EXPOSITION PARK - Museums. Coliseum & Sports Arena

I thought the best place to start this blog was with an area of this city that seems pretty central to me. For a short while as a teen I lived in this area. I passed it most days going to work, when I visit my sister I pass it, if you travel south on the 110/Harbor Freeway you pass it and when I attended USC it was right across the street.

Exposition Park consists of parks (of course), museums, a rose garden, The IMAX Theatre, The Coliseum, The Sports Arena, and the Los Angeles Swimming Stadium. The main picture is the entrance to the IMAX theatre on the left and the California Science Center on the right.

I finally made it to Exposition Park at about 1:00 p.m., that was after stopping at Olvera Street and driving through downtown to take a few pictures from the car. They finally kicked me out at 5:00 p.m. I had a great time because I had not been there in so long and they had definitely made architectural and display changes since I'd last been. There is still construction going on as they continue to expand and though I knew that because of this time of year there wouldn't be any roses in the rose garden it was still disappointed to see the thread-bare bushes. Still, the trees outlining the garden were beautiful just the same.

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

I started out at the Natural History Museum even though I had to walk through the Science Center and down the tree lined street to get to it. $9 per adult to get in on top of the $6 for parking, so far I was only out $15.00. The minute I paid and walked into the museum and saw the skeleton of the dinosaur on display a sense of nostalgia came over me and I realized how long it had really been since I'd been in that museum.


So me, my camera and my map set out on our museum adventure on the three floors of exhibits. I've got to admit that I think the Gems & Minerals exhibit was my favorite simply because they made for such great pictures. My pictures are in the slideshow below. If you notice a lack of dinosaur skeleton pictures it's because, I'm sad to report, it was closed.

CALIFORNIA SCIENCENTER



The area that changed the most for me was the California ScienCenter and they're still expanding as part of it was under construction. One side of the building is the old building. The other side by the IMAX Theatre has been "moderenized" and the interior has been completely redone. I couldn't tell you when this took place.

I didn't "play" with the exhibits so I can't give you first hand knowledge of whether or not they were fun but the place was full of kids who seemed to be having a great time and there is certain enough there to amuse and entertain while learning something in the process.


I was quite entertained by the new chicks hatching in the large incubator and the metal contraption suspended in the open between the 1st and 3rd floor which contracted and expanded like an accordion. Then there was the bicycle on the tightrope which, even though it had a safety net beneath it, you could not have got me on. There was a brave soul or two who ventured out on it as you'll see in the slidehow below.

The cost of this adventure - a donation of $5.00.

CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM



My last stop was the California Afrian American Museum. I regret that after all the pictures I was able to take, we were asked not to take any photos inside of this museum because of copyright concerns. I was so impressed with the layout of the art and the art I wanted so much to be able to share my experience visually. I've provided you with the link so you can see some of the art for yourself. Please note that these the samples they have on the website are nothing compared to what art is housed inside the museum itself.

OUTSIDE THE MUSEUMS

Outside the museum are a couple of full size airplanes, one on a building and one between the walkway and the parking lot.






SPORTS ARENA & LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL COLISEUM



Then of course there is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, historic points in Los Angeles. The Coliseum was host to two Olympic games, the most recent being in 1984. It is also home to the USC Trojan football games (USC in across the street from the Coliseum). It was also home to the Rams before they moved to Anaheim in 1980. My ninth grade graduation was held there and I attended several USC games and the track and field of the 1980 Olympics.

The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was at one time the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, The Los Angeles Clippers, USC Basketball and the Los Angeles Kings.