Lauren & Andrew
Things To Do
Gardens, Museums, and Trails
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens offers enough for a full day but the Chinese & Desert gardens are worth the visit alone! Other fun spaces include the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden with its wild peacocks population and Descanso Gardens just added a model train section made of natural materials! The Norton Simon Museum offers an expansive collection of fine art while The Gamble House itself is the art showcasing craftsman architecture. Kidspace Children's Museum is the perfect fit for those bringing little ones and the USC Pacific Asia Museum always has interesting historic pieces on display to admire. We can recommend easier hikes along the Arroyo Seco and in Eaton Canyon if you want to go out into nature - If you are more ambitious this is beyond our realm of knowledge and we wish you luck finding what you are looking for on AllTrails!
Old Town Pasadena
Old Town is predominantly along Colorado Blvd and has a wide range of retail & dining options! So many that we will just list some favorites below: Coffee: Union Street French Cafe / Ideology Coffee / Motto Tea Cafe Breakfast: Marston's / Popping Yolk Cafe / Russell's Lunch + Dinner: Ramen Tatsunoya / King Taco / L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Bars & Pubs: Lucky Baldwin's / Dog Haus / Kings Row Gastropub Dessert: Oakobing / Kinrose Creamery / Beard Papa's Retail: Homage / Gold Bug / Topdrawer
Further Shopping & Dining
Playhouse Village - This district is built around the local Theatre and offers some of SoCal's oldest stores like Vromans (independent bookstore) and Canterbury Records (record shop). Also lots of great food like CAR Artisan Chocolate's baked goods, Chamo's empanadas, and Nine & Nine Thai Kitchen's noodles. South Pasadena - Right below Pasadena this area has lots of shops to offer along Fair Oaks and Mission. Nicole's and Fiore Market both have great sandwiches and the Dinosaur Farm has a variety of toys & books to browse. The Fair Oaks Pharmacy & Soda Fountain has been here since 1915 but if you miss their open hours and are craving some ice cream the Rite Aid across the street has an active Thrify counter. The Shops at Santa Anita - do you miss going to the mall? This one is incredibly alive & well with tons of options - you can fight the crowds for some soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung, browse books & other collectables at Kinokuniya, or grab a sweet treat from See's Candies.
Antiques & Thrift Stores
There are many spots nearby to rummage through to find treasures around town so here they are if this is your kind of thing! -Pasadena Antique Mall -Pasadena Antiques & Design -Pasadena Antique Center & Annex -T.L. Gurley Antiques -South Pas Vintage -Hodgson's Antiques The Long Beach Antique Market is the wedding weekend if you are willing to drive over an hour away on Sunday the 19th!