprise that comes over people when they approach the cactus garden. It looks like a landscape from another galaxy as paths weave their way through scores of cacti and succulent varieties. Some like the barrel cactus were brought as seed to the estate as early as 1915. Blanketing sections of the garden, specimens have now grown to weigh several hundred pounds each. Collected from around the world, some planting varieties are so rare they’re being targeted for theft and sale on the black market.
The gardens may celebrate nature’s grandeur; but inside the art museum it’s how man expresses beauty from an Old World British point of view that’s being showcased. Formal, reserved and aloof, the art and furnishings reflect the wealth, privilege and power of the elite. It’s formality and detachment distance it from the modern age. Very cannily, the museum found a way to link contemporary American life to the most famous piece of art hanging on its walls, Thomas Gainsborough full length portrait of The Blue Boy. Commissioning Kehinde Wiley to create a work of art that retained the integrity of the original masterpiece and simultaneously reinterpret it, Wiley produced A Portrait of a Gentleman in 2021. The artist kept the full length pose of the original painting. A hand on the hip, the other holding head wear are also preserved. Each portrait also carries an inscrutability and confidence on the subject’s face that make him infinitely challenging. From there, A Portrait of a Gentleman explodes in opposites that only genius can pull off this successfully.
Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
