Inside the Huntington Gardens

If you haven't made it to the Huntington Gardens, Tea Room, and Galleries, you really should treat yourself to a day of wandering around the beautiful grounds there. You can make reservations to enjoy high tea in their richly appointed Tea Room, and you can drift through the lovely art collections there. My favorite is the collection of seventeenth and eighteenth century portraits in the Grand Manner. These include portraits of wealthy patrons of Gainsborough and his contemporaries that are impressive in their posturing and their dimensions! Very grand indeed!

The picture above was taken inside the conservatory there. Children's gardens with a misting system that creates an unworldly fog of clouds seemed to be the favorite of quite a few squealing youngsters. The Huntington also has a lot to offer for the scholar of literary texts. Their library there contains some original literary manuscripts, but I didn't have time to check them out.

Altogether, this is a wonderful part of southern California that you should definitely experience. If you plan to go, make sure you make reservations for the Tea Room! And take a pen and pad to make notes on the many splendid varieties of roses there.

What does this have to do with writing? Field trips! What a great way to get people to focus on vivid writing. Another great use of photos of trips in the classroom is asking students to compile a visitor's guide to their area. Each child can contribute a description of a place they've been to, including their tips and advice to friends visiting the area. You can then have them combine their descriptions in a tour guide, complete with their own photos.