The Rose Garden & Exposition Park in Los Angeles

One of the most pleasant surprises for me during my visit to Los Angeles was Exposition Park. I had always wanted to see the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for historical reasons. Also, I had heard of, and wanted to see, the Rose Garden.

In order to get to those two places, however, I had to take the Los Angeles Metro (the city's subway system) to Expo Park/USC Station. But I did not know what to expect once there. Somehow, I had imagined the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to be a point of interest in the middle of a section of the city, with not much else of interest around it. And before I learned that they were at the same station, I had not expected the historical stadium and the Rose Garden to be so close to one another.

As it turns out, they all seem to be part of a very interesting section of the city. It is called Exposition Park, and there are many interesting things to see and do here. Even if you are not particularly interested in the history of a sports stadium, there are plenty of museums, as well as the Rose Garden, with a beautiful water fountain right in the middle of it. 

But I was surprised by just how much actually is there. On top of the Coliseum, there is BMO Stadium, where the Los Angeles FC of the MLS and the Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League play. And there is no shortage of museums here, also. There is the California Science Center, which has literal planes and even an actual space shuttle on the grounds surrounding it. There is the Natural History Museum, and the California African American Museum. Another one, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts, is being constructed presently, as well.

It dawned on me early on that this place was going to be special. As I walked around the Rose Garden, I noticed something. There was something huge and strange in what appeared to be the corner of the garden. Surely, it was not what it appeared to be, right? Sure enough, it was a space shuttle. This marked the first time I had ever seen one in person in my entire life. 

There were other fascinating things, as well. Jets on the sides of buildings. None of it felt quite as spectacular as the space shuttle, but it was still quite amazing to see.

Then I walked to the LA Memorial Coliseum, and took pictures (that will be a separate blog entry). After that, I wrapped around back to the other side of the Rose Garden, feeling quite glad that I had made a point of coming here. This felt like a good choice. 

Obviously, there were some pictures taken, and it seemed like a good idea to share them here.

Enjoy!