This was our first real weekend in this area after we moved. Got up late and looked up things to do. I had always read/heard about the Griffith Observatory. Decided to go there. And I was glad we went.
We first went to the Griffith Park which is about 30 minutes drive from where we are (we took the Los Feliz exit off I-5 to get there although I later found that going there via CA-134 may have been easier/faster).
There are a lot of things to see in the park itself. It has a zoo, couple of museums, equesterian center, pony rides and a rail-road. We did not get time to visit any of these places. But drove around the park. The road inside the park is a loop. We started from Crystal Springs Dr which connects to Griffith Park Dr. The travel town museum caught our eye. I like railroads in general and it looked as if they had lot of old steam locomotives. Their website also has information about steam locomotive rides which will be interesting.
We stopped at the merry-go-around hoping to get something to eat. But the snack shop there is not particularly well stocked. It looked like the snack shop at the railroad entrance was bigger and probably has more options.
After driving around we went to the Observatory which is in the park but about 4 miles away from the park entrance on Crystal Springs. The distance should not be surprising – Griffith park is spread over 3500 acres!
The main observatory parking lot was full so we had to park in the Greek theatre parking lot. The walk up from the Greek threatre to the Observatory is fun. You can walk along the road while taking some small short-cuts to get around the switchbacks. Even though it was cold we enjoyed the walk. The only problem was when coming back the walk could be dark. Fortunately, the city had put up portable flourescent lights to make sure the road was well lit.
The observatory itself deserves a separate post. It offers spectacular views of the city of Angels and the famous “Hollywood” sign. Apart from Hollywood Blvd, this was the only other place where I could see the sign although this was clearly a better view.
There are lot of exhibits – but I highly recommend spending time at the Foucault Pendulum which is right at the entrance. You should see the pendulum knock over a peg.
After roaming around the observatory we saw the show at the planetaurium. The show was a short chronology from the big bang and also a brief history of observation starting with Ptolemy, Copernicus, Gallieleo all the way to modern astronomers like Hubble. It was titled “Centered at the Universe”. I would highly recommend watching it.
Tip: If you visit the Observatory on a busy day like we did, there will be long lines for tickets to the planetaurium shows. But you can beat the line by purchasing your tickets at the automated kiosks which is near the solar system exhibits. The kiosk is not operational until the ticket booth opens. But not everyone knows about the kiosk and the observatory staff does not remind people about it.
Also make sure you get in the line to enter the observatory 20 to 25 minutes before the show begins.
Tags: Foucault Pendulum, Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, Planetaurium
